The Effects Of Social Networks And Modern Media On Teenagers

Social media, it has taken the lives of everyone who has heard it over the years from teens to adult and changing the life of everyone. But, has social media been harming the minds of the new generations? Being in a world where social media is available to approximately everyone, many have been affected negatively by 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).

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

Over 94% of American teenagers claim to access social media daily, today teenagers and social media tend to be the butt in everybody’s joke, but what are the effects of social media? Bethany Mota is a 21-year-old women who has been able to start her own fashion line at the age of 17 because of social media. Amanda Todd was just 16 when she decided to end her life, due to the fact that she was persecuted relentlessly on social media sites. Many young people get bullied or harassed through social media daily, while others are given amazing opportunities to express themselves and connect with others with the same passions as them. So, what is the impact of teenage participation in social media?

Social media plays an important role in the lives of teenagers and potentially young women. It can actually be a big influencer on their decisions being as it’s a place to express yourself in many ways even if those ways put off negative connotations to those around. Daily on social media you typically see a lot of ads, people who you might perceive as “beautiful” or “pretty”, along with statuses and pictures that talk about how the “perfect” relationship or person should be. As a teenager myself, I recognize that a lot of young girls struggle with finding themselves and wanting to be different. Females in general have a hard time This current generation of teenagers are more concerned with social media sites like facebook, instagram, twitter, and snapchat. More people are concerned with the number of likes or favorites they get rather than actual important or real world things. For a teen that struggles with self-esteem issues, it could be confusing to see a lot of “pretty” girls and not know why you don’t or can not look like them. Social media when used addictively has negative or harmful effects on young girls self-esteem.

Teens and even adults post fights of themselves and other people on platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. The crime rate in the last four years has gone up 780 percent due to social media, and about 650 people have been charged with crimes due to social media. “A blockbuster violent movie has a direct effect on crime as more individuals are exposed to screen violence, but also has an indirect effect on people as people are drawn away from an alternate activity and its associated level of violence” (Dahl 681). Violent movies and social media platforms are the main causes as to why the crime rate has gone up. Social media is everywhere and people cannot go about their daily lives without seeing some form of social

Social media plays an immense role in the way that stereotypes about attractiveness is conveyed in regards to body image. As Gerbner and Gross wrote in 1976, the cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. The subjection to social media can cause an idealistic view amongst young girls and women alike. Among the mechanisms of human agency none is more central or pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). This belief that these body types are achievable can lead to females being dissatisfied within their own skin. The result of the discontent can potentially lead to eating disorders. Body dissatisfaction occurs when views of the body are negative and involves a perceived discrepancy between a person 's assessment of their actual and ideal body (Cash and Szymanski, 1995 and Grogan, 2008). It is estimated that approximately 50% of adolescent girls report being unhappy with their bodies (Bearman, Presnell, & Martinez, 2006). Surveys have revealed that the exposure to social media can cause body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms’ and the concept that thin is “beautiful” amongst young girls and women (Botta 1999; Harrison and Hefner 2006; and Stice et al. 1994). With media influence, the question is the strength of the effect, studies indicate the effects are small in scale; they are likely to operate in accordance with particular differences in

Social Media has been a cause to many detrimental effects in teens and will continue on in the future. Models show off their “unattainable” body and flaunt it, surely causing envy in women that can’t get that body no matter how much they try. Media has its own way in showing what we could be, but what we're not seemingly mocking us. Teens will try and copy that image no matter how unhealthy or bad their choices are. The National Eating Disorder Association (2006) reported that in the past 70 years national rates of eating incidences of all eating disorders have dramatically increased across the board. This controversy erupted once everybody saw how "skinny" was admired and strived for it. Media has depicted the perfect woman to be someone

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.

A Teenager’s life is not like it was for their parents. A generation ago, kids went out, hung out, did “stuff”. Now all they want to do is be in their rooms, on the computer or their phone, or both. Texting, sharing, gaming, liking, commenting constantly can’t prepare them for “real life”. This reliance on electronic devices can’t be good. How will they learn to relate to each other, to problem solve, to exist when the power goes out? The enormous amount of time spent online and plugged-in is harmful to a teenager’s development.

Visualize this: It is almost time to eat dinner, and the 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 lives are not as thrilling as the others’ lives 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 – the effects of social media on young people are horrifying.

In this day and age, it is rare to come across someone who doesn’t own a smart phone,

For Freshman Lyana Delgado at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, social media was key in establishing relationships with her neighbors before school started. By joining a Facebook group for residents of Bromley Hall, meeting her neighbors was not an uncomfortable or awkward task. (Rodriguez). This is just one of the many ways that social media sites, like Facebook, help guide face-to-face interaction and aide in creating relationships. Social media sites help teenagers meet people that have similar interests and experiences as them.Social media sites are not detrimental to teenagers because it allows teenagers to meet other likeminded people, and it makes young adults feel better about themselves.

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.

Culture in the modern age is characterized by more complexity than ever before; particularly after the mass use of the Internet. Each particular ethnicity and culture must adapt into the culture as a hole, yet the way the Internet has changed the way humans act with each other has no precedent in history not even the telephone changed culture this dramatically (Storey). Less than two decades ago, primarily academics and scientists used the Internet. Today, it is a major contributor to increased global communication, data access, research, personal communication, social networking, and recreation. As Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft commented, "The main advantage of any new technology is that it amplifies human potential," clearly the Internet falls into that category (Gates).