PB3A Effects of Social Media on Adolescent Minds

Effects of Social Media on Adolescents (Sports Article/Blog)

Why Social Media Rules the World. Literally.

I think it’s pretty obvious that social media has become a huge part of the modern era. Smartphones, tablets, and laptops have literally taken over the world. Everywhere you look, someone’s checking their Facebook or Twitter every 3 seconds. I still remember the days when people used to send letters to each other. Do people still do that? What happened to the typewriter? Oh yeah, desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets replaced it. Anyways, in the modern era, people, whether it be adults, teenagers, or even kids, use their phones for almost everything, specifically social media. Social media, in the modern day, is similar to a double edged sword, it has its beneficial to the user and it can be deadly to the user likewise. Nowadays, due to the influx of smart phones, social media is more harmful than helpful. Social media not only poses gargantuan problems for kids, but it also poses huge problems for parents as they struggle to monitor and understand what their kids are looking at.

Ironically, I’m writing this blog with my phone sitting in front of me and I’ll probably check Facebook and Instagram 12 times before I finish this. The fact is, according to The American Academy of Pediatrics, “Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging.” That’s absolutely ridiculous; every 3 out of 4 people has a cell phone and a little less than 1 out of those 3 uses it for social media. Social media was probably initially created with the intention of connecting friends who don’t have the ability to physically meet. Take for instance arranging school projects or classmates helping each other with math homework. Social media provides an efficient method for large numbers of students to communicate. However, the reality is that social media is being exploited and taken advantage of. A prime example of this is cyber bullying. People take to the internet to send harassing and detestable messages to other individuals. Is there a direct way for the social media site to deal with these issues? Well spreading the word about cyberbullying helps, but they have no direct way of dealing with it! Now the why is that? If social media sites were to monitor private conversations, that would be a breach of privacy and considered illegal. There is absolutely no way that social media is a benefit to individuals anywhere since the pros are far outweighed by the cons.

How Social Media Affects Adolescents: 6 Tips (Reader’s Digest)

                Social media is now a monumental part of today’s society. A large majority of people have some sort of smart device: smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.. This statistic doesn’t just apply to the men and women in the world, but, now, it even applies to children and adolescents. The question is, does social media provide a beneficial effect to these young minds? In order to answer this question, we’ve compiled 6 expert tips/statistics provided to us by researchers in order to give readers a more in depth look at the effects of social media.

Pros:

1.       Increasing Social Interactions: Studies have shown that social media helps people increase social skills. This applies in organization of community events and charities, promoting creativity and artistry, and expanding ideas and connections.

2.       Enhancing Educational Opportunities: Students all over the world are utilizing social media sites, like Facebook, to communicate with classmates in regard to educational purposes. This may be projects, homework, or simple questions they may have. According to American Academy of Pediatrics, “Some schools successfully use blogs as teaching tools, which has the benefit of reinforcing skills in English, written expression and creativity. (AAP2)”

3.       Searching for Health Information:  Adolescents, especially those going through puberty, often times have many questions as they go through their maturation. Having online access allows them to easily and anonymously address their concerns.

Cons:

4.       Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is defined as “deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person.(AAP2)” Social media’s original intent is often taken advantage of. Cyberbullying is a prime example of this exploitation. Social media cyberbullying is often just as impactful as physical bullying and can often lead to depression, anxiety, severe isolation and suicide.

5.      Facebook Depression: Similar to how drug addicts depend on drugs to stay sane, excessive use of Facebook can also lead to depression. This can happen when users suddenly are prevented from using Facebook for a long period of time. This can also come about when the user, typically an adolescent, is rejected or excluded by friends on the site. Acceptance is important as an adolescent, especially as many kids begin to find themselves and want to associate themselves with a specific group of people. Rejection from a certain group can lead to extreme isolation and severe depression.

6.       Advertisements: Sites like Facebook and Pinterest display a large group of advertising. This is due to the popularity of the sites and other companies and organizations wanting to display their products and services on these sites. This, however, indirectly affects the children and adolescents who utilize the website. Although many adults don’t feel the influence of these advertisements, they have profound effects on children and adolescents. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “It is important to educate parents, children, and adolescents about this practice so that children can develop into media-literate consumers and understand how advertisements can easily manipulate them. (AAP3)”