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SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED AND SUPPORTED ME TO GET TO WHERE I AM NOW. MICHELLE CARPENTER TRAVIS VERMILYE MY PARENTS (NATASHA AND ALEX) MICHAEL GIBBLE MY CLASSMATES ALL MY PROFESSORS ALL MY FRIENDS AND JUST EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED AND HELPED ME. THANK YOU.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 01. Introduction
02. Research
03. Creating
04. Deliverables
About Me...5 Problem Definition...6 Research Question...7
Rough Ideas...16 Why Campaign?...17 Campaign Products...18 Tagline...19 Sketches...20 Moodboard...21 Design Goals...22
05. Final Thoughts Reflection...30 Refrences..33-34
Beginning...9 Collecting Data...10 The Bad...13
Poster 1...24 Poster 2...25 Poster 3...26 Stickers...27 Social Media...28
01. INTRODUCTION
ABOUT ME Hi, I’m Mary Ann Lantsov! I am a digital designer based in Denver, Colorado who is passionate about using the wonders of design to make the world a smidge better. Design can open up so many doors to the world and I want to use it to my best ability to make humans more aware of their surroundings and feel happier in this chaotic world. For my thesis I have decided to focus on the effects and implications that social media has on young adults mental health. I decided to work on this topic because in my generation, young adults are constantly stuck to their phones causing a high rise in depression and anxiety. I want to create a fun, simple campaign that will captivate young adults to create awareness to kill their addiction to social media.
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PROBLEM DEFINITION Young adults and college students who spend hours on their phones everyday browsing on social media are experiencing more anxiety and depression. Research has shown that the rise of social media platforms such as Instagram,Twitter, Tik Tok and Snapchat have been causing an increase in young adults aged 18-25. These people have begun replacing their reality with online personas by focusing more of social media rather than focusing on real life. A lot of social media users are not aware that social media is causing a rise in anxiety and depression amongst themselves and their peers. This unawareness is causing young adults to have problems within their home, school, work, and social life. Socially, young adults can begin to isolate themselves because they feel as if they do not live up to the standards set by society in real life (such as popularity and attractiveness) but can achieve those standards online. Young adults would rather spend their time on Instagram, Twitter or TikTok rather than spending time in the physical world. Young adults isolation away from creating real-life connections increases the rates of anxiety and depression. The unawareness of the effects of social media is causing increases in anxiety and depression which can lead to isolation, self-harm, drug abuse, and increase rates of suicide amongst young adults and college students. And so the question is....
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HOW CAN I USE DESIGN TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION?
02. RESEARCH
BEGINNING RESEARCH To begin my research, I wanted to dive into the psychological component of exactly why is social media so addicting to young minds. When it comes to addiction, people often associate it with substance or drug abuse, but there is more than just drugs someone can be addicted to. The defintion of addiction is “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity”. Social media falls under particular things or activity rather than substance.
SO, WHAT MAKES SOCIAL MEDIA SO ADDICTING TO THE BRAIN? According to a study created by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social media sites and applications light up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance. This is the reward area in the brain and it’s chemical messenger pathways affects decisions and sensations. The brain recieves a rush of neurons to the dopamine-producing area which when acitivated the brain’s dopamine levels rise, and the brain recieves a “reward” and associates the activity with positivity. When a social media user recieves a notification from their social media apps, the brain recieves the rush of dopamine causing the user to feel immediate pleasure and reward in the form of attention. This source of dopamine and pleasure requires minimal effort, therefore making it easy to continue to use social media.
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COLLECTING DATA I wanted to reach out to young adults and get their insight on what their preferences of social media are, whether or not they feel that they have a healthy relationship to social media, and if they believe social media is affectig their mental health. I did this by creating a short and simple survey and sending it to my peers and posting it on social media. Here is the results I gathered from my survey:
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50%
SPEND 4-6 HOURS ON SOCAL MEDIA
75%
DO NOT THINK THEY HAVE A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP TO SOCIAL MEDIA
87.5%
CONSIDER THEMSELVES ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA
62.5%
BELIEVE SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTS THEIR MENTAL HEALTH 11
IF ADDICTION MAKES THE BRAIN FEEL HAPPY, THEN WHY IS ADDICTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA BAD FOR MENTAL HEALTH?
THE BAD If addiction to social media alerts dopamine in the brain and allows users to feel happy, then how come social media addiction is ultimately bad for your mental health? While the brain is getting rushes of dopamine from the notifications from social media and attention through social media, there is still a negative aspect. From frequent use, people can begin to force themselves into social pressure of sharing, liking, and posting things to seem like their life is more full than it may be. People also tend to compare themselves to other users over material things and lifestyles. Excessive social media use can not only cause unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life but also increase the risk of developing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Constantly comparing themselves to others can lead to feelings of self-consciousness or a need for perfectionism and order, which often manifests as social anxiety disorder. Social media can cause the user to feel happy or inspired from seeings different posts curated to their likings but can also cause extreme opposite emotion. These emotions can be jealousy, depression, anxiety, and suicidal just at the thought that their lives are not as “perfect” as what they portray or see online.
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A STUDY PERFORMED BY CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUND THAT INDIVIDUALS THAT VISITED ANY SOCIAL MEDIA SITE AT LEAST 58 TIMES PER WEEK WERE 3 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO FEEL SOCIALLY ISOLATED AND DEPRESSED COMPARED TO THOSE WHO USED SOCIAL MEDIA FEWER THAN 9 TIMES PER WEEK.
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7 in 10
YOUNG ADULTS THAT SPEND MORE THAN 5 HOURS ARE AT HIGHER RISK OF COMMITTING SUICIDE
43%
FEEL BAD IF NO ONE LIKES THEIR POST
40.6%
YOUNG ADULTS SAY SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS THEIR SLEEP
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03. CREATING
ROUGH IDEAS While there are other campaigns and ideas that are for battling social media addiction, I haven’t seen one that is effecctive or eyecatching to the user. So I wanted to create something that catches the eyes of young adults and be dramatic enough and artistic enough to make young adults become aware of their addiction.
WHAT TO CREATE?
APP
BRAND
CAMPAIGN
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WHY CAMPAIGN? I chose to do a campaign because I wanted to focus on expanding my own brand rather than going to UX/UI or creating a whole entire new brand outline. I wanted to build my own portfolio and expand my ideas and thoughts. In the future, it would be amazing to have an application for getting young adults help battling their social media addiction, but that would be with a team of coders, progammers, and people within the UX/UI field. It would also be beneficial to have a brand later on specifically for battling social media addiction but I’m currently just trying to raise awareness, rather than build a company with plenty of resources.
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CAMPAIGN PRODUCTS POSTERS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS STICKERS
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TAGLINE KILL THE ADDICTION. The reason I decided to go with “KILL THE ADDICTION” is because just telling someone to stop is not enough. The word kill has a more final meaning. It’s the ending with no where to turn next. Meanwhile, stop feels too soft. I’ve seen people run through stop signs without a care, but if a sign says you’ll be killed you would most likely avoid going there. It’s to be more dramatic and drastic to the situation rather than just telling someone to stop, because stop is just not enough.
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SKETCHES
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MOODBOARD
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DESIGN GOALS SIMPLE DRAMATIC BRIGHT COLOR PALETTE UNIQUE ATTENTION GRABBING APPEAL TO YOUNG ADULTS FOCUS ON MAIN SOCIALS (TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK)
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04. DELIVERABLES
POSTER 1
KILLING INSTAGRAM
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POSTER 2
KILLING TWITTER
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POSTER 3
KILLING TIKTOK
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STICKERS
27
SOCIAL MEDIA
EVERY POST HAS INFORMATION REGARDING HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH. 28
05. FINAL THOUGHTS
REFLECTION This project really pushed me to work my hardest, do most research, and design the best I can. It gave me a lot of insight into the true sadness of social media addiction, and made me really think about whether or not I have a social media addiction myself. While on the surface social media may seem harmless, it can cause negative effects on the human mind, especially young adults. The brain is still forming and growing at ages 18-25, social media can cause devastating effects on the brain and cause people to spiral into depression. It’s not fair what social media can do to people. It’s supposed to be a fun app where you can view your friend’s posts, like photos, and share your own adventures. Social media is darker than we think. Addiction is real and even addiction to social media means a lot more than what society portrays it as. I’m glad to be a part of society that wants to help others, and want others to seek help if they need it. Everyone is equally important. Never be afraid to ask for help.
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don’t be afraid to ask for help.
social media can kill so kill the addiction
REFERENCES Barrett, K. (n.d.). Social media’s impact on students’ mental health comes into focus | nea. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/social-medias-impact-students-mental-health-comes-focus Burch, K. (n.d.). How social media affects the mental health of teenagers. Insider. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.insider.com/how-does-social-media-affect-teenagers Helping your teens when social media hurts. (2021, October 2). Ksdk.Com. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/helping-teens-when-social-media-hurts/63-6b1e21aa-2afe-470a-b34f-c569224d5785 How social media has evolved over the past 12 years. (2017, January 17). Content Marketing Consulting and Social Media Strategy. https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-social-media-has-evolved/ Is social media threatening teens’ mental health and well-being? (2021, May 20). Columbia University Irving Medical Center. https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/social-media-threatening-teens-mental-health-and-well-being Responding to a student’s depression. (n.d.). ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/responding-to-a-students-depression Social media use may play important role in youth suicide, expert says. (n.d.). https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20201005/social-media-use-may-play-important-role-in-youth-suicide-expert-says
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REFERENCES “Social Media Addiction.” Addiction Center, https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/. “Social Media Addiction Statistics - TrueList 2022.” TrueList, https://truelist.co/blog/social-media-addiction-statistics/ Teens, social media & technology 2018. (2018, May 31). Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
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