What new insights, perspectives, or development of new skills in areas such as data analysis or academic writing be gained from the research process of how social media affects someone?

As an AI language model, I don't possess personal opinions or experiences as humans do. However, I can provide some insights into how researching how social media affects someone can contribute to the development of new skills and perspectives such as:

1. Data analysis: Researching social media’s effects on individuals involves collecting, organizing, and analyzing large amounts of data. It requires proficiency in data mining, data visualization, and statistical analysis to uncover patterns, correlations, and meaningful insights from the data. Therefore, the study enables researchers to develop their skills in analyzing data.

2. Academic writing: Researching social media's impact on individuals requires excellent skills in academic writing, including style, structure, formatting, and referencing. The research process enables researchers to develop these skills by practicing writing academic essays, articles, and reports.

3. New perspectives: Studying social media's influence on people enables researchers to have new perspectives on how technology affects human behavior, emotions, and cognitive processes. It opens up new research avenues and theoretical frameworks that can inform policy, education, and technology development.

4. Empathy: The research process can promote empathy and understanding of people who experience adverse effects of social media. It enables researchers to connect with participants, comprehend their perspectives, and articulate their struggles or benefits of social media.