The Young and the Digital

With social media growing and growing into a mass of accounts and profiles and different groups of people and clubs and websites and other things, what adolescents do on social media is something that many parents worry about. Not every parent is at ease with the fact that their child/teenager is out in open water; one young human being surrounded by millions of other human beings who are younger, the same age, or older than them. The article “Teenage social media butterflies may not be such a bad idea” takes a look at teenagers ' use of social media. Social media is a very important tool, allowing people to connect or continue their relationships without

In her book, It's Complicated, Danah Boyd expresses her views on modern-day social media and the modern-day teenager's reliability with it. The book is comprised of 8 enlightening categories: identity, privacy, addiction, danger, bullying, inequality, literacy, and searching for a public of their own. Throughout the book, Boyd provides data, true stories, and factual conversations to help support her main claim: social media has taken over our youth.

According to CNN, teens spend nine hours a day consuming media. But is that a good thing? Youth can be mocked from posts on social media. Youth is more into their media “life” than real life. One doesn’t even make real friends online. Overall, social media has a negative impact on youth.

Social media has been known to help students develop important knowledge and social skills. “At first glance this may seem like a waste of time; however it also helps students to develop important knowledge and social skills, and be active citizens who create and share content.” (Chen 3). The more time teens spend on social media the more they become aware of their own social side and how to interact with others, especially their peers. “Some types of social media has beneficial effects, like helping adolescents establish some sense of identity and build networking skills” (Riley Davis). Too much time being spent on social media can also exploit teens to some harsh realities that they’ve probably never experienced in their lives before.

In her book It’s complicated Dana Boyd explores adolescents’ usage of social media. Her book covers seven different facets of social media usage. Those being: Identity, bullying, privacy, addiction, danger, inequality, literacy, and being public. Boyd uses countless personal interviews with teenagers varying in age but primarily teens ranging from ages 13-17. Her main objective throughout the novel is to empathize with today’s youth to better understand how and why they use social media. She believes that a lack of understanding by older generations is what leads to the negative stigma around the younger generation and it’s social media usage. Throughout the book you can find thematic elements of power, social norms, and race. Boyd believes the teen network phenomenon is not a completely new concept but one that is a deviation from past events.

Denoir (2011). Social network sites, definition, history, and scholarship. Boyd and Ellison Denoir. Retrieved from May 2011. https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/

A Book Review on The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future by Mark Bauerlein

Older generations don’t realize how much technology has affected this generation of teenagers, along with the social media that comes along with the technology. As stated in “How Social Media Changed Teens’ Lives Forever”; “Negative posts or comments also can do great damage to a teen’s self-esteem.” (Ashley Black, Thomas Atseff and Colleen Kaveney) While many parents think social media is just a way to connect with others, many teenagers take it for granted. For example, “quitting social media because it made her miserable and obsessed with appearing perfect online”, is what a teenager felt about social media and what it has done to her. Though many think that social media is a great way to connect, teenagers take it to another level.

Social media might be destroying the American youth of today. Social media are several websites and applications created so people may commutate, collaborate, or share information through social networking. Enough though social media sounds great, there are big issues such as, cyber bullying, lower grades, and wasting an incredible amount of time. These are things we should all be cautious about when we allow younger folks enter the world of social media.

Social media has become a prominent part of life for many young people today. Most people engage with social media without stopping to think of its influence on our lives, whether positive or negative. What will the long term effects of today's social media use be for our youth? Social media has revolutionised how most of us communicate, especially regarding young people, even in the most remote Indigenous communities in Australia youth culture is being reshaped through digital technologies. Young people are provided with a range of positive opportunities to maintain social connections and support via online social networks as well as learning and participating with a multitude of interests. Along with these opportunities there are also risks associated with social media such as social isolation or loss of privacy as well as cyberbullying and self-esteem pressures. We need to develop the opportunities offered by digital and social media to promote learning and wellbeing for our youth that is inclusive of young people’s input and ideas.

Various individuals long for a time when technology did not take over the world. For teenagers, it is difficult to imagine a life without the World Wide Web and its countless perks at their fingertips. Social media consumes young lives more than any other form of technological advancement. Social media has a few pros, but also its fair share of cons.

Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe identify that social networking sites are among the main use of internet today. According to the authors, social networking sites are among the social media platforms that facilitate interaction in the computer environment. The writers identify the main motives for using social networking sites, for example, Facebook. One of the benefits is that Facebook improves the quality of life both social and at workplaces. According to the writers, social media has become common in the society that a majority cannot remember previous life without them. Social networking sites have become popular among college students who find it as a major platform for social interaction.

Social media is causing teenagers to be negatively influenced. This is an issue, because teenagers are extremely impressionable and social media is negatively impacting their lives each day whether they are conscious of this or not. One anonymous author who wrote the article, “Teen’s Use of Social Media: Positive or Negative?” states, “90 percent of teens have used social media” (Teens’ Use of Social Media). In this statement, it is clear that a large majority of teenagers have already been exposed to some type of social media. Since teenagers learn from direct observation and experience, it is a huge problem when they witness things on social media that concern sexist, racist, or homophobic content. Many teenagers even say that they have an addiction to social media. Teens who have had bad experiences online or who do not use social media on a regular basis said that they have a stronger urge to stay away from the internet. Even though there are many negatives to social media there are some positives as well. NickMcGillivray who is affiliated with the website, TurboFuture wrote the article, “What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth.” In his article, he states, “There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs” (McGillivray). In this statement, he makes it clear, that social media has both positives and negatives. One positive of social media that impacts teenager’s lives would be, how they are able to communicate with their teachers and other classmates at any time. This makes it easier for

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.

Can you imagine living in a world with no social media or smartphone? No instagram, twitter, facebook or snapchat? Believe it or not, that world existed before us millennials did. According to an article found on the Pew Research Center.com, entitled “The Demographics of Social Media Users”, the amount of Facebook users is “72% of adult internet users [and] 62% of entire adult population.” Facebook along with other media outlets have easily become the norm for young adults and older adults in today’s society. The rapid growth of accessibility to social media networking was made possible from the creation and use of smart phones. The combination of social media sites and smart phone users has single handedly eliminated the need for human interactions, but also has provided a repertoire of information at our fingertips. I will discuss the following: the history of Facebook and its impact, the creation of the iPhone and its development of social media apps like Instagram, and the effects of cyberbullying. The purpose of this essay is to explore the productive qualities and destructive qualities that various social media outlets have presented to our generation.