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Effects Of Social Media On Teenagers
Effects of cyberbullying among teenagers
Effects Of Social Media On Teenagers
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Introduction
Social media around the world has become a new phenomenon, especially in the eyes of teenagers. What the majority of the world does not realize is that social media is not necessarily a positive influence in our lives. A few studies show that approximately “70 percent of teenagers age 12 to 17 spend time on a social media site in a typical day, which amounts to 17 million teenage users” (2011 National Teen Survey). Out of those 17 million teenage users “40 percent [are] more [likely] to use tobacco, three times likely to uses alcohol and twice as likely to use marijuana” (2011 National Teen Survey). Technology in general and social media presents to be taking over teenager’s lives one day at a time, which could be seen as an
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According articles by Ballenger, it is easy for people who are depressed to often take out their anger on others, especially on social media, also known as cyber bullying. A research expert in health scientist studied data of teen victimization rates through cyberbulling. With this he collected data “between 2004 and 2010 via survey studies indicated that lifetime cyberbullying victimization rates ranged from 20.8% to 40.6% and offending rates ranged from 11.5% to 20.1%” (Luxton). The shocking factor behind these rates is this data collection ended in 2010, which means these rates have a strong possibility of growing in time. Another key negative effect social media contributes to teenager is depression. In general “Facebook depression”, or just depression, can occur from spending an abundant amount of time analyzing and wishing for someone else’s life/life style. Most people who suffer depression from social media “are at risk for social isolation and sometimes turn to risky Internet sites and blogs for “help” that may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive or self-destructive behaviors” (Ballenger, 399). Altogether it really is simple for people to get depressed while using a social media platform. The majority of Facebook, or any social media site, users use it as a way to express excitement or life changing events, which …show more content…
Different social media websites and platforms “can offer a diverse display of cultural or ethnic groups that encourage teens to think critically and question cultural stereotypes”(Mokeyane). Not only do researchers argue that teens can be at an advantage with cultural awareness but they also could gain social skills. Advocates believe that social media platforms “increase social confidence, more social support and heightened media literacy” (Mokeyane). If social media was suppose to heightened literacy than students or teenagers would not be using “slang” spelling and not actually spelling out the correct words. On the other hand, cyber bullying has also become more apparent with individuals with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, so social media is not actually helping with teenagers being aware of different cultures since they have just antagonize them. According to a research conducted by Wang et at. “black students reported the highest level of cyberbullying activity at 10.9%, Hispanic students at 9.6%, and the category of students classified as other at 7.3%. White students reported cyberbullying victimization at 6.7%” (Howlett-Brandon). With statistics that support that different ethnicities are still being victimized presents that social media isn’t helping with cultural
The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.
Some people use social media to communicate and keep in touch with friends and family. Other uses of social media may be dating, meeting new people, finding jobs, or even keeping up to date with world news. There are also those who use social media for other purposes such as bullying, sometimes unintentional and other times on purpose.Bullying is nothing new because bullying can occur everywhere, you hear about bullying more often nowadays because it is happening in more places than ever.Before social media became popular children were often bullied at school or in the neighborhood at home. Today with the increased use of the internet and social media children are now being bullied anywhere at anytime. The Bullying epidemic has become a global problem all around the world and must be stopped if children are to live a normal life and develop into law abiding citizens. Due to the diverse social media websites people have access to other people 's social life and private life as well, thus allowing them to be targets of comments that can be hurtful. social media opens the door to cyber bulling and teen girls may comment things that are hateful and cause rumours. Females bullies are usually associated with these types behaviors.Females use social media to spread rumours about their victims. Females can use social media to do
What good can possibly come from teenagers spending so much time on social media sites and at times communicating with complete strangers? To many people social media has several benefits such as building confidence and socializing skills. But, as technology continues to advance rapidly, social media becomes a huge part of our daily lives and changes the means of communication by far. Technology and social media exposes teenagers to so much unwanted and unmonitored content. Part of what they are getting exposed to is great amounts of sexual content and violence. Consequently, creating several negative effects that now outweigh the positives ones. Teenagers today are at a higher risk of cyber bullying through online shaming, exposure to uncensored sexual content, and affecting the development of self-character. Even so, if social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and many others might have some positive influences, social media is also known to have serious negative effects on the psychological development of teenagers’ self-character formation, which should be a huge concern in today’s society.
There is a growing concern about the mental health of social network users nowadays. With larger number of social network sites(SNSs) like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube appearing and rising levels of social media usage, social media has played a more and more important role in people’s daily life. What effects social media has on SNS users has drawn great attention from the public. The results of previous studies have showed that social media benefit users a lot on their mental health from all kinds of aspects.
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.
Social media has impacted everyone that has used it some point in his or her life. Since the world is increasing in technology advances, so is social media which can be good and bad. Technology has made a huge difference in the world and definitely how people are doing things now. Yes, the Internet can be good for the majority of things we use it for such as finding research, keeping in touch with family or friends who are far away, and saving time and money. Others like to take advantage of social media and use it in a way that can hurt people; it may not hurt them physically, but it can hurt them emotionally. Examples of how some people use the Internet in a bad way include cyberbullying, identity theft, or cyberstalking. Social media has impacted the Millennial generation for sure.
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.
Overall, seeing other people live exciting lives or being happy is causing depression because teenagers can’t live up to that standard. According to Duffy and Edson Tandoc, a former doctoral student at MU and now an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a Facebook study he conducted found, “that if Facebook users experience envy of the activities and lifestyles of their friends on Facebook, they are much more likely to report feelings of depression.” Teenagers desperately need to find themselves, but instead compare themselves to others making them feel depressed when
Nowadays, it is not only common to have social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, but expected. Many people know the numerous benefits of signing-up for these accounts: keeping in touch with friends, being able to organize information and photographs, keeping track of dates or news, and many more. However, new research suggests that the use of these social media networks, specifically Twitter, can cause great unhappiness in relationships (“Twitter use…”). It appears that the social media page can act as a third member of the relationship. The use of these networks can take up so much time of one or both of the partners, that it is like having another person in the relationship. Unfortunately, this loss of time as well as the other negative affects social media has on relationships, can lead to communication issues and arguments.
“I didn't know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time –Betty White (“Betty White Quotes,” 2014, para. 1).” This quote can be interpreted to fit with several of the social media avenues that many people spend their time on. Day in and day out people post, tweet, share, and pin countless times throughout the world. These different forms of communication were first created for an easier way for people to connect with others. Yet now, so much time is spent on these social sites that it has warped the interactive part and is causing more damage than good. Many are growing a desire and are living for the amount of “likes” they can receive on a post or how many re-tweets they can generate. Instead of going to these outlets to participate in a partial portion of their social lives, people are filling that time with the technological aspect of communication. As White said, this can become an inordinate amount of wasted time and can ultimately grow into further damaging circumstances. These different social media channels can cause emotional harm through disparaging the relationship between friends, conjuring of a narcissistic personality, and the retrogradation of ones self-esteem.
Social media has changed the way people communicate with each other and in turn, has affected our ability to empathize in both negative and positive ways. One of the most harmful consequences is the rise of cyber-bullying, which can be found from a hateful Facebook post by a classmate to anonymous trolling in the comments sections of websites. Some argue that social media is a breeding ground for this type of behavior while others say it would still take place even if you removed the medium.
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 US, 6.7% of the population over the age of 18 is suffering from 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 relationships.
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
We live in a world that has become addicted and dedicated toward social media and it is driving America’s youth into the ground. Teenagers and adults are so wrapped up in social media that is runs their lives every day. Constantly people are checking their phones for the latest on social networks. They have to see pictures, tweets, statuses, comments, likes, and the list goes on and on. Social media is becoming the focus point in the modern American society that it is beginning to control people’s social skills, communication skills, and their livelihood.