Social Media Impact

Addiction doesn’t only come from drugs and cigarettes, but also social media. When teens start using social media too much it can get as addictive as drugs and cigarettes.This is disturbing because of past studies drugs and cigarettes are one of the hardest things to give up, once you start. “Teens who get hooked on such forms of social media find it hard to spend too much time away from them.Their schoolwork can suffer as a result. So can their personal relationships and their moods,” states Source 1. One can see from this that social media has caused stress among teens by getting them to attach to their social media profiles that they lose touch with reality.

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.

The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.

Social media is used widely by many across the nation, it is very prevalent in the lives of today’s college student and young adults to connect with friends attending different institutions or even friends sitting just across the room. In a generation where technology is so heavily relied on and even addicting to some, we have seen an increase of addictive behaviors. Does the overuse of technology contribute to the rising alcohol and drug addictions as well as mental health issues? In this paper I will discuss addiction and it’s prevalence in the U.S.  I will also discuss the use of social media in both teens and adults and the effects it has on the use of alcohol and drugs.

From waking up at dawn to sleeping at night, it has now become essential and perhaps normal for people—specifically the youth—to check their social media accounts regularly. Moreover, with phones glued to chests the entire day, it is as if cellular devices have become lifelines—seemingly impossible to survive without. A study by the Australian Psychological Society displays that 56% of adolescents (aged 13-17) are heavy social media users, connecting more than five times a day; 25% remain constantly connected. On average, adults spend 2.1 hours a day linked to social media, whereas teens spend 2.7 hours. People constantly have desires to check into the virtual world, disconnecting themselves from reality. However, in actuality, these are warning signs for a dangerous outcome: addiction. While many brush off these urges in a light-hearted manner, addiction is a serious issue with life-altering effects. The previously mentioned study also states that 60% of adolescents and 25% of adults feel brain burnout from continuously staying connected to social media. In addition, more than half of adolescents find it difficult to sleep after spending time on these sites—thus proving that the effects of addiction can be dangerous. What may seem like a few ordinary hours on the web can actually have psychological effects on the brain. Mental health is no laughing matter; it is a critical issue that needs to be dealt with in a serious fashion. Constantly staying attached to social media can affect sleep schedules as well as the ability of the brain to operate properly; consequently, this can influence the capability of a person to function in school, at work, etc. The negative effects of social media may also include a decrease in one’s self esteem; people who regularly visit networking sites may be prone to anxiety as well. The

Being on social media daily, affects the youth-even adults- physically, socially, and emotionally/mentally. Because technology is so addictive, over the past few years, social media has begun to influence and take control of our lives.

Social media has become a prominent part of life for many young people today. Most people engage with social media without stopping to think of its influence on our lives, whether positive or negative. What will the long term effects of today's social media use be for our youth? Social media has revolutionised how most of us communicate, especially regarding young people, even in the most remote Indigenous communities in Australia youth culture is being reshaped through digital technologies. Young people are provided with a range of positive opportunities to maintain social connections and support via online social networks as well as learning and participating with a multitude of interests. Along with these opportunities there are also risks associated with social media such as social isolation or loss of privacy as well as cyberbullying and self-esteem pressures. We need to develop the opportunities offered by digital and social media to promote learning and wellbeing for our youth that is inclusive of young people’s input and ideas.

“As many as 1 in 8 Americans suffer from problematic social media usage,” according to Stanford University,” not only are people obsessed and over use it, but they are actually becoming addicted. There are several online social medias that people are becoming addicted to; the five most prevalent are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dating sites and online gaming, in particular Warcraft. Anyone who has access to technology, a computer, smart phone etc. and access to the internet is at stake in this new-aged addiction, regardless of age, race or gender. Social Media Addiction is now being recognized as a psychological disorder all over the world, not just here in the U.S. In the 90’s studies were focused on Internet Addiction (IA), but the new decade with its advances in social media sites have now added yet another addiction to study.

People are becoming more and more addicted to social media. This is becoming a bigger problem in society. The main reason this is becoming a bigger problem with adolescents and children even younger coming onto social media.

To begin with, Social media is used 96.6 percent in the world today from things like Facebook, and twitter. Social media affects people by how, and what they use it for now a day. Social media has been in this world for many years, and many different reasons from news, to communication, from games, and updating what they're doing in life like to Facebook, or to even twitter with it having a major impact on society. Social media can also have a negative impact on people's lives. Social media has many negative impacts from false sense of communication, and bullying, to even stress to a young teens life, or it just affecting the brain particles as a whole.  ”while many think that social media have a positive outlook towards the way we think, others  may argue that it has a negative or no correlation at all. Researchers Jesse Fleck and Leigh-Migalski conducted a research project called The Impact of Social Media on Personal and Professional lives: An Adlerian Perspective to inform about changes within both the professional and personal lives due to social media. Unfortunately the research resulted in social media having a negative effect due to a higher ration of negative posts compared to positive posts”(Karran 3 of 6). But many other people believe that social media can help us as a whole with many positives. By trying to stay in touch with friends, finding dating partners, or even meeting new friends, or just basically

Social media is a part of everyone’s life. Social media issues has impacted in every young person’s life, whether it’s a relationship on Snapchat, having public fights with friends on Twitter, or throwing and inviting people to post party details on Facebook. Whether it’s at school or at home, social media impacted many people’s lives with its advance technology and fast speed messages. Social media has targeted teens into keeping a status online so that everyone who uses social media can see too. But sometimes teens get into social media so much, that they forget what is more important than looking at a phone. Teens’ relationship to social media addiction is a big issue because teens develop depression, which makes them forget who they are.

Social media has enabled businesses to strengthen their relationship with the customers (Evans, 2012). Businesses can have real time online connection with both their existing customers and potential customers where a company can convey information regarding its products. A strong engagement between the businesses and the customers through social media results to greater impact on sales, product improvement, customers’ satisfaction, and brand reputation.

Growing up as a child, I witnessed how quickly people have adapted to technology in everyday life. Computers were used for business, and there were only house telephones in use. Now, we can stream countless of social media sites through our touch screen computers and our cell phones. Media such as Facebook, Twitter, even group chat forums are used by people daily. While this adaptation is fascinating, the stress and pressure of social media can be overwhelming. Social media disrupts the lives of young adults, causing them to have personal issues that would not occur without social media.

WASHINGTON—Social media present risks and benefits to children but parents who try to secretly monitor their

With social media outgrowing many takes this as a disadvantage as they feel they are prone to sacrifice their social life and private life with the internet. This potentially leads to online threats, and shamming, resulting in depression among the youngsters who take social media as an addiction. A reporter by CNN said that “Cyberbullying has also been the cause of many suicides in young people” (Kowalski, 2009).