The beauty and the beast of social media: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the impact of adolescents' social media experiences on their mental health during the Covid‑19 pandemic

Despite extensive research, the mental health implication of social media in adolescents is not yet understood due to mixed  and inconsistent fndings and more in-depth qualitative studies are needed to expand our understanding of the impact of  social media on adolescent mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore why and  how adolescents use social media, adolescents’ lived experiences on social media, how they make sense of these experiences  having impact on their mental health, and the infuence of the Covid-19 pandemic on their use of social media and mental  health. In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven adolescents aged 14–16 (fve female, six male) across England. The  interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two  key themes were identifed: the beauty of social media that captured positive experiences and emotions of adolescents and  the beast of social media that captured negative experiences and emotions. From the adolescents’ accounts, social media has  both positive and negative impacts on their mental health, but mostly positive impacts during the Covid-19 pandemic. The  results were discussed in relation to the study aims and previous study fndings. Strengths and methodological limitations  of the study, implications for future research that emerged from the study were discussed