Social Media and the Effects on the American Adolescent is present in American adolescents today. This is an effect that has become increasingly present within the past decade. With the advent of social media and the internet becoming more a part of everyday life, people can develop issues associated with stress and other emotional issues. However, positive issues such as a decrease in social isolation are also associated with the presence of social media in today's world.
Per Time, an article claims that the majority of adolescents feel that they are always connected online and can never seem to truly get away from social media. Millennials are the first real generation that has grown up with social media. Unlike generations before them, Millennials learned the rules of social media and how to behave and act in this foreign world. With learning this new world, many stresses arose as they tried to figure out how to act and conduct in this world.
Video Social media and the effects on American adolescents
Social media have some positive contributions to the lives of adolescents. Positive aspects may include feelings of inclusion, access to friends one would have never met otherwise, or possibilities of romantic relationships. As studied in the paper Social anxiety and technology: Face-to-face communication versus technological communication among teens, those that have social and emotional issues can feel more included with social media and online activities. In addition to a feeling of more social inclusion, the effects of social media go further to change how people interact in public spaces; a study conducted by Keith N Hampton, Lauren Sessions Goulet, and Garrett Albanesius found that even with rise of mobile phones and social media in the past thirty years, people have become less socially isolated and more likely to linger in public spaces. The article goes on to explain exactly how social media has changed the ways that people are able to interact in public spaces including how it gives people that are alone a way to communicate with friends and family. In addition to explaining how social media brings people together in these places, the study focuses on how mobile phones appear less often in spaces where there are more groups. Mobile phones are ubiquitous, but people largely understand when it is and when it is not socially acceptable to use them.
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Negative Aspects of Social Media
According to the Social comparison theory, people establish their personal value by comparing themselves to others and seeing where they fall on the social ladder in relation to those to which they are comparing. There is a study that has shown that regardless of making an "upward" or "downward" comparison, determining if one is better or worse than the one they are comparing themselves to, one will feel worse than they did before making either comparison. These social comparisons and related jealousy, paired with the addictive nature of social media platforms, leads to the development of symptoms of depression in users.
The negative aspects of social media seem to stand out more. These can include ostracizing and cyberbullying an individual. A study claims that there is a high correlation between the amount of time an adolescent spends online and their overall mood function and behavior. The more the individual spends online, the worst their mood and function seems to become. The average teen is spending approximately nine hours a day on social media platforms. Not only is there a positive correlation between time spent on social media networks and mental health state, but there is also a concern with the number of platforms utilized. Those who use multiple social media platforms are more likely to develop mood alterations. However, there is also the argument that young adults who are already battling depression may be using social media networks more than unaffected individuals.
It seems that while making friends is possible on social media, the validity of those friendships seems to be put into question. A study claims that while social media can be good, some affects that may come from it include the individual feeling alone and making friends is an illusion. Often, it seems that people have to worry if friends are truly genuine or not.
Social media is affecting our interpersonal relationships in many different ways. We are so dependent on social media to the point where it is affecting the way we even solve our problems. We run to social media to look for updates and to share our feelings, therefore it is jeopardizing the way we interact with others. As technology upgrades the way we social changes as well. Computers, cell phones, and all the technology we have been able to have access to has developed a new way of making and keeping friends as well. It seems as if social networking is the only way we know how to communicate, but really we do not know how to communicate anymore. Effective face to face conversations are also no existent because of the heavy rely on technology.
Physical Reactions to Social Media
The anxiety that comes from a negative experience on social media, can affect the person in the real world. An article from Time discusses how a girl inflicts pain on her based on what she sees from social media. The stress that is associated with social media can be taxing on the individual. What happens online can translate into the real world. Such as self-harm or other forms of harm against the individual.
An article from US News claims that people are posting images of bulimia and anorexia online to encourage others to not seek treatment and that it is okay. Studies have been conducted contending that the 'thin ideal' is created and reinforced by a number of social influences (Thompson et al. 1999). Among these, the mass media have been identified as the most persuasive and the most powerful (Groesz et al. 2002).[1] Combined with some of the negative effects of social media, the physical harm that it can do to an individual can be noticed. Not limited to normalizing eating disorders, but also other aspects of physical ailment can appear as well.
Additionally, Facebook depression occurs when people who spend a significant amount of time on social media platforms develop symptoms of depression. There are some researchers who believe that the "Facebook depression" phenomenon is a gateway to other sites that will ultimately put teens and young adults at risk for a number of dangers. The sites that teens and young adults are led to can teach its lonely viewers about substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, and aggressive or destructive behaviors. However, some researchers suggest that these sites aren't teaching its readers how to practice safety, rather they are teaching them how to perform these acts of harm.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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