ISU Part 1: Research

What about you -- what is your relationship with social media and how has it impacted you? I can agree with these researchers that social media impacts our communication skills, it does allow you to project your best self, and it can contribute to a rise in depression. I see social media severely hurting communication skills in my children, but I force them to call family members, and talk for themselves when we go out. I do not use too much social media but I share a Facebook, and Instagram account with my wife. My wife posts pictures on them so our family can see what, and how our kids are doing. I use social media to keep up with family members, since I have very little free

Furthermore, the introduction talks about how technology used for communication has been found to be helpful and hurtful in the development of an adolescent’s development. Researchers discovered that adolescents around age 13-14 who were on social media and having healthy peer

However it is quite obvious that the overuse of it can negatively impact a persons and even more so, a young child’s wellbeing. I highly believe that social media is stealing away the adventurous and educational childhood of past generations. It is being replaced with advanced technology and over-exposed websites which is speeding up the emotional as well as the physical growth of today’s generation. The excessive amount of time that children spend on social media and technology on average have very negative impacts on their well being such

Social media has been a topic of debate for years. Some people are strongly against any use of it while others like the instant connection it provides. A major concern over social media is the lasting effects it has on teenagers. Social media can affect teenagers through many ways including things like their self-esteem. Cyberbullying is a raging topic of discussion centered around teens social media use. It can also effect their people skills and create a lack of community involvement. Some parents think that watching what their children do on social media is an invasion of privacy but is your concern for their privacy greater than your concern for their safety? Social media poses a great danger to today’s children. It can affect many aspects of their lives.

These drawbacks include too many people being reliant to talking online rather than in person and not verbally communicating with friends even though they are in the same room. Jasmine Fowlkes shows the reality in how social media is affecting our new generation through her article, “Viewpoint: Why Social Media is Destroying our Social Skills.” After discussing the results conducted by several researchers, Fowlkes states,“As more generations are born into the social age, social media will continue to be the favored communication form among young people. However, this shift may begin to affect their ability to properly communicate in person with peers.” Many start to rely on applications on our devices to talk to people, but this results in less verbal communication. In addition, Kelly-Fay’s Talktrack research study showed that conversations held in person are much more impactful than on social media. Rather than making social media a huge part of your life, Fowlkes wishes that people would look up from their phones and engage more with others since that could change their lives.

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.

Both these articles provide both the goods and bads of our technology, and what technology does for us. Seemingly, social media strengthens face to face interaction skills, gives children more empathy and understanding of one another, and cues kids in on social graces. One area specialists are arguing over is that of face-to-face interactions. In the article “Antisocial Networking” a teenager named Hannah Kiliot says she can ”Make plans to meet some friends later at a party. ”“The text also states that she “Played in two softball games, texting between innings and games about plans to go to a concert

However, there is a growing body of research which supports the idea that social media is impacting us, and the way our brains work. A study conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan concluded that in the years since the rise of social media, the human capacity for empathy has tremendously diminished. Since many people communicate via text message or social media, it generates an impeccable sense that there is a loss of empathy over the years. Social media has created a wall between a person and reality and cause the loss of social skills. People become accustomed to talking through a screen rather than face to face with one another. It has allowed people to say whatever they want without having to worry about a person’s violent or upset reaction and hurt others. Cyberbullying and its aftermath has become a topic of debate in many state legislatures and in community centers, in the race to find some sort of solution to a spike in teenage suicides. Children and teenagers are much more likely to be bullied if they have a computer screen to cower behind, since there is little to no accountability on social media. People often say that it’s just the Internet -- it’s not real life. But they are wrong: increasingly, social media is a part of who we are, as a society, and it is spreading like a

If they are a constant user of social media, it takes away necessary interactions with people to learn emotions on a deeper level, compared to just a screen. Luckily, this can be avoided as long as people, especially kids, have time away from their devices. Even better if they were able to take breathers from devices on their own without being pried from them. My second brother (4 years old) and first sister (2 years old) are always on devices when they're eating, lounging, playing, outside and right before bed. They do watch quite a few educational videos and were able to learn their alphabet and whatnot before the required age for their school. However, they don't have any friends besides each other and the occasional visit from their cousin of the same age. My brother especially is horrible when he sees other kids. He claws and pushes and hurts his sister to the point where she has to learn how to just deal with it. There's more factors along with it, but I suspect that he has trouble playing with other kids by the fact that he never interacted with them before. On the other hand, my first brother (5 years old) and third brother (3 years old) are great playing with other kids. They do watch tv too often, but they get to interact with kids and learned how to play responsibly and not hurt

The use of social media is ruining this generation’s real life social skills. According to Social Media Today, an online community for professionals, “The amount of time people spend on social media is constantly increasing. Teens now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is now allocated to social media interaction.” Texting or online communications does not allow people to truly express themselves for who they truly are. There is a loss of social and personal development communicating through social media. For instance, people online are unable to use body language, tone, voice and facial expressions through a text. An article on The Telegraph, pointed out that “One in four people spend more time socialising online, using sites such as Facebook, than they do in person, according to research.” The study also found that even when there is an opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of adults still prefer to stay at home and communicate on their devices instead. (USA Today). The problem with socialising online is that affects a person’s ability to communicate properly in face-to-face interactions. The person will feel a sense of social anxiety and not project their voice loud enough for their audience to hear them. For

In the article “Are Kids More Social Because of the Internet?”, written by Manton Angus, the author suggests that kids are socialized more because of the internet. He supports his suggestion by describing how social media impacts children. First Angus explains how the internet is necessary for everyone. With all the technology it is ultimately impossible to not have some sort of world wide communication. Next, Angus claims that younger children could easily learn to socialize within the first couple years of their life with a few pros. For example he says this about the internet; “it not only satisfies the child’s curiosity to know more about his world but also offers it in pleasing and colorful way”, which is arguable. Thirdly Angus explains

Is social media ruining children’s lives? Without the internet, I would be healthier and more active. I can’t imagine life without the internet however if we didn’t have the internet we would be outside more and we wouldn’t even think about phones because they wouldn’t be as fun as they are now. I would be upset if I got my phone taken away for a year, but that would force me to be more active. I would go outside more and be more adventurous. I would be healthier and happier and the world would be more social, face to face.

Social media has drastically changed how people communicate. How many people remember how it feels to hear the phone ring in the house or receive a letter in the mail? Today’s youth know nothing other than text messages, tweets, and Facebook. Social media and the social entertaining websites of today have affected social behavior in many ways. While there are many advantages to this technological advancement, these advancements can also result in many changes in social behaviors. Some of the few prominent changes in social behavior, due to social media, are lack of communication skills, changes in self-esteem and cyber

Today, people think that when they are texting someone or direct messaging a person that it is the same as a normal conversation that would take place in person. In the article, “Screen Addiction Is Taking a Toll on Children,” Jane E. Brody agrees when she writes, “Technology is a poor substitute for personal interaction,” which is a very true statement. One is not fully interacting with a person without face to face interaction. People are lacking these social skills and becoming socially awkward because of isolation and not engaging in face to face contact. People get on their electronic devices for hours at a time and isolate themselves from everything. Not only are people lacking social skills, but they are lacking social bonds. Without the one on one connection and a conversation in person, a bond cannot be created. People are using technology as a poor excuse to not have to take time out of their day to actually create social bonds with people and practice their social skills. Not only that but the lack of social skills not only effects teens and adults but it can be a problem in young children when they are

Social media is making individuals less social being that it prevents hand-on conversations with others. According to the article, "In our digital world, are young people losing the ability to read emotions?", it states " Children's social skills may be declining as they have less time for face-to-face interaction due to their increased use of digital media, according to a UCLA psychology study." Also, " All the lonely Facebook friends: Study shows social media makes us MORE lonely and unhappy and LESS sociable", announces that "The