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The impact social media has on young people psychologically
The impact social media has on young people psychologically
The impact social media has on young people psychologically
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Social media can have detrimental effects on the formation of an adolescent’s identity such as social isolation meaning that the individual will spend excessive amounts of time attached to any electronics that will provide him with social media access. Social networking has been debated to have beneficial or detrimental effects, as overuse and abuse of the Internet can be harmful to someone, such as an adolescent. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, over one million teenage girls are victimized psychologically as well as physically, through social media. Discrimination through media causes teenagers to isolate themselves from the world, as well as implement online socialization and not having the capacity to communicate with another human being in person. Furthermore, this is the effect of abuse of media. Extreme online socialization will lead to the inability of contacting with people or whenever one is out in public, social interactions will remain brief. Online socialization in a developing child and exposure to media will directly influence and affect a child’s attitudes (Lee & Conroy, 2003). Isolation causes conflicts with friends and problems with family members, as well as the inability to maintain a sense of reality. The individual undergoes emotional and psychological changes such as increased feeling of loneliness and depression, which leads to forming a fear of people or deteriorate their self-image. In the US, 6.7% of the population over the age of 18 is suffering form depression (Sunstrum 2014). In today’s society, there is technology dependence. Although social media can enhance learning and facilitate habits, it can also have a negative effect on the individual because it can affect their ability to form
Today, more than ever, the world is connected to one another. Whether down the street or across continents, one’s personal information and social life is readily available. With so much of a person’s life available for the world to see, many young adults seem to suffer from issues of depression and lower self-worth than other previous generations. According to a study by Morrison & Gore, in which researchers used items from the Beck Depression Inventory and IA Test to determine a correlation between depression and excessive internet usage. With an estimated 75% of online adults using social media, as referenced in Pew Internet Research findings, does this level of connectivity and accessibility have an adverse effect on those who use it most?
“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.
Simon Mainwaring, social media specialist, is quoted to saying, “Social media demands a lot of us on top of our already demanding lives.” In this day in age, media has boomed more rapidly than it ever has. Images are constantly flashing on our screens; we are being fed information concerning media on a regular basis. Due to the media it is effecting teens physically, mentally, and emotionally. Media is damaging the teens in this day of age.
The influence of the media on adolescence can be both beneficial and or deferential. It is here where ones interact with peers, views world news and issues, views and partakes in school gossip, and post about one’s own life and reads about others’ lives. It is often from the media that one’s gain an idea of what one self should look or act like. Eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia can be a result of these ideas or images. Social media is also the leading cause and use for bulling. According to Lauran A. Spies Shaprio and Gayla Margolin, authors of the US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Heaths journal, Growing Up Wired; Social Networking Sites and Adolescent Physical Development, “the vast majority of adolescents encounter some degree of negative experience through social networking sites, the viciousness of on-line bullying is exacerbated due to the depersonalized yet public nature of technology-based postings coupled with the pervasiveness of social networking sites” (Shaprio and Margolin, 2013). Social media may also affect parent-child relationships. It is sites such as twitter, Facebook, and other various social networking sites and apps that take priority over family activities. These sites also interfere with peer relationships and some social skills and social development are also being affected. Sleep deprivation amongst adolescents is not uncommon and
Studies show that social media’s are affecting children’s development because more time is being spent on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Vine other than doing homework and studying for school. But despite the negative impact in children development to our social medias it does have a positive impact because it teaches them social skills, computer skills, but it could also teach them bad skills like talking to strangers and kidnappings because kidnappings could happen by someone who lies about their age and where they’re from so children will easily give up information like that to someone they don’t know also known as a fake profile, who could be a kidnapper or a rapist.
Social media is so popular that according to a recent article published by forbes.com, “72% of American adults are currently using social media sites; that figure has gone up 800% in just 8 years”(Olenski). Social networking was originally created to simply reconnect people with old high school pals, but in recent years it has evolved into a completely different operation. When social media first originated it was also intended for adult usage, which has in recent years expanded into the usage of all ages. Social media can create a negative affect on lives because it has been proven to be a dangerous addiction, for it takes away interpersonal relationships that are essential in life, and it has been proven to prevent people from being productive in life.
In the end, social networking is the act of expanding one’s social circle by connecting other individuals, specifically in relation with the use of the Internet. It is rather common to find individuals of all ages using social sites to stay in-contact with others. While many can argue that social networking is more beneficial for teens, studies prove that the use of such forms of communication can negatively affect the lives of teens anywhere through its ability to create interpersonal and intrapersonal trials.
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.
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 ...
In today’s society, much advancement has been made throughout the universe. However, one that seems to stand out in particular is the use of social media. Social media has both positive and negative effects on society. This advancement has led to a difference in communication to everyone by reconnecting with others, or even informing the public nationwide through televisions such as the news or talk shows. However, is social media safe to use? Social media has a great impact on everyone in society. While allowing your children or teenagers to engage in social media a few things to consider are the risks of youth using social media, what age is too young, and also how social media is useful in some cases. Children participate in cyber bullying now and even find themselves involved in bad habits, such as sexting (Schurgin O’Keefe). According to a recent poll conducted, over 22 percent of teenagers log onto their social media site more than ten times a day (Schurgin O’Keefe). Not everything is negative towards social media, but there are precautions that need to be taken when there is the youth involved.
Social media has rapidly increased in the past few years, and has become one of the most significant parts of our daily lives. With websites such as Facebook and Twitter, we are now able to communicate with people half a world away. With just one click, you are able to keep in touch with relatives, gawk at the latest celebrity gossip, and even see what your friends had for breakfast. However, with access to unlimited sources of information, many of us have grown dependent on our phones and computers. Teens, in particular, are one of the most prominent age groups affected by this epidemic. In 2010, 93% of adolescents ages 12-17 were on the internet. With teens now spending copious amount of time on the internet, we are starting to see the negative health repercussions. This technology has led to social media addiction, cyber-bullying, and an increase in negative body images.
Life in the modern world is difficult now because of technology has taken up most of our time. It can make us feel lonely and disconnect with reality. As we spend much time on the internet, such as web surfing or instant messaging, we lack with our social skills because we don’t know how to interact with people. People who are “socially anxious” and “lonely” tends to focus more on the internet by making “relationships with others” and slowly interact with people on the web but we don’t socialize with people in our life (Tyler 200-201).
Before technology, face to face communication was a normal everyday thing and loneliness was a problem that was rarely talked about or experienced. People went about their day without checking their phone every five minutes or so to see if anyone liked the status they posted or feeling lonely when nobody new liked it. In new studies more and more people have feelings of loneliness and depression. However, more people now use social medias such as Facebook, twitter and instagram. While it is true that technology mainly sites such as Facebook can lead to a person feeling alone, it is also true that it depends on how you use the technology, either to your advantage or as a depressant.
Families nowadays leave their children without any observation or even thinking about what they are doing while using the internet connections for a long time. Children nowadays grow in a world exposed to media use. It was found that children aged 8 to 18 years had an average media usage time of 7 hours and 38 minutes daily. The average adolescent spends one-third of every day with some form of electronic media. This increased exposure to the media has deep effects on the development and functioning of children and teenagers today. It has been found that media have a negative effect on the physical, mentally, psychological and social development of
According to the article, “10 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Problems,” Degreed claim that social media make us restless by “two-thirds admitted to having difficulty relaxing when unable to use their social media accounts.” Teenagers are always tired when they have to stay up late at night to catch up with all the news feed on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that make them have no energy to go on the next day. Based on the newspaper, “Excessive Social Media Use Harms Children’s Mental Health,” by the Telegraph shows that “children who go on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more than three hours a day are more likely to have mental health problems.” Social media can lead to bullying that affects teenagers mental health issue and being stressed. Social media have now taken a part of human life and some are addicted to the point where they can’t even live without