IT SEEMS that if you are not a member of a mainstream social networking site such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you are considered something of an oddity.

Although such sites provide a great platform for communication and the opportunity to spread important issues on a global scale, it is becoming aware that they are social networking is starting to mess with our heads.

As a 20-year-old, the growth of social media coincided with my teenage years; an important time where any young person is trying to establish their own personal identity.

It has now become the norm to turn social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram into a virtual showreel of your own life.

Posting photos or tweets in an attempt to gain recognition through ‘likes’ and ‘favourites’ in an effort to build a sense of self-esteem is seems to be becoming increasingly common.

I’m not disagreeing that It does feel good to receive positive interaction online, but when people start to worry about how many followers they have or how they look in every of their profile picture, then it is time to start questioning what impact social media is having on our state of mind.

Recent research has suggested that social media is leading to an increase in emotional problems, particularly in within young teenage girls.

As we continue to evaluate our own experiences against what we believe our experiences should be, we engage in a never ending cycle of comparing ourselves to what we are presented with online.

What content is chosen to be posted online is often not a true representation of that person’s life.

Yet I believe social media can also be used in a positive manner to promote awareness of mental health issues.

The #TimeToTalk campaign has operated on Twitter for the past two years.

Led by the mental health charity, MIND, the campaign encourages young people to take five minutes out of their day to talk about mental health issues affecting themselves or their friends and families.

One in ten young people experience a mental health problem and by sharing their stories with others, #TimeToTalk hopes to challenge the stigma of mental illness and gets young people involved in an issue that can affect us all, no matter what age we are.