Effects Of Social Media On Teenagers

“How young is too young for cellphones in school?” by Donna St. George says there was “near-silence at lunch when [a] middle school allowed phones for a week.” These middle-schoolers were so absorbed in their phones they did not have a normal conversation. If teens are so obsessed with their social media life that they cannot function normally when given a phone, they will not make conversation and will have weaker relationships. Teens are literally withdrawing themselves from normal social life to become “social” online. As stated in “Is Technology Killing our Friendships” by Lauren Tarshis, “1 in 4 teens are online almost constantly.” This “1 in 4” could be doing things in real life, rather than staying online nearly endlessly. Therefore, youth is more into their social media than actual

Social media has been known to help students develop important knowledge and social skills. “At first glance this may seem like a waste of time; however it also helps students to develop important knowledge and social skills, and be active citizens who create and share content.” (Chen 3). The more time teens spend on social media the more they become aware of their own social side and how to interact with others, especially their peers. “Some types of social media has beneficial effects, like helping adolescents establish some sense of identity and build networking skills” (Riley Davis). Too much time being spent on social media can also exploit teens to some harsh realities that they’ve probably never experienced in their lives before.

In fact, the quick, simple access to the Internet causes our generation to spend more time online in our everyday lives. As the years go by, technology advances furthermore every day. Survey research shows the intellectual habits that complement them are slipping. (Source 1) This easy access to the information we can learn from has shaped what our society is today. With these new social media, teenagers are glued to their phone more than ever before. Teens then share their creations and receive feedback from others online. (Source 3) Teenagers feel the need in updating their status every second of every hour. Many times pre-teens just create their social media because they want to blend in with the crowd due

Modern media such as T.V., films, and social medias (mainly Tumblr) frequently advertise a parade of skinny models and actresses. These appearances, more often than not, make teenage girls self conscious about their weight and physical appearance. Anorexia is most common around females, especially women. “47% of girls in the 5th-12th grade reported wanting to see weight loss because of magazine pictures.” Success and worth are often associated with being thin and/or skinny. Peer pressure plays major roles in a teenager’s environment and peer pressure may help fuel the desire to be “perfect”, and to be perfect, you have to be thin.

About how many kids currently have cell phones? Some people believe that kids don't need a cell phone. Others think that kids do need a cellphone. The use of cell phones by adolescents poses many challenges and benefits.

Social media has proven to enhance children and adolescents communication and social skills. It enlarges their network or friends and other people who share similar interests. This is done through playing video games online with others, interaction with family, relatives, friends and classmates throughout the day and night irrespective of the territorial or global divide is also enhanced by the use of social media such as Facebook and MySpace. The increased use of mobile phones, tablets and laptops and the readily available access to the Internet promotes access to social media in the shortest time possible. These children and adolescents spend a lot of time on the media which would

Studies have shown that the average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping according to Nick McGillivray (“What are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?). Social has become part of our social society, especially for the many youths. There are positives to being on social media and also equal amounts of danger that come with using social networking sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. These social networking sites also have effects on today’s youth by altering the way they behave, the way they learn, in not only a classroom setting but also in the real world setting, and the way that they socialize with their peers and others.

Social networking has had a big impact on the social lives of teenagers. With the social networking platform, they are able to talk to each other, upload pictures, and be constantly bombarded with the breaking news of the day, but there are also negative consequences of having this type of network at their fingertips. Examples of these negatives would be cyber-bullying, identity theft, and viruses and malware. I believe that overall, despite all the negatives that may come with it, social networking vastly improves teenagers lives.

Everyday there are 400 million Instagram users (Smith), 18.7 billion texts sent (Burke), and over 8 billion phone checks (Eadicicco). Social media has become a prevalent aspect of our day. With this ever-growing force taking up such a large part of our lives, it is no wonder parents ask the question that’s on all of our minds: What impact does technology, and more specifically social media, have on teenage development?

Most teenagers have cell phones that they use for large portions of the day. Yet we do not know what they could be doing on there. Social media has a huge impact on someone’s life when it comes to Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and ect, however a lot of it is negative. The social media platform is enormous and still expanding every second, almost every kid has some platform of social media. Kids as little as five have some social media accounts! What the older generation grew up with and this generation now are way different. Social media has a negative influence on society because it is a platform for bullying, can lead to poor grades and puts your safety at risk.

We wake up in the morning and check our Instagram account instead of saying good morning to our families. We go on our phones and check what's trending and we open Facebook and comment something mean about someone. We are so used to social networks and modern media everywhere, we don't even communicate with each other in person. Social networks and modern media are to blame for escalating violence rate, lowering reading levels and lowering moral standards in our societies filled with teenagers.

The use of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat comes as naturally as breathing to teens nowadays. But for some users, these online networking services are deemed to be so addicting, that it affects their cognitive function during the day, and ability to get an acceptable amount of sleep each night. When a person doesn’t achieve a proper amount of sleep, it substantially alters their health. Lack of sleep can cause fatigue, forgetfulness, weight loss or gain, serious health problems, and cognitive function (“10 Things” 1). As a result, social media affects it’s users in more ways than they may realize. While one may be going about their day, they may be unable to communicate and function as well as they would like. This can cause interference with schooling, socializing, and the capability to work efficiently. An addictive amount of social media use can ultimately lead to severe health issues that go beyond mental health. Heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and diabetes are all common health problems that chronic sleep loss can lead to (“10 Things” 1). If users formed a habit of putting down their technology devices and began to communicate with people face-to-face, these chronic and mental health problems can be avoided. Communicating in person has become such a rarity today unless a job or college class forces people to. And in some cases, people are even encouraged to communicate online. This comes with a price, because when the mass of people are

Social media and social networking are causing depressions, anxiety, obesity, cyberbullying and the rise of harassment online. Yet most teens are extremely dependent on their devices spending hours doing nothing but mindlessly scrolling. These sites do nothing but destroy the self confidence of the users often leading to addiction. Platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and more have just become an addiction we all just accept even if it is detrimental to most people’s health.

Some of the top benefits of social media over the years are that it is free to anyone, the content can get out to resources virtually immediately, and it can be delivered to a wide variety of people. For these reasons, communication through social media has become an extremely accessible and convenient way to communicate. It is also popular for those who need to be in contact with others. One example that comes to mind is a teenager who goes away on a trip to visit a friend or family. They can be hundreds of miles away but still talk to their parents as if they weren’t. Another example is a person who is shy and has a hard time making friends face-to-face, social media sites are a great way to meet people and build relationships.

The use of social media (which includes such media as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr) has become so popular among today’s youth, that it is becoming more than just a fragment of the youth’s world, it is becoming their world. According to a social network statistics report conducted on August 18, 2013, ninety-eight percent of teens are already using some form of social media. Teens are spending more and more time online, typically on a social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Instead of being limited to an online life at home, most teens now have smart phones that allow them to be on social media sites at any time of the day. They are constantly tweeting, updating statuses, and posting pictures via Instagram. While