Impacts of Social Media on Teen Suicide and Depression Essay Example

as this one remain current because the concepts will be useful even to future researchers and bodies of knowledge. This article was not only published in a journal, but I established that it is also available online for free access.

The survey parameters were accurate to the relationship established therein. Undoubtedly, I established that this article is very relevant to my topic as it talks about the internet, social media, and teen suicidality. The findings of the report support a relationship between excessive video game, and internet use and various causes of teen suicidality and depression. The study has used graphs, calculations, and charts to aid the authors' exploration.

The authors of this article, Messias, E., Castro, J., Saini, A., Usman, M., & Peeples, D., work in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Arkansas, USA. As they work in the department of medical sciences, the authors have the competency to write about the topic, particularly depression. The survey was based on children in Australia and used published government statistics. To me, this made the source more reliable because government figures are less susceptible to manipulation. The faculty published this research for research use only.

This second scholarly article employs findings from past literature review to establish the relationship between suicide and social media. The article was published in July 2014. This article provided substantial information on suicide and various social media platforms used by young people. Again, I found this source to be current because it was published about two years ago. Even though new social media platforms have come up, the concept of suicide and teenagers' uses of social media are consistent across platforms.

This article used studies that examined the relationship between suicide and social media, described the development of an online platform, discussed the content of social media sites, network pathways of social media sites, individual case studies, reviews and editorials, studies that examined sites relating to suicide bereavement, and identified stakeholders for consultation. As a result, I found the article so interesting when it comes to talking about my topic and answering my topic question.

Additionally, what attracted me most in the article was the credibility of the authors. The authors work in reputable research institutions, Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre and Orygen Youth Health Research Centre based in Australia and have experience in community works. I noted that the two organizations deal with the mental wellbeing of young people who use social media, and this is very relevant, as the authors' study will help me in examining how social media causes depression in young people. The authors have used comparative bar graphs to break down the findings of past studies according to each aspect of the topic. The authors also used citations and references to support arguments in the reviewed literature. Therefore, I believe this is a reliable source because the authors are credible, and they used information from reliable sources.

This scholarly article goes an extra mile in its research on the impact of social media on children and families to include some issues. It examines social media use by tween and teens, the benefits of children and adolescents using social media, privacy problems and the digital footprint, mixed messages from parents and the law, influence of advertisements on bullying, and the role of pediatricians.

In particular, the research examines cyberbullying and online harassment, sexting which entails sending and receiving arousing contents, and Facebook depression which develops when preteens and teens spend most of their time on social media platforms such as Facebook.

The article was published on March 2011. The authors are drawn from both health, and communication and media professionals. I was particularly attracted by the credibility of the Journal in which the article was published, Pediatrics. Pediatrics is an official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This convinced me that the research was validated before publication, and the information that it contains is reliable. I also believe that it is a current source because it was published merely five years ago. I can say that although much has changed in the field of social media, clinical reports on social media effects are scientifically proven, and the results can be used in explaining the association with emerging social media platforms. This source is also available online free, and thus, can be used for research. Therefore, I am utterly convinced that this article is a reliable and an up to date source.

Reflection Journal

In light of my search process, I used Google search engine because it was easy to use. However, attaching some of the files was a problem, but Google gave me an easy time. There is no doubt that Google is the most reliable information hub that someone ever used. This does not mean that I could not try other information search tools. It is only important that Google helped me very much in filtering my topic based on the keywords, scholarly status, pdf, peer reviewed and analyzed.

It

is imperative to note that I settled on my sources because they are directly talking about my topic question, "what role do social media and the internet play in teen suicide and depression?" I selected articles that are based on theory and analysis to shed more light on the role of social media and the internet on teen suicide and depression. I was cognizant of the fact that depression is a health issue, and so a chose an article touching on the health of young people and technology use. I realized that finding the latest and reliable sources of information is the most crucial move in any research work. Another thing is selecting the articles that match my topic. While the CRAAP approach saved on my search time and ensured reliable data, the articles had to be interesting before I could pick them.

Most importantly, I learned that not all the sources or articles that are available online were credible. I found out that credible sources or articles are published either by reputable research institutions or by national and international professional bodies in the relevant field. This is something I had little knowledge about before. What this means to me is that carrying out any research requires the use of credible sources that are available for research. These sources will help someone to support his or her arguments with the latest, applicable, and reliable information while writing a research paper.

Going forward, I will employ these search techniques and knowledge to enhance may research, and write a desirable research paper that everyone will love to refer from. Additionally, I will be happy to shall have produced a

high-quality paper that will not only add to the body of knowledge on my topic but will also help parents and the society at large to guide the future generation as they will be using social media and the internet.

References:

• Messias, E., Castro, J., Saini, A., Usman, M., & Peeples, D. (2011). Sadness, suicide, and their association with video game and internet overuse among teens: results from the youth risk behavior survey 2007 and 2009. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 41(3), 307-315.
• Robinson, J, Rodrigues, M., Fisher, S., & Herrman, H. (2014). Suicide and Social Media. Young.
• O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804.