Social Media and its Effects on Teenagers
Uploaded by CaseyP on Feb 20, 2019
Introduction
Over the recent years, the use of social media has grown to become one of the most popular activities among teenagers. While there are various social media networks, Facebook stands as the most used social site by teenagers between 13-17 years old in the United States (Ba´nyai et al. 1). A recent report indicated that 71 percent of adolescents using social media have access to at least two social networking platforms and 24 percent of teenagers are continuously online owing to the pervasiveness of the usage and increased number of smartphones (Ba´nyai et al. 1). The heavy involvement of teenagers on social networking avenues has a significant influence on their behavior as it tends to be shaped by the content they are subjected to in social network platforms. While social media is attributed to improving connectivity and the sharing of information among teenagers, it has also caused significant negative effects among adolescents such as low self-esteem, shaped a negative attitude towards obese persons, social contrasting and envy, lower mindfulness, depression, cyberbullying, social isolation, and poor social skills among others.
Definition and Description of Social Media
Understanding the meaning of social media is particularly important in the discussion of its effects on teenagers. Different persons variously define social media. However, this paper will have a specific definition of social media for purposes of uniformity. As such, social media refers to applications, which enable individuals to hold interactions with others and establish social connections that enhance social capital (Huang 9). Commonly known avenues of social media entail Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Polyvore, and Myspace (Heinemann and Gaiser 13). The social medium enables individuals to set up a profile within the site, which may involve a personal picture, avatar, email address, screen name, symbol, or other depiction (Brunty and Helenek 1). Once created, a profile provides users with a specific and unique identification that facilitates other persons to identify and distinguish one individual from the others within the system.
Moreover, the profile created enables social media users to find and connect with other members on the social network. Some of the other members within the site involve friends or acquaintances from the real world to individuals whom the user meets in the site. Upon the users’ connection with others on the site, he or she is not only able to see his or her connections made through the site but also connections,...