External Sources

Bailey Parnell | TEDx

As Social media reaches a societal peaking point, TEDx released a talk in 2017 led by Bailey Parnell which explores our growing obsession with social media along with the consequences on our mental health. Recently named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Parnell is a top tier digital marketer, public speaker and businesswoman in the online industry. Parnell sheds light on the internal reactions teenagers’ face with this new tool of social media. Physiological abnormalities like phantom cell phone, the feeling a phone notification when there is no phone, are small indicators in the bigger picture of the social media effect. Parnell links college level mental health diagnoses with high social media use by explaining how “society has changed with almost all 18–24 year olds are online.” The societal norm causes the viewer’s mental health to perpetuate a destructive perspective with every swipe. She breaks these mentally damaging aspects of social media into four main stressors which categorize the heart of damaging mental health. This breaking down of how social media preys upon certain emotions has helped me clarify my own personal disputes with the internet, by honing in on why I give myself the reaction.

The “Highlight Reel” is the idea that our social media works as a highlight reel for our day to day life. Social media users will post the best peaks of their life, causing the viewer to compare their day-to-day lifestyle. Bailey says “[If you see] your friend posting a picture on vacation… you begin to ask yourself “Why can’t I afford a vacation?” or “How come I’m just at home sitting on my phone?” These questions cause us to relate our struggles in life (homework, jobs, friendships, lifestyles…) to the picturesque squares of others’ advertisements for their own life. Reacting to these brings up the second stressor: social currency. In the online modern community, the like button has become the new bitcoin. Parnell shifts the discussion to what fuels social media users showing how we a attribute the value to the service of posting photos. Likes, shares, and comments are all the new online currency competing for attention.

Additionally, the more colloquial term of F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out) is referenced a lot in the millennial conversation .As the third online stressor, FOMO creates a severe sense of anxiety when the viewer is seeing picture perfect lifestyles through a square on a screen. Bailey brings up a study that said 7 out of 10 college students would delete all their social media, if it weren’t for the demonic unknowing of what goes on. Personally, this topic drives my quarrels with the online world. Seeing friends even somewhat as communicating online can trigger a seemingly primal instinct in me to react negatively.

This TEDx talk signifies some of the main points that drive my topic. I used to have a scattered mindset when it came to my personal quarrels with social media, but this discussion helped me hone in on the core issues. As I was able to acknowledge these intricacies, I reacted by immediately working to fix my own self. Bailey Parnell’s speech gave me the tools to not only acknowledge social media’s negativity, but to combat it. She explains that as bad as social media can be, at this point, it’s not going away anytime soon so the best mindset to have is to gain control over the negative. By recognizing the issues and auditing social media accounts, paves the way for a healthy online lifestyle.

Bailey Parnell / TEDx, Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?, June 2017

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