2021

Article Review
INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY
NAME: SEHAR KHALID
ENROLLMENT # 01-171182-020
CLASS: BS PSYCHOLOGY 6 A
SUBMITTED TO: MA’AM SOHEMA ANZAK
SUBMISSION DATE: JUN 21, 2021
 ARTICLE REVIEW

“The Impact of Digital Technology on Health and Social Wellbeing of

The article “The impact of digital technology on the health and social wellbeing of digital
natives” is written by Sohema Anzak, Aneela Sultana and Ambreen Fatima. This qualitative
research was conducted on 18 to 26 years old university students from the three selected
universities of Islamabad, Pakistan. Both primary and secondary sources of information were
used. Methods used for data collection were participant observation, focus group discussions,
in depth interviews, and structured questionnaires. This article explores impact of digital
technology on the health and social wellbeing of digital natives. Authors efficiently discuss
both positive and negative impacts of digitalization on youth equally.

Digital era is the period in which everything is digitalized, whether it is social interaction,
celebration, education, or workplace. With every passing day, digital population is increasing.
Therefore, investigation of how these digital tools are affecting us physically, mentally and
socially is very significant. According to statistics, many internet users consist of youth.
Social wellbeing of our youth is at risk because there are no gatekeepers in their technology-
driven activities such as pornography and sexting. Review of literature of this article shows
that engagement of technology leads to privacy issues and weaker family ties. But in recent
years, debate is dominated by the advocates of new “digital generation” who regard
technology as a source of liberation from elder interference and creation of new autonomous
community. Developments with mobile media has provided youth many more opportunities
for creativity and information. But findings also suggest that excessive use of digital
technology has developed risks for digital natives such as cyberbullying, addiction, spread of
fake news etc. Authors support their argument that digital technology provide some
opportunities by providing evidence that there are some websites which provide opportunities
to share scientific information within groups or blogs through google and HEC digital
libraries or websites like YouTube provide guides or tutorials in videos. And data shows that
participants preferred learning via internet over recreation and socializing drives.

Authors well support their argument that digital technology has positive impact on health by
mentioning benefits that “E-health care” and “New digital devices for health” have provided.
Authors well support the argument that digital technology also has negative impacts on health
by discussing the experiences of the participants about how it is leading to poor eyesight,
weight gain and lack of sleep. Authors well support the argument that digital technology has
some positive impacts on mental health and social wellbeing by stating participant’s
narratives about how it boosts self-esteem and improves cognitive skills. They support their
argument that digital technology also has some negative impacts on mental health and social
wellbeing by mentioning the narratives of the participants about how digital technology is a
source of stress and anxiety for them and how cyberbullying is causing depression.

The article’s greatest strengths lie in its methodology. The use of both primary and secondary
data, emic approach, participant observation, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews,
and structured questionnaires is the greatest strength of this article because these methods or
techniques enhance the reliability of information provided in this article. The other strength is
that the narratives of participants are used to support results.

The greatest weakness of this article is that its results cannot be generalized to the whole
world because data is collected from a small sample i.e., only from the top 3 universities of
Islamabad. Other weakness is that the authors were faculty members, and participants were
students, so students might have not been as honest and comfortable in expressing their views
and sharing their experiences as they might have if the researchers were also students.

Data findings suggest that youth has become so dependent on digital technology that it affects
their self-worth or confidence. They like being praised by their friends and as a result they
feel good about themselves which enhances their self-worth and confidence. Zainab who was
one of the respondents told: “It’s surprising to see how many people support you and
encourage you via different apps, it lifts your mood, knowing there are people who
understand you, know you, and still believe in you”. This narrative shows that how they feel
worthy by receiving praise and support in the form of comments, likes or followers on their
accounts on different apps. This data finding is similar to the literature mentioned in this
article in which a study by Livingstone and Haddon, 2009 shows that digital technology
enhances the confidence of digital natives. The data findings also show that the people who
are weak or afraid of bullying in traditional ways have chosen the cyberspace to bully the
youth. They are often more expert in digital skills than their victims. And they get benefit
from their expertise by hiding their identities to avoid being caught. They intentionally repeat
certain acts to cause harm to the victim.
Respondents mentioned that these bullies show online mean behavior, manipulate online
content, post pointed statuses or delete other people from social groups. Such activities cause
great stress for the victim and eventually causes depression. During focus group discussions
of this research, the respondents were asked about their personal experiences of bullying and
one respondent told that: “Leaks of SMSs, also, puts victims in a very difficult mental state
which makes them paranoid, induces stress, and prone them to depression.” Another added,
“it is very easy for people to say anything in this virtual world without disclosing their real
identities”. These narratives provide evidence that cyberbullying is a huge stressor for the
victim and how it makes them more prone to depression. These data findings are similar to
the literature mentioned in this article in which a study by Valenza, 2017 shows that digital
technology also have excessive risks for the digital natives in the form of cyberbullying,
cybercrimes, loss of online ID, spreading fake news etc. So, the literature is showing that
digital technology is increasing the risk of cyberbullying for digital natives and the data
findings of this article are also showing that digital technology has increased bullying in the
form of cyberbullying. But data findings of this article have added in the literature review that
this cyberbullying is a major cause of depression in Youth.

It is concluded that digital technology has both positive and negative impacts on the health
and social wellbeing of digital natives. And the authors of this article well support their
arguments. And the data findings of this article are mostly similar to the literature mentioned
in it.

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