The Influence Of Social Media On Teens

The use of social media and the role it plays in the life of an adolescent: specifically an increase of depressive symptoms, anxiety, disruptive sleep patterns, and at times conflict filled family relationships are dynamics that are still actively researched. Parenting teenagers in the digital age does not come with a how-to manual and there are no easy answers. However, there are trends and longitudinal studies that support the following hypothesis’: 1) The adolescent’s brain is undeveloped and influenced by the depth of it’s social network. Isolation, particularly in females can cause an increase in the ideation of suicidal thoughts, further, mental illness and sociability share a commonality. 2) Professionals such as pediatricians or trusted professionals should be a resource to help parents navigate the use of social media and their adolescent. There are pros and cons to the use of social media and striking the correct balance is not a simple task. 3) Social media use specifically at night, interferes with sleep patterns, quality of sleep, will to exercise and an increase in anxiety and depression. This impacts a person across a spectrum, from grades to interactions with family members.

Social media does not only have a negative effect on the brain of an adolescent, but also the sleep one may receive. Most adolescents send a text message before they go to bed and keep their phone close to their bed or under their bed so they do not miss important messages throughout the night (Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell as cited in George, 2014). A survey with over 900 pupils between the ages of 12-15 were asked about how often social media affected their sleep. In the study it was stated that one

Melissa Healy, a reporter of the Los Angeles Times, in the article Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such A Bad Idea, claims that kids who spend lots of time on social media are not the least well-adjusted, but psychologically healthiest. Healy supports her argument by demonstrating how social media is beneficial to a teen’s health. According to a three-year Digital Youth Project, when teengars use social media, it helps them develop important social skills such as communication, grappling with social norms, and developing technical skills. Psychology professor Kaveri Subrahmanyam describes that teens behave the same between offline relationships and online ones, so most teens will use the internet safely. The author’s purpose is

According to Twenge, the number of teens that go out with their friends has decreased by 40 percent compared to earlier generations. Twenge compares iGens to different generations such as Gen X (born between 1965 and early 1984), baby boomers (1946-1964) and Millennials (born around 1982-2002). Twenge emphasizes on the time teenagers spend on their phones. Social media plays a huge role in this. In accordance to Twenge, different forms of social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are what teenagers spend more time on. According to Twenge, the more time teens spend on smartphones the greater they are at risk for suicide, depression, and loneliness. Twenge also explains how teens are not receiving an adequate amount of sleep, many teens now sleep less than seven hours. Twenge concludes the article by sharing her own experience with her children and technology, she recommends parents to limit the time their children spend on phones. (59-65)

The availability of technology intensifies each year, and has become the main source of entertainment for people worldwide. As it becomes more available, more people use it in their everyday lives. Teens on average spend 9 hours a day on social media. That is more time than most spend asleep every night. This is a perfect example of how much time we waste on that single form of “entertainment”.

In the article “Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such a Bad Idea”, the author, Melissa Healy, writes about how parents should not be overly concerned about their children using social media websites. Also, the author touches base on how social media could be an exceptional thing. Social media should not be a concern for parents and should not be a dangerous thing. American children ages eight to eighteen are said to spend more than seven and a half hours using social media or the internet (Healy). However, psychologist say that the kids who spend most of their time using social media are psychologically the healthiest (Healy).

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.

Social media has negative effects on adolescents who overuse it. It is important as parents or guardians to remember to monitor how much kids use social media and when they use it. As a parent or guardian, you must remember that the disorders kids can get from overusing social media is real. Also remember that the internet isn’t always the safest place for our children. The use of social media can be damaging and it has no benefit. Keep control of your children’s use on social media to avoid these negative effects. The internet does interfere with daily

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in which they discuss teens and their acts on social media, they state that, “…95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 80% of those online teens are users of social media sites” (Pew Research Center). With there being over seven billion people in the world, just think about how many teenagers there are. Information from these teens is being transferred all over the world through multiple forms of social media including: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Snapchat, Pinterest, and hundreds more. When you use social media, you are using, “forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content” (Merriam Webster). Social media can be a good thing, but there seems to be more of a bad influence than good when it comes to teenagers and their social media use.

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.

The rates of mental health issues in teenagers and young people is increasing, with 20% of the young people in the United States suffering from a mental disorder in their lifetime (Traci Pederson, 2010, Psych Central). This increase must have stemmed from something recent and modern, which many psychologists believe may be the large increase in use of social media, for example Facebook, which has around 1.2 billion active users per month (Whitman, 2015, Medical News Today). This may be damaging the mental health of teenagers in today’s modern society and may be the reason for the increase in mental illnesses. This essay will explore the damaging effects of social media but also what benefits there may be.

Adolescents are technology driven. They wish to be in contact with others at all times. This often leads to problematic social media use. Problematic social networking is when networking becomes an addiction and is harmful to the individuals. The adolescent age group is between the ages of 12 and 18. To put this into reference this is the middle school to high school group. At this age, they need eight hours of sleep to be healthy. Problematic networking causes a decrease in sleep in adolescents and in turn, it is having a negative effect on their health resulting in issues in school.

Studies have shown that the average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping according to Nick McGillivray (“What are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?). Social has become part of our social society, especially for the many youths. There are positives to being on social media and also equal amounts of danger that come with using social networking sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. These social networking sites also have effects on today’s youth by altering the way they behave, the way they learn, in not only a classroom setting but also in the real world setting, and the way that they socialize with their peers and others.

As the years go by, the amount of users on social media is continuously increasing. People often think about the positive attributes that technology has brought us, however there are many negatives as well. As a result of excessively indulging in social media, adolescents face numerous problems in developing their brain. Although this problem is often ignored, it is very important for the public to be informed about the dangers of social media on their health. Due to an immoderate use of social media in children, they often have a constant distraction, have inferior sleeping habits, and have their brain’s “reward center” overly active.

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.