Online Culture Research Paper

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).

The second major trend to be aware of is the virtual community - a social network of individuals who interact with each other without the constraints of geography, time zones, political or economic situations, weather, or demography all that matters is that they are able to come together to form a culture in which they

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.

Digital technology removed challenges of proximity, and allowed everyone to communicate (Tremetzberger, 2009). Several decades ago, some researchers theorized that face-to-face, place-based communities would become unnecessary because of technology (Bell, 1979). Virtual communities primarily developed around shared interests (Aufderheide, 2011; Boyd, 2011; Park, 2011). Online virtual communities engage in collective action, have social regulations, and participate in shared rituals similar to offline communities (Parks, 2011). Furthermore, while online content seeks to generate civic engagement, there remains debate over if online networks are more or less interactive than the offline communities that came before (Walther et al, 2011). In virtual communities people socially interact as they would in a physical environment but those actions occur in a digital location (Rheingold,

It seems as more information has become available, people have felt less need to develop the close bonds of community. Yet, as traditional communities decline in modern life, new types of communities will emerge in their place (Delanty, 2003). This is because community is important in the basis of modern social relationships (Delanty, 2003). The Internet has taken over as the new public sphere, and its role as the public sphere connects with social media’s ability to facilitate discussions and create engagement among users (Dahlberg, 2001; Papacharissi, 2000). Since the 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of virtual communities and other structures that have formed online; some researchers have questioned if the Internet will reinvigorate the democratic process (Bimber, 1998; Johnson & Kaye, 1998). There remains concern about if information online has the same ability to promote activity among the population that print does (Hoffman, 2006). However, it is unknown if these digital tools are the structures needed to help people reconnect with one another. The media have traditionally sought to inform and engage the public, so it is now time to discuss the media’s role in creating

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.

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.

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.

The second concept I want to talk about is virtual communities. Virtual communities are social groups whose interactions are mediated through information technologies, particularly the internet. Like modernism, virtual communities are very dependent on technology and the internet. Since science and technology has advanced in the past decade, people don’t need to go to different places to meet different people and can meet others over different social media platforms or even video games. Sometimes, those people met over the internet can become very close friends. For example, I play a lot of video games and I have acquainted myself virtually with many people playing those games. Some of them I even ended up meeting in real life and are still friends with today. Virtual communities have become such a social norm, that soon, people will have friends all over the internet. I think the aspect of virtual communities is good for society, because it allows people to have a greater awareness of other cultures all over the world. With more insight of how other societies and cultures operate, there is a greater chance to expand one's own social

Social media has gone from a great way to stay connected with friends to an obsession that has caused anxiety and depression amongst teenagers. “Researchers have found evidence that people who overuse technology may develop similar brain chemistry and neural patterning to those who are addicted to substances” (FCD Prevention Works). A solution would be setting boundaries on your phone. One should take periodical breaks, turn off notifications, establish phone free zones, set aside certain times to check your phone, have a phone fast, and engage in real human contact. Teenagers’ dependency on social media has caused teens to lose touch with the world going on behind their phones and laptops. This dependency social media has caused social anxiety, depression and an unhealthy need for social media.

After being asked an important question of how social media affects teenage kids lives, I went in to doing my research. One article stated, “41% say they are ‘addicted’ to their mobile devices, and 36% say they sometimes wish they could go back to a time when there was no Facebook,” (Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives, 2013). Teens are too attached to their mobile devices and the outcome has proved it. Facebook has a more negative effect on teenager’s lives because they lack physical connections, miss out on experiences, and no longer hold the quality in friendships.

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.

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.