The Impact of Social Media Upon Self Esteem

Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives--or exerted such broad influence over our thoughts--as the Internet does today.

Clarissa Silva article in the Huffington Post delves into social media’s impact on self-esteem. As a behavioral scientist, her interest in the matter relates to her field. She also gets the help of other experts Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, Natalia Lusinski, and Dr. Suzana Flores to help with her research. Silva states that “social media is linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and decreased social skills" (1). Then outlines her research findings using rhetorical appeals.

Being an adult is the number one thing that children want to be: The desire to get older to do things that you want when you want and having no one say otherwise. However, what is an adult? An ambiguous term that really falls into the hands of the individual, where at Sixteen you can drive, eighteen you can vote, and twenty-one you can drink, for those in the USA, all varying ages that individuals could use as indications of adulthood. Robin Heinig wrote and article “What is it about 20- somethings?” where she discusses Arnett’s proposal about a new developmental stage, “Emerging Adulthood”. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, an American professor in psychology, believes that we aren 't entering adulthood till the later portions of our twenties. For some, this may be true but for the general population including myself I find this hard to believe. Leo Hendry’s article, “How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example”, on emerging adulthood gives a deeper understanding to what this generation 's kids are going through. The late teens are a crucial part to the lives of a young adult. It 's the time that we spend trying to identify ourselves, escape the circumstance that we are put into at a younger age, or just had a better family income. Arnett is not wrong, but all other external factors need to be accounted for before we know, or even consider if emerging adulthood is a new developmental stage.

The article "Betwixt and Bewildered: Scholars are Intrigued by the Angst of "Emerging Adults" by Lynn Smith discusses a societal trend towards young adults (18-25) who are struggling to achieve the traditional markers of adulthood. The article covers some of the scholarly debate of the subject, wherein some researchers accept the phenomenon, others reject it, and between them they find little in the way of clear definition of the problem and its ramifications.

Emerging adulthood entails having independent social roles. It is the time period where this person is not a child, yet not an adult as well. directions in life are uncertain, but the possibilities are endless. This paper will discuss how emerging adults overcome challenges in cognitive, social, emotional,

There are many developmental milestone events and transition points that help form the identity of an individual. As one transitions from milestone to another, they are not necessarily losing or gaining anything, but are adapting to their new stage in life (Bjorklund, 2011). These transitions can affect other domains of human development including: physical changes, cognitive changes, personality or identity, social relationships and mental health. The transition into adulthood is a transition that varies widely between each individual (Bjorklund, 2011). Some young adults may enter military service, go into the workforce, get married, or go to college. This indicates that young adults do not have to go into a role they do not wish to enter and they have the freedom to make their own decisions (Bjorklund, 2011). This transition into adulthood varies in length for all young adults, and this time is spent solving issues that affected them in childhood, and will help them to become successful adults (Bjorklund, 2011). Emerging adulthood is the transition that takes place between the ages of 18 and 25 (Bjorklund, 2011). This transition gives young adults the time to explore and experience new things that eventually lead them to commitments of work and love (Bjorklund, 2011). According to Erik Erikson, one’s personality will continue to develop throughout their entire life, and, in order to have

“We blog, tweet, and post what we are doing, thinking, feeling” (462). What we choose to let out gets taken without our consent. Society is under surveillance at any given time or

It has been suggested by previous research that the majority of 18 to 25 year olds are no longer part of the adolescent group. Though, they do not consider themselves to be adults either. Scientists have long discovered that adolescence is critical in the transition to adulthood (Hagan & Wheaton, 1993). This period between adolescence and adulthood has been referred to as emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). The transition from adolescence to adulthood often involved; graduating, finding a fixed job, establishing an independent household, getting married and becoming a parent (Arnett, 1997, 2001; Nelson & McNamara Barry, 2005). However, some propose that teenagers

The entrance into adulthood is unavoidable for everybody, which can be intimidating for majority because, “the real world” that people have been preaching about is finally upon you. The people that talk about the how awful the world can be, are attempting to prepare you for what is over the horizon, but instead, you just want life to remain the same as is. Denial is the first stage of Kübler-Ross stages of loss and grief, so it is common for most to not listen to elders about life. Only you will know what life is through your own experiences hence, everyone will have a different transition into adulthood. Transitions into adulthood can differ from a collection of options: Postsecondary prep, self- determination, money management skills or building a work résumé. Once the

Emerging adulthood stage can be challenging, but the challenges are what shapes these individuals to better themselves. “Leonard Bernstein said that to achieve great things, you need a plan and not quite enough time” (CITE, JAY. This quote is very profound and true because as emerging adults head into real life and the world, there will be many dreams and accomplishments that these individuals want to pursue. Without a plan, these emerging adult’s lives will be chaotic and no direction will be enforced. Planning is key to success. “Do something that’s an investment in who you might want to be next” (CITE, JAY). As these emerging adult’s complete college, work with different organizations, or want to become married, these adults should proceed

In this day and age, social media has become an integral part of our lives. It has created a platform for people to share information instantly and communicate with people all around the world. Facebook is the most outstanding example of successful social media network. According to the first quarter 2015 earnings announcement by Facebook, the site has achieved 1.44 billion active users per month, and 65% of which are daily active users. Other social networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are also a powerful means of communication. With such a large audience, social networking sites provide ample opportunities to acquire information, network, and connect with friends.

There are five key features that characterize emerging adulthood. The first s identity exploration. The second is “Instability.” For many the instability is a result of residential changes such as living in a dorm. There is also instability in friendships, romantic relationships, academia, and work. Emerging adults have few obligations, responsibilities, and commitments. Because they have so much autonomy in controlling their own lives the third key feature is “Self-Focused.” One of the most difficult

Social Media has a massive impact on a person’s self-presentation because of the different trends where everyone wants to fit in with society’s expectations of what we should look like. Celebrities are made to be our role models, however, magazines photoshop and make them more toned and a lot slimmer, which makes young people want to make their bodies more like theirs. This then leads to the modern generation becoming self-conscious because they feel they have to fit in and achieve an ideal self that fits in with those around them.

The worth of media is a very controversial topic. Media has given us the ability to do things in new and creative ways such as how we learn and accomplish our everyday tasks. However, we do not always know how to interpurate this information. The technology available today is constantly impacting and influencing society in tremendous ways. Many of the impacts that are accocated with media are addressed in negative ways, but can be seen from a positive perspective as well. In the current generation, media and its influences can be found everywhere. These influences widely impact today’s adolescents and maturing teenagers because they are still developing into adults. Medias purpose is not only to inform us, but to allow us to mold ourselves in how we want to be perceived online. Also, it allows us easy access to unbelievable amounts of information. Living in an era known as the “information age” is riveting, but what are we suppose to do with all of this new technology and information?

Irrefutably, the recent developments toward improved efficiency, reliability and sky rocketing low-power sensors, medical monitors of all kinds, recording devices, and usage of cameras pooled with the capability of collecting, storing, accessing, classifying and sorting enormous data offers a host of benefits while at the same time, but also menacingly threatening our social liberties and prospect of individual privacy (Shaw and Jonatha, 38-43).