The Negative Effects Of Social Media And Cyberbullying

Rachel Ehmke addresses the negative effects of social media in a strident, yet true, way. The use of social media among teens in America is 75 percent and out of that percentage 68 percent use Facebook more than any other site or app (Common Sense Media, as cited by Ramasubbu, 2016, p.1). According to Suren Ramasubbu in his article “Influence of Social Media on Teenagers”, Facebook is an outlet for depression, sexting, and cyberbullying (2016, p.1). Ehmke points these effects as well to support her opinion along with other effects like indirect communication, loss of experiences, the imposter syndrome, and stalking. It can be concluded that the reasons provided by Ehmke are valid reasons to prove why social media can affect a person negatively.

Social media itself is a huge danger to society. It causes many suicides within the world because of the cyberbullying and spreading of rumors. “Recent studies have shown that one out of four teens have been the victims of cyberbullying and one out of six have admitted to having cyberbullied someone” (Trautner 1). The internet and social media is supposed to be used to communicate with friends and for searching information, “Kids use technology different than their parents do. Sometimes it is hard for adults to understand that this can even be a possibility” (Trautner 1). It is not supposed to be used to bully someone, especially not to the point where the victim would think about suicide. “One of the statistics that has been highlighted within this news coverage is the threefold increase in the suicide rate for girls ages 10 to 14. The rates for girls in this age group increased from 0.5 to 1.5 per 100,000 during this time period. The increases for boys in this age group were not as high, climbing from 1.9 per 100,000 during 1999 to 2.6 per 100,000 in 2014” (Olsen

Rebecca Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl, committed suicide after being repeatedly cyberbullied by 15 girls for many months. Once again, cyberbullying through social media has led to the suicide of a child. (“Phillips, Suzanne”) Social media allows hundreds of ways to communicate with others with electronic devices. Sometimes communicating with strangers, and sometimes unanimous. This idea of constant messages, notifications, and texts can be very dangerous when it comes to cyberbullying because the victim feels like they have no way out, or nowhere to hide. Social media for kids and teens ultimately has only negative effects because it leads to cyberbullying, a decrease in education, and suicide.

Initially, social media is commonly used as a weapon to attack others on their opinions or simply because they despite other people. For instance, cyber bullying has caused huge problems ever since social networks have started becoming popular. “Nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online. 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once,” (“11 Facts about Cyber Bullying” www.dosomething.org). This is more targeted at teenagers and children because they are unaware of the harmful things they might say over the internet. To illustrate, cyber bullying can become a very serious issue when a minor commits suicide. “Bully-related suicide can be connected to any type of bullying, including . . . cyberbullying, and sexting, or circulating suggestive . . . about a person” (“Cyber Bullying & Social Bullying” http://www.bullyingstatistics.org). It’s the parent’s duty to filter the internet. Based on this information, social media is not necessarily safe, anyone can become a victim

Every year, "over 25 percent of adolescents and teens [are] bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet." (cyber bullying stats) and "Cyber-bullying [is] becoming more and more rampant in school and after school among teens and children." (Bullying stats). Social media can be a great thing that can open doors to new opportunities and discoveries, however, when used incorrectly, the digital footprint left behind may greatly affect future opportunities. To prevent a negative digital footprint, children and teens must be educated about internet uses.

Inclusive of these platforms is the rise of social media applications. These are tools which have aided people to send photos and other multimedia files and messages to millions of people at a moment’s notice. These implements have been used to disastrous effects on many college students in various incidences of cyberbullying. [What are the disastrous effects of cyberbullying? How does cyberbullying impact students? Including the answers to these questions will help the readers understand your argument.] Research conducted has shown that 83% of adults between the ages of 18-29 use the internet while attending college. 90% of them report that they are active members of the social media (Zalaquett and Chatters 2). It is a situation that has brought many problems since cyberbullying is cited to have more lasting impacts than normal bullying. The significance of the problem is accentuated by the relative lack of research done to study cyberbullying at the college

Social Media has grown to be one of the world’s most popular use of communication.

As social media gets popular and provides an easier access to the Internet, the more difficult it gets to control people’s outburst. Many people wonder, “What is the difference between traditional bullying and cyber bullying?” “What is cyber bullying?” Traditional bullying is when a person is bullying another person face to face. However, with cyber bullying is different. Cyber bullying occurs through out social media and on the Internet. Once in a while I overhear a person questioning about how teens and young kids use social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and etc. Social media has its pros and cons, pro because it gives us an easier to access to sources when we need it right away. Social media also has its cons because social media is very powerful tools, which can be taken advantage of like for example, making shanky comments on pictures or post inappropriate information about another person. Therefore, how fast is cyberbullying expending? How can we use the Internet in a positive way? Two great essays by Jesse Fleck, Leigh Johnson-Migalski, Jemica Carter, and Feleta Wilson explain these reasoning’s.

Despite the positives, there are many negatives associated with social media. Using social media can make a person more vulnerable to predators and cyber bullying. In this age, “Cyber bulling is quite common, can occur to any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and tragically suicide” (“American Academy of Pediatrics”). Cyber bullying impacts society in a negative way because it is harming young teenagers’ minds. Bullies, torment, threat, harass, and even embarrass their victims by using different forms of social media. Using social media can also decrease privacy for an individual. People often give out their personal information not knowing who can see it. To average internet users, “A false sense of security may leave social networking site users vulnerable to security attacks such as hacking, leaking sensitive information, and sending viruses” (“ProCon”). Furthermore, Social media can also lead to brain disorders and can cause people to have a hard time interacting with people face to face. “Social networking entices people to spend more time online and less time talking to a person face to face.” (“ProCon”)

Social media is one of the most common ways for people to communicate anywhere and at any time in modern society. Some people think that it is beneficial to have in society. Although, many people are starting to see negative effects arise from the use of social media as well. These negative effects are increasing and becoming more problematic every day. The disadvantages of social media far outweigh the advantages. Social media effects everyone in society, especially teenagers by negatively impacting their lives, face-to-face interactions, and mental health.

The use of social media is consuming most of lives on a daily. Every second we are constantly consumed into our phones. Let’s face it the world needs technology, and it makes it more convenient to do things. A lot of negative things happen over the internet, and social media causes people harm. Cyberbullying has increased over the last decade. People feel like they can say anything because they are behind the screen. Cyberbullying can make people feel bad, and insecure about who they are. Children especially are really sensitive to hurtful comments, and that can lead to dangerous outcomes.

There are so many teenagers and young adults that go on the internet and bully others to make themselves feel better. According to Nancy E. Willard, a lawyer and the founder of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, “Teenagers think that because they can do it, that makes it right” (Schulten). Social media is a huge factor in cyberbullying. So many teenagers can see, post, or read posts from others harassing people, trying to make bullying look ‘popular’ and ‘funny.’ For example, Katherine Schulten, an author of a New York Times article, “students are encouraged by Facebook and Twitter to put every thought and moment online, and as they sacrifice their own privacy to the altar of connectedness, they worry less about the privacy of others” (Schulten).

One negative effect that social media has on teens is cyberbullying (Henkin). Teens bully others about simple things such as their looks and their relationships. They even start to judge their lifestyle. They are bullying others that are younger or older than they are. There is a big difference with teens on social media and in reality. Cyberbullying can be seen anywhere. On social media it gives them the free time to do and say what they want to others because they won’t do any of that in reality. Cyberbullying is the leading

So Cyberbullying happens public and private from the user accounts. By that, it means Cyberbullies have their ways of putting on a victim on the spot because others will view it. Teenagers will see what’s going on causing others to get involved and spreading around the problem. Spreading rumors are the most common situation teenagers like to do. Anything on social media makes teenagers talk about it having people to believe it or not. Some examples are people seeing the conversations, screenshotting, commenting, and receiving messages or texts about what the cyberbullying doing. Teenagers on social media continue to talk about it by spreading it around. Teenagers who are victims from Cyberbullies are worried about what others think of them after everyone knowing what’s going on. At times victims receiving a notification from a cyberbully makes them afraid to even open the message. Victims who have been harassed happens because of the way they look, gender, body figure, posting pictures, and how they behave. Due to social media, teenagers should be cautious of who they have on their accounts.

8). Some teenagers sleep with cell phones right beside them, or under their pillows, and are waken up to check their phones every time they hear a beep. These acts cause such horrible and severe health problem as mentioned above. Social media is a “place for hope;” however, on social media, we “invent ways of being with people that turn them into something closer to objects” (Turkle 153, 168). Due to this, social media has gradually become a platform for cyber bullying and sexting. When teenagers bully, they treat each other like objects. They say mean words to each other that sometimes break others hearts. Cyber bullying can cause abnormal fears, poor appetite, alcohol abuse, and probably death. Kirby, a kid who committed suicide, left a note for his parents saying: