Entry 3 Final Draft

      At the start of my research, I understood social media to be a positive influence on society but as my research deepened, my ideas began to change. Originally, I saw social media as having a positive effect on mental and physical health because of the way it stimulates humans. I understood these sites as being a way for humans to interact with society and be entertained (Park). After my research, I discovered that social media has many negative effects on both mental and physical health. I found that hyper networking through social sites leads to poor health behaviors such as smoking, drinking and sexual activities (Payne). These effect both mental and physical health in a negative way. Excessive use of social sites can also lead to mental disorders (Shashank) and obesity (Park). My research did not replace my original thoughts about social media having a positive effect on health but I did learn that it does have negative effects as well.
     I found myself in disagreement with the idea that social media is a "strong force" in the recovery process used to help mental health problems.  The phrase "strong force," I feel, implies that if a person is engaged with social media then their mental health problems will be fixed.  I have seen the opposite of this happen on multiple accounts.  A friend of mine growing up was very unhappy with school and the people he was involved with.  Eventually he became depresssed.  Following this, he became actively involved with social media through the use of facebook.  Instead of coming out of this depressive state he became overly dependent on facebook and other social websites.  In this situation, social media had a negative effect on his mental and physical health. 
     I could see social media being a partnering force in the recovery process used in helping people with mental health problems but not a "strong force."  Overall, there is a potential for someone with a mental health problem benefitting from social media partly because it can be used to create realtionships and communicate(Atkinson).  This can be helpful in getting people out of their shells and getting them engaged in the world around them.