Impact Of Social Media On Youth

Older generations don’t realize how much technology has affected this generation of teenagers, along with the social media that comes along with the technology. As stated in “How Social Media Changed Teens’ Lives Forever”; “Negative posts or comments also can do great damage to a teen’s self-esteem.” (Ashley Black, Thomas Atseff and Colleen Kaveney) While many parents think social media is just a way to connect with others, many teenagers take it for granted. For example, “quitting social media because it made her miserable and obsessed with appearing perfect online”, is what a teenager felt about social media and what it has done to her. Though many think that social media is a great way to connect, teenagers take it to another level.

he attractiveness of social media for teens to be socialized and entertained, especially allows them to share their lives with each other easily (Gabriel 2014, p.104). With several communicative purposes that social media platform have given to us, the increasing attention move forward to investigate the rapid growth of how new generations (young people) behavior themselves under a new social media trend of self-photography – “SELFIE” (Barry 2015, p. 1). Narcissism and self-esteem gave highly exposed to the popular searching keywords within the selfie culture, teens have a common purpose of posting those selfie by self-displays towards virtual audience and narcissism consists of the preoccupation appreciative regard by friends or followers (Barry 2015 p. 1).When a question comes up related to the health of this culture whether exposing a positive or negative impact on teens, there are different sounds in the general public, so the aim of this essay is to brings up all the argument related to this topic then generate a distinct position towards the agreement or disagreement.

With time all generations have come to embrace the changes the social media has brought on our lives where teenagers and young adults are the most fanatic users of these social sites. The impact of social media on young people is undoubtedly significant and comes in two folds; positive and negative. On the positive side, these social media can act as invaluable tools for astounding teenagers who tend to do well through the use of the social media. For instance, one of the highest paid youtubers are teenagers like Lily Singh. However, on the negative side the internet is laden with numerous risks associated with online communities whose impacts are immeasurably dangerous. How do you reckon the use of social media in todays’ young minds that are needed to develop the country and the world but instead are slaying their lives away by excessive use of social media? Social media can be simply described as a term used for interaction between groups or individuals over the internet in virtual communities where they can share every possible thought, idea, emotion. So, how is it that the social media which is developed for the betterment of an individual or a group is now obscene to the same individual?

According to a study from the Pew Research Center, 92% of American teens go online to post, like, comment, tweet, and re-tweet at least a hundred photos a day. Preadolescents between the ages of 9-15 primarily use social media websites as a portal to communicate with past friends, find new ones, and to post about their day. However, the use of these sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube etc. can put young kids at risk of being bullied online, stalked by predators and pedophiles, and subjected to inappropriate pictures and videos. The truth is today youths lack the basic understanding of the dangers that lurk within social media, and therefore should not be allowed to use them until they can fully comprehend all the risks attached to using these sites.

Social media is causing teenagers to be negatively influenced. This is an issue, because teenagers are extremely impressionable and social media is negatively impacting their lives each day whether they are conscious of this or not. One anonymous author who wrote the article, “Teen’s Use of Social Media: Positive or Negative?” states, “90 percent of teens have used social media” (Teens’ Use of Social Media). In this statement, it is clear that a large majority of teenagers have already been exposed to some type of social media. Since teenagers learn from direct observation and experience, it is a huge problem when they witness things on social media that concern sexist, racist, or homophobic content. Many teenagers even say that they have an addiction to social media. Teens who have had bad experiences online or who do not use social media on a regular basis said that they have a stronger urge to stay away from the internet. Even though there are many negatives to social media there are some positives as well. NickMcGillivray who is affiliated with the website, TurboFuture wrote the article, “What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth.” In his article, he states, “There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs” (McGillivray). In this statement, he makes it clear, that social media has both positives and negatives. One positive of social media that impacts teenager’s lives would be, how they are able to communicate with their teachers and other classmates at any time. This makes it easier for

Life at home is normally peaceful until my mother shouts “Switch of that television and do something more constructive”or“No phones at the table,”or“switch off that laptop and get some good night sleep.” My little brother is always watching cartoons on television or playing video games while I spend most of my time on the laptop or on my phone twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Instagram or on blogs, or Youtube or any other social media website having a portal for good entertainment and communication of trending events. My mother always says we shall spoil our eyes or become fat and lazy. She always goes on and on about how she used to play a lot of outdoor games as a child and how they are important for the growth and development of children.

Words like “Instagram”, “Twitter”, and “Snapchat” are some of the most used words in today’s generation. People are finding it harder and harder to hold a conversation without these terms slipping into their vocabulary, this is because Social Media has become a huge part of everyone life’s. Social media has taken this world by storm, but has seemed to target the minds and emotions of young people in the best and worst ways.

Visualize this: When it is almost time to eat dinner, teenagers have not bothered to do their homework because they have been preoccupied with social media all afternoon. They are spending a majority of their time taking pictures and posting them for ‘likes’ to fit in with everyone else, or they are stalking other people’s posts and pictures, wondering why their life is not as thrilling as the others’ appear. Worst of all, kids of all ages are committing suicide after being cyberbullied to the point that they cannot take it anymore. Picturing it now? Regrettably, that describes the scenery of how their generation is now – and it is horrifying.

In today's generation there is this big attachment to social media and digital devices from teens, and in their opinion social media has made a negative impact on their lives. Teenagers today look to social media as an outlet to express themselves and from my personal experience, as a way to connect with their friends or to even keep in touch with my family members who may not live in the same area. This also forms a repetitive action of continuing to use social media which is what makes it so important to teens because in our minds- there really isn't another way to communicate with others- other than social media.

A recent study titled #StatusofMind, surveyed young adults from the ages of 14 to 24 revealead the negative effects that social media has on one’s life. The study uncovered that social media brings upon undermining mental health issues, influences self-identity and degrades body image. Social media has made it easy to make anyone's life superficial, especially that of teenagers who are more susceptible to society's standards and expectations. Social media is infamous for creating phony personalities, bringing down self esteem, and influencing users to alter their identity because society has set standards for the “perfect” person.

ocial media sites are described as rapidly growing platforms of user-generated content: digital images, videos, and blogs. They encompass a vast majority of contemporary websites and serve as a place to divulge in interesting discussion, reconnect with past friends or family, and even serve as footholds for important parts of one’s life through posted content. Social media sites are sitting on their throne in the fast-paced world of instant communication. However, it is also for this reason of mass communication that bring about the detriments of social media. They can often influence younger minds, specifically teenagers, into partaking in drug abuse through several forms. It is an unfortunate fact that teenagers are exposed to this type of social peer-pressure daily, through a variety of sources such as their favorite music artists. In fact, most modern day “rappers”, consistently post self-glorifying images of themselves smoking marijuana. The social environment of open drug use and advertising on social media sites plays a major component in the recent trends of drug abuse present in teenagers aged 12-17 in the United States through various influences.

Social media is a term used to describe the interaction between groups or individuals in which they produce, share, and sometimes exchange ideas over the internet and in virtual communities. The impact of social networks on young people is significant. Teenagers are growing up surrounded by mobile devices and interactive social networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, which has made the social media a vital aspect of their life. Social network is transforming the manner in which young people interact with their parents, peers, as well as how they make use of technology.

Social media sites allow millions of people to interact with friends,family and anyone around the world. A large portion of social media users are teenagers; researchers and parents both believe that social media is having a multitude of possible effects on teenagers. This literature review will analyze research of the positive and negative effects social media are having on today’s impressionable youth. Much of the research focuses on the age range of 10-16 from well-to-do families and college students. Understanding the online environment that teenagers live in can help parents relate to their children and teach then about the dangers and benefits of being on the Internet.

Online social media platforms have grown and gained popularity worldwide. With time, most generations have embraced and gotten acquainted to the changes brought by social media, young adults and teenagers are the most avid users and biggest fans of sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. With all the popularity social media sites have gained, it is no surprise that they have piqued many researchers’ interests. Numerous studies online social media have showed that such sites are impacting and affecting young people’s lives significantly. Being on Tumblr, Snapchat, and Tinder have had both negative and positive effects on the youth of today and how we interact with the world.

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.