RAB Source Entry 3 – Belinda

Part 1 MLA citation 

Parnell, Bailey. “Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health? | Bailey Parnell | Tedxryersonu.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg_9C7gw0o&ab_channel=TEDxTalks. 

Part 2: Summary

In the TedTalk, “Bailey Parnell: Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?” Bailey was exploring the topic of how social media has an impact on mental-well being. She talked about the negative impact from using social media so much such as having anxiety, feeling depressed and the constant comparison. She emphasizes the importance of how a person should be mindful of what they comment on someone’s post and points out the issue of how social media are supporting unrealistic standards. The highlight reel where an individual showcases their best moments onto social media causing it to have an individual to not view things that are not entirely realistic and bringing down their self-esteem. Bailey urges the individual to be more conscious of how much time they spend on social media and suggests engaging with the real world activities rather than dedicating their time on social media to help balance the online and offline aspects of their lives. And encourages the audience to carefully think through the relationship they have with social media along with taking the extra steps to help protect their well-being. 

Part 3: Reflection

I think Bailey Parnell’s point in this TedTalk is to emphasize the possible negative impact of social media on mental health. She talked about how being exposed to an extremely cautious and more glamorous post of people’s lives can make an individual go into an unrealistic mindset. And I feel like that is something that needs to be talked about more because sometimes people think that whatever they see online from another person is always true and think that they have that “perfect lifestyle” which is not always the case. Some people only post the good and happy moments from their life to which their viewers may think that a life to have such a perfect happy life is possible. This can cause people to feel like their life isn’t as great and jealousy can develop. Something that I liked about the author was how she was able to make comparisons. She talked about social currency, comparing dollars where it’s used to attribute value to a good and the likes/comments are the form of social currency in the social media world because we get a value out of it. I think that was a great way to show someone the similarities. A quote I find significant is, “We are tying up our self-worth of what others think about us and then we are quantifying it for everyone to see. And we are obsessed. We have to get that selfie just right, and we will take 300 photos to make sure.” I find this significant because social media has got people to seek validation, approval and be able to feel good about themselves if they get enough likes or comments instead of knowing that they are just enough the way they are without having opinions from others. 

Part 4: Rhetorical Analysis

The speaker of the TedTalk, Bailey Parnell expresses her concern about the impact social media has on mental health by having various observations and her own insights. She used logos, pathos and ethos to show what social media can do on mental health. For logos, she presented logical reasoning by discussing the “highlight reel” and how it can impact self-image. There are already studies of how the highlight reel can impact self-image making it a logical statement. For pathos, she reached the audience’s emotions by discussing the emotional damage caused by social media on an individual’s mental health. She covered the topic of feelings like anxiety and depression that can be caused by the constant comparison to the “perfect lifestyle” that are being posted online. And for ethos, she talked about her own experiences and her observations connected to social media and mental health. Speaking about her own experiences makes her more credible because she has thought deeply about the topic and has her personal take on it. The speaker’s intended audience can be any individual that uses social media. She talked about teenagers to ages of nearly 30. Bailey Parnell is credible because she is a world class speaker, a CEO and a founder of SkillsCamp, an award-winning and internationally speaking-recognized entrepreneur. She also finished her masters in Communications and Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University. 

Part 5: Notable Quotables

“But we struggle with insecurity because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reels. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others.” (Parnell 2) 

“The Canadian Association of Mental Health found that grades 7-12 students who spent two hours a day on social media reported higher levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.” (Parnell 3)

“When we talk about this dark side of social media, what we really talk about is the dark side of people. That dark side that makes harassers harass; that insecurity that makes you take down a photo you were excited to share. That dark side that looks at a picture of a happy family and wonders why yours does not look like that.” (Parnell 3)