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Effect of social media on youth
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Position Paper
Social media sites have dramatically increased in popularity over the last few years. It is fun to post pictures and statuses about future events and exciting things to do. It is easier for people to communicate over the Internet. These sites have a downfall, though. Studies have also shown that as social media increases, so does depression. These sites can be fun but they have very negative aspects to them and teens do not go unaffected by the faults. Kids post about what they are out doing and others feel the need to go out and do something, too. It raises the question of fear of missing out. Celebrities also use their accounts which can be followed by anybody. Teens end up constantly comparing themselves to celebrities’ appearances and bright, outgoing personalities. Studies have also shown that cyber bullying has become a much bigger problem with the growth of internet usage. All of these different things having to do with social media have led to kids feeling depressed, ugly, and alone. The use of social media has increased depression in today’s teenagers.
On Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, people post pictures and statuses of what they are doing. Documenting every move has become something of a fad. Just sitting at home, trying to relax can be stressful because with all these posts, people can see a bunch of things that they could or should be doing. Am I missing out? This is a question that haunts the mind of every teenager who tries to sit at home and read a book rather than go out to a party with friends. This is a major problem because it is not events, parties, and how many friends they have that defines a person. Teenagers need to take the time to sit and relax and do some self-realization. Often ti...
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... constantly compare themselves to others. When kids feel they can’t make themselves be like the pretty famous people online- that’s when eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia come about to try to deal with their depression. Third, teen suicide and depression has increased because cyber bullying over social media sites has hit an all-time high. Social media should be limited to teenagers to improve mental health, overall.
MLA Citations
"7 Telltale Signs Social Media Is Killing Your Self-Esteem." Alternet. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2014.
"Depression in Children and Adolescents (Fact Sheet)." NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014.
Enayati, Amanda. "Facebook: The Encyclopedia of Beauty?" CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 23 May 2014.
"HowStuffWorks "What's Social Media Depression -- and Might I Have It?"" HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.
Studies also found that 6.4% had intentionally cut bruised or harmed themselves and that 8.1% had though about suicide and 1.3% had actually attempted suicide. This evidence shows that social media is bad for teens and preteens. If social media got banned then there would not be any sort of problem like this.
Social media was created with the purpose of aiding the general population to communicate with one another. these platforms have other uses as well, but mainly for communication. However, given handheld and other communication devices that are always connected to the internet, it is becoming increasingly rare for people to make human interactions such as meeting up with people face-to-face. In some cases loneliness, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and heightened aggression are possible repercussions of spending copious amount of time on the internet. Using social media gives people, more specifically adolescents, exposure to bullying and harassment. According to a study in UK, social platforms such as Facebook is giving cause to anxiety and increased feeling of inadequacy. In this study, half the respondents stated that social media had changed their behaviour, felt less confident in contrast to their online friends’ achieveme...
“Kids are more isolated online than when they’re interacting in real life situations, which can lead to anxiety and depression.” Bartels agrees. Social media has been around for decades, and has been affecting kids for many ages. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and more are different social media sites that demoralizing people relationships with family members. 92 percent of people check social media daily, and half never post anything. Social media does have a negative influence on middle school students, because it causes anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, and can lead to cyberbullying.
I’m convinced that social media has a negative influence on the self-esteem of its users. The University of Salford in the UK did a study last year on social media’s effects on self-esteem and anxiety, and reported that 50% of their 298 participants said that their “use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter makes their lives worse”.... ... middle of paper ... ...
From "thintastic" blogs to suicide stories, social media has become not only a source of conversation but a gateway to harmful suggestions that many teenagers see and believe to be allowable, when in fact the situations proposed are dangerous to those who attempt them. Statistics show that 20% of anorexic teenagers will die prematurely, and 80% of teenagers who commit suicide are depressed (South). Social media has glorified and brought to attention eating disorders, depression, and suicide among teens that might otherwise not become a statistic in these critical categories.
How the social networking influents young people’s psychological well-being? Since the World Wide Web appeared in the world in the year of 1991, the internet has significantly changed people’s life on almost every level. Especially when the social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, became popular during the last decade, people’s lifestyles have greatly changed by this form of communication, which consequently brings many psychological effects on the young people. As the result, according to the recent researches, the teenagers and the young adults in this era are bearing many mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and addiction, due to the social
Recent studies show that the use of Facebook is directly associated with low self-esteem and depression. One study in particular headed by Professor of Psychology, Ethan Kross in 2013 monitored 82 volunteers ranging in age from late teens to early twenties. The volunteers agreed to have their Facebook activity monitored while they reported their moods and feelings via text and filled out questioners. The study found that the amount of Facebook use was directly related to the moods reported by the volunteers; the more they used Facebook the worse they felt and the lower they rated their own self-esteem. Even more surprising, is at the end of the two week study, participants who used Facebook the mo...
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are only a few of the most common words used in today’s language among children, teens and adults. Such words can be described as popular terms related to what many of us know as social media. In today’s culture, many teenagers rely so heavily on the usage of social media that issues once thought to be revolutionary are now taking place offline and online. In fact, several cases of mental addictions, depression and even suicide have all stemmed from the initial usage of sites such as Facebook, which are otherwise socially accepted as a simple means of communicating with “friends.” While social media does have its advantages, it can also be held responsible for several negative events in the lives of today’s teenagers.
Besides cyberbullying, there are many other negative outcomes for American youth in the use of social media websites like Facebook. For example, many teens are using shorthand and abbreviations when writing or communicating online. Additionally, teens lose themselves in social media, ignore their surroundings and even become addicted to social media. Consequences of this include a rise in obesity, devaluation in family, lack of exercise and decrease in focus on school and homework. Adolescents that use social media more often than others are more prone to “narcissistic tendencies,” “anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders” (Protalinski, 2011). American youth that share more online also display manic, aggressive and antisocial behaviors.
Social media or cancer? Just like cancer, social media slowly withers away people’s brains, especially in teenagers, when they consume almost everything they read. Social media has grown exponentially while attracting the young minds of teens and molding them without teens knowing. They latch on to things that they feel comfortable with, because they are still trying to find who they really are. Today, social media is used by almost every teenager in America. Sites like Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and Facebook can affect them in a negative way, making them feel worse about themselves or even changing who they really are. Social media can seem harmless to many teens, but it can actually hurt them and cause mental health issues.
One of the most concerning effects of social media is depression. When teens create an online identity, they are often displaying an unauthentic self. This “other” self is often what the person wants to be like. Having to jump from the online self to the real self can often lead to depression. In an article in the Huffington Post, Dr. Jim Taylor calls this Facebook depression. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that “Researchers have proposed a new phenomenon called “Facebook depression,” defined as depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression.” (802). Facebook and other social media outlets create an almost high school-like environment outside of school where the teen has to strive for acceptance as well. Dr. Moreno tells the New York Times that ...
There is no secret that a modern day teenager’s life is built around the usage of technology. As a result of society’s heavy reliance on technology, social media has become popular amongst people who are “technologically advanced.” Though there is a wide variety of social sites that can be accessed through modern day technology, a few have become very popular. Social sites which have become widely popular among teens include Instagram, Tumblr, and Snapchat. These social networking sites provide instant social connection and emotional support while letting teens post and send pictures of their everyday life. Many teens look towards social media for emotional support and social acceptance. The continual usage of these sites are negatively impacting the self- esteem of teenagers worldwide since they heavily rely on social medias to portray images of what they believe is acceptable for the society we live in.
There has been controversy as to whether parents should limit the use of social media by teenagers. Teenagers feel that there is no need to limit the use of their social media networking, but on the other hand parents should feel the need to limit their use and also keep track of their teen’s social networking. Social media has allowed to be connected with their peers, teens who post positive status are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and to many teens putting up “selfies” is a self confidence boost; however, too much social media can affect students GPA in school, cyber bulling can affect social health. Social media networks can give out personal information.
In the twenty -first century, teenagers live in a life of social networking and life’s online. It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed over the decades, especially in technology. Technology helps people to contact relatives and friends from long distance more easily and conveniently. People can now talk to each other from everywhere in the world simply through chat and video calls. By time, internet connections have spread throughout households and social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram has increased gradually. However, the internet and several modern technologies have wasted many times and has hurt the society. Social media plays such a big role in people’s lives that some people couldn’t even imagine
Marche, Stephen. “Is Facebook Making us Lonely? (Cover story)”: 8 (10727825) 309.4 (2012): 68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.