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The Negative Effects Of Social Media

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Imagine a super villain that preys on the majority of the individuals in our society today; altering the function of brains, aiding bullies and kidnappers, as well as many other things. In addition, these individuals bring it upon themselves to engage with the super villain. And who is this fiend I speak of you ask? The culprit’s identity is Social Media. Social media commenced in 1997 with a website called “Six Degrees”. Since 1997, there have been dozens of social media sites created such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Snapchat. As of today, there are over 2.206 billion active users on social networking sites. Social media has some positive abilities, such as allowing people from all over the world to …show more content…

The fact that more teens are sharing their personal information makes them more susceptible to dangerous circumstances. 61% of adolescents have received mean or embarrassing posts online and 59% have received mean texts, e-mails or instant messages (Anderson, Bresnahan, & Musatics). According to Procon.org, “In July 2012 Americans spent 74 billion minutes on social media via a home computer, 40.8 billion minutes via apps, and 5.7 billion minutes via mobile web browsers, a total of 121.1 billion minutes on social networking sites”. Spending this amount of time on social media negatively modifies the individual. Social media has been found to affect its users in many ways; socially, mentally, and physically. “Opponents of social networking say that the sites prevent face-to-face communication; waste time on frivolous activity; alter children’s brains and behavior making them more prone to ADHD; expose users to predators like pedophiles and burglars; and spread false and potentially dangerous information” (Procon.org). Social networking sites can lead to stress and offline relationship problems as well as aiding the spread of hate groups. Social media is also very damaging mentally. According to Procon.org, “The use of social networking sites is correlated with personality and brain disorders, such as the inability to have in-person conversations, a need for instant

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