Connection, warmth, and generosity demonstrated the positive impacts of social media usage. Depression, anxiety, and isolation are what’s been considered as the common negativity of human interactions with technology. However, when it comes down to whether the problems are more with the users or with the platforms, studies showed that it is a little bit of both.
Recalling what Jing mentioned about the negativity bias, Dr.Primack explained similar ideas on why negative things affect us more: “If you’re taking four classes, and you have three A’s and a C, you’re thinking about that one problem.” And this is not necessarily associated only with social media, there are definitely things we can do to overcome the negative things that influence our mental health in general. Social media allows the access of information at a very fast pace, it is still the users who can decide on what to do, to take the power back.
Another research found that although the amount of time spent on social media and the number of platforms people use are independently related to user experience, “the more platforms you use, the better chance you would feel those negative effects given the same amount of time spent.” (Primack, 2021). The number of social media platforms you use affects your mental state, just as “it can be difficult to be good friends with seven different groups of people in real life.” And because social media is not even close to real-life connections, you do not feel the authenticity of human interactions. Too much virtual connection consumes energy. It would be much healthier if everyone on your social network is someone that you’ve seen face to face, “you know them as a more complete person.” You simply can not know a person well just by being friends on social media. People either do not post, or they only post the good things that have ever happened. As human beings, we crave acknowledgment and respect, and we internalize the fact that normal daily life is not worth “showing off” every day. But it is not true. Telling the truth and facing your true self have been proved to be the sources of happiness and mental health. Social media gave us the ability to connect with our cared ones from everywhere around the world, it is still for us to choose what we want to share, in a way that we can regain our intellectual independence.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/smarter-healthier-social-media-choices-11639177212
U Penn Social Book 
Wise words and a thoughtful blog post about the distractions, assumptions, temptations, and false assumptions about social media as well as its promise and potential to enhance our lives. Very well done and presented. To your point, I continue to be amazed that someone would have over 1,000 “friends” on Facebook. Yikes. Great post.