The Dangers Of Social Media

Social media seems to be changing how we communicate through society. Adolescents are consumed with media for an estimated 7.5-8.5 hours per day (Georgia, 2014; Giedd, 2012). Instead of interacting with each other face to face adolescents are socializing through their phones (George, 2014). The purpose of the paper was to research how social media affects the brain, sleep, and cyberbullying (Lemola, Perkinson- Gloor, Brand, Dewald- Kaufmann, & Grob, 2014; Mills, 2014; Betts & Spenser, 2017).

In the article “Constant Social Media and Teens’ Mental Health” Alan Mozes theorizes that ninety percent of teens all around the world use social media. Meaning that this could be affecting their mental health. Adolescents are now vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and sleep deprivation due to social media use, says psychology administrator, Heather Cleland Woods. The article asserts that 467 people were asked about their social media use, what times of the day they use it, and the pressure they feel when they can not respond to a message. The tests show that those who were more involved and somewhat addicted to social media have the greater chance of depression, anxiety, and poor sleep. This test refutes that cutting the use of social media

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

Recently more teenagers than ever have multiple social media accounts, and it’s not uncommon to see a group full of teens sitting together, glued to their phones, sitting in silence. The author of Hazards of Social Media, Brittany Tate, includes that studies have shown that this could be bad for both mental and physical health reasons. Teenagers that are hyperactive texters and excessive users of social media are more likely to try cigarettes, try alcohol, be binge drinkers, use illicit drugs, be in a physical fight, and have sex.

Many sources show there has been a significant increase in the use of social media by adolescents. According to Ward (2005), the amount of time that adolescents spend on social media averages 8 hours per day. This represents an increase in online social networking which has had dramatic effects on the interaction and communication among youth (Pantic, 2014). This excessive exposure has also been shown to have multiple negative outcomes regarding general development in adolescents. In fact, research from 2015 shows that in addition to these effects, excessive social networking also causes issues with loneliness, lack of sleep, and lack of proper nutrition and physical fitness (Cyr, Berman, & Smith, 2015). Three especially harmful effects include social anxiety, depression and self-esteem.

Social media seems to be one of the many hot topics of discussion recently, and consequently many people have the false sense of security that they have a profound knowledge on how it affects the health of the teenage population. A sedentary lifestyle, decreased sleep, as well as other physical health conditions seem to come to mind when one links health and social media. However, there is a much bigger problem that can go unnoticed because it can be impossible to see: the impact it has on mental and emotional health. These branches of health are just as important, and even arguably more important than physical health is. Social media can be utilized to connect with distant friends and express oneself; however, teenagers should refrain from the overuse of social media due to its detrimental effects on their mental and emotional health.

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become a major part of pre-teens and teenagers’ everyday life. With the amount of time, energy, and emotions young people put into social media, it has begun to show some negative effects on the health and well-being of youth. The possible positive effects that social media has is vastly overshadowed by the devastating negative effects it has on our youth.

In the offline world, communities are much more easily managed, and rules enforced. However, in the virtual world that is the internet, rules become arbitrary. It is scary how much we have incorporated social media into our lives, to the point we are almost dependent on it. While social networking sites may have started off as places where we could share thoughts with our peers and communicate with our family, they has since evolved into wild beasts. Privacy has become practically non-existent, security concerns are arising, people are becoming more isolated; these, among many others are the side effect of these so popular social networking sites. But what’s worse is most people can’t see the dangers associated with them, and even those who do are too afraid to be left out.

Social Media is dangerous. Predators uses websites like social network, sexting, online gaming and chat rooms to harass and can lead to many dangerous situations. Many students send inappropriate pictures, videos of themselves to their friends and they send it to other friends. Anonymous people can see these pictures and send hurtful messages to teenagers. It could harm teenagers because students in school begins to call names and bully them which increases students to commit suicide.

Social media has been around for some time now, being helpful to many people around the world. There are plenty of ways people use social media and there are many different sites to use. People rely on social media to stay current on day-to-day events, remain close to friends and family, meet new people, and even to avoid boredom on days that seem endless. Many people rely on it for information regarding current situations and to keep up with other people’s lives. It can come in many forms and can be used on a variety of gadgets like our phones, computers, laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles. It can include dating sites, social sites, and sites that gives updates on current news around the globe. Although it may seem beneficial for many, it can also lead to physical and psychological harm for the people who use it. Social Media is a dangerous, addicting artificial world that is causing physical, emotional, and psychological harm to people in our society.

Social media is incredibly and increasingly prevalent within America’s modern culture. It is nearly impossible to avoid - television shows often depict characters using social media, large stores and little shops alike post signs with links to follow them on Instagram or Facebook, and even some churches are joining Instagram or Snapchat as a means to publicize their events. For my generation, while we can vaguely remember a time before technology and social media were so widespread, this is normal. For newer generations, imagining a time without the presence of dozens of social media platforms is difficult. Younger generations have had iPhones and iPads handed to them basically since birth, have grown up watching their parents and older siblings become more invested in their phones than in them, and have begun turning away from people and towards machines. Because children are growing up immersed in technology and social media, it can hardly be surprising that they turn to social media for approval and confirmation of their behaviors and lives in general. The dangers in this are youth feeling pressured to portray their lives dishonestly, becoming unknowingly addicted to social media, and fall victim to cyberbullying.

The human brain was never designed to stare at a lit phone screen for 2-3 hours a day scrolling and scrolling until a person’s thumb cramps up; social media has caused just that. Adults preach until the sun goes down of how bad social media is for young people, and they might just be right. A study was done by Stuart Wolpert where students age 13-18 were placed in front of a screen and shown their social media posts with hundreds of likes. Wolpert states, “When the teens saw their own photos with a large number of likes, we saw activity across a wide variety of regions in the brain” (Wolpert). This is done multiple times a day within today’s young people, Wolpert goes on to explain that the brain can’t handle this amount of excitement in a span of a few hours, this causes headaches, burning of the eyes and much more. While the physical brain has a hard time handling the activity, the emotional affects caused by constant web surfing are just as harmful. “In 2011, doctors with the American Academy of Pediatrics

Social media can play a dangerous role in our lives by many ways like damaging friendships, bullying, losing respect from others, and can even affect your chances of getting a job and being accepted to college. As stated by Alan Finder from the assignment Social Networking Timed Write, “Many companies that recruit on college campuses have been using search engines like google and Yahoo to conduct background checks on seniors looking for their first job. But now, college career counselors and other experts say, some recruiters are looking applicants on social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and other media sites where college students often post risque’ or teasing photographs and provocative comments about drinking, recreational drug use and sexual exploits.” What Alan Finder is stating is that whatever you do on social media can have an a huge affect on being accepted to college. I must easily agree with Alan Finder since social media has been affecting many people’s lives in a bad way ever since everyone started using it.

Social media has become to be such a big platform over the years. You use it to interact with family members that live far away, friends, or even complete strangers that you want to get to know. Social media is known to create conflicts interacting and showing complete strangers what is going on in your life on a daily basis and you not knowing their intentions. Social media even gives out false information can be news or just blogs just posting about what they have heard around or seen. Social media can take over a life with a touch of the button various ways, it is up to the person behind the screen to control it.

Even though social media allows social interactions between family and friends most believe that it should keep them from feeling depressed. Without thinking about this American dream, they paint for families and friends, think realistically most families are waiting for you to mess up or fail in life and being associated with you on social media is just a way for them to keep up with you. Social media has been becoming more useful; it's been changing a lot of families in a very negative way (Medrano 1). This proves that since social media had been made into a big deal today its ruining almost everything and everyone that is associated with it. Even though it can be used to keep in touch it’s terrible because it causes stress on people by making them believe everything they post must be perfect or their family member will talk badly about them. It also keeps competition between friends and that just ruin their relationship maybe even be the cause of those friends never talking again. Watching other family member and friend’s social media account can make someone feel less of person or make them feel like they didn’t accomplish enough because the other is posting so much successful stuff. Following those family and friends on social media brings nothing but headaches and depression.