My research question: How does digital media impact mental health both positively and negatively?

2nd of 4 key research questions: How does digital literacy impact mental health positively? 

This blog post will cover the second research questions relating to digital literacy and how it positively impacts mental health. Digital literacy is the ability to use technology to evaluate and share information in an increasingly technology dominated world. Digital literacy is concerned with being able to successfully navigate and use technology to complete tasks while also adhering to safety and privacy concerns.

Digital Literacy and how it impacts mental health

Digital literacy is becoming a more important when navigating social media due to the effects it can have on mental health and well-being. Although there is a lot of negative effects of social media use, there can also be some positive effects. For example, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are increasingly being used for peer-to-peer support where individuals share personal experiences, coping strategies and encouragement.

Benefits of online support depend heavily on a person’s ability to navigate digital spaces wisely. Digital literacy can shape whetere these interactions promote wellbeing or cause harm. For example, someone who is well equipped with digital literacy skills are more likely to identify false information.

In Nasulunds “The Future of mental health care”, they speak about the effects that a lack of digital literacy can have on an individual. For example, someone with limitied digital litercy skills is more vulnerable to misinformation, online hostility, and other issues when relating to online content, such as social media. Essentially, it highlights a growing need to support digital education alongside mental health care.

This short video provides a summary of why it’s important to consider mental health relating to media literacy.

Citations

Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., Marsch, L. A., & Bartels, S. J. (2016). The future of mental health care: peer-to-peer support and social media. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 25(2), 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796015001067