The Effect of Social Media on Teenagers

Contrary to what many people think, Social Media actually has a negative effect on teenagers. Social media is a medium of communication shared by most adults and children, but most especially teenagers. It is sometimes helpful, entertaining and within the reach of the general public. It has become an important mass media around the world. Sadly, this resource is abused and taken advantage by most teenagers, and not used in a way that they could get the best benefits from. It can have negative effects on teenagers like addiction, psychological problems and cyber bullying which can decrease their self-esteem that can lead to depression and possibly self-harm.

Many teenagers love social media because of its wide connectivity and function that people can receive it for free; it does not require money to make an account and use it. Facebook is the most visible among various social media. What’s impressive about this site is that you can easily connect with your long lost friends and see how they’re doing, or vice versa.

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You can also make new friends in Facebook.

Though this could get addictive and may divert our attention away from the real world. Like what Cornell University’s Steven Strogatz said; “Social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media.” I strongly agree with this statement. Also, people become a whole new person, because it’s the Internet.

People can be anything or anyone in the Internet. Another issue is the psychological problems it can affect the teenagers. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook also show another problem to one's emotional development and maturity, according to one study from the University of Southern California.

This study monitored the development and expression of admiration and compassion in response to persuasive, actual-life stories in volunteers. Brain imaging was used to verify the responses. Social networks also messes with their ability to think independently. They’re more likely to change their mind about “liking” some things and posts if they see that it is popular or whatnot, because of course people like going with trend and they want to blend in like the rest.

References

• Predictors of Facebook Usage and Friendship Quality among African American and Hispanic American Adolescents
• Multitasking: Switching Costs