The Impact of Social Networking to Teenagers - Assignment Example

The impact of social networking to teenagers al Affiliation) Introduction. Teenage is a period of life that is both intriguing and problematic. It is sometimes exciting and other times disappoint­ing. It have an adverse effect on one’s self-confidence and heighten a teenager’s sense of insecurity and loneliness (Levesque 2012). Communications tools, is it pen and paper, cell phones, or social media platforms— can dampen or heighten the perils of the adolescence stage, or even mix these effects all at once. Presently, social media has the ability to alter rites of passage and increase age-old anxieties in ways that previously used communications media did not. By availing an individual’s private exchanges for the whole institution to see, using a combination of photos and videos with words, enabling the whole community to comment on what they see, hear, or say online, and recording those interactions permanently.The use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is a characteristic of modern adolescence. A survey on which this we base this essay shows that nine out of ten of all American teens have already used social media, 75% of them have already opened a social net­working site, and close to a third of these teens visit their social networking profile more than ones every day. Judging from how pervasive social media is presently, most parents, educators, and guardians are very much interested in how these platforms affect their teens’ lives. Some of them acknowledge the potential social media benefits to their learning, creativity and development; others fear the negative impact these media may have, most importantly when it comes to teens’ social and emotional well-being. However, teens unlike the adults are more likely to say their use of social media has a much more positive effect on their social and emotional lives than a negative one. More specifically, most teens think that their use of social media has no effects on their social and emotional wellness one way or the other. However, there are some of them who agree that the use of social media platforms does have an effect on how they feel about themselves and their social situation. According to the research, a forth of teens said that the use of social networking site made them feel less timid (29%) and broader during social situations (28%). A fifth of them said it raised their confidence (20%), 19% felt it made them feel more popular and more sympathetic to others and 15% of the interviewed claimed that it makes them feel better about themselves. This is compared to the 5% who said that social networking makes them feel much less outgoing, while 4% felt worse about them­selves and therefore less confident, and less popular after visiting their social networking site 3 per cent of them feel shyer (Levesque 2012). Even fewer teens think that the use of social networking site makes them feel more depressed. Only 5% of them say it made them feel more depressed, in comparison to 10% who think otherwise. Even among the less happy teens in the research, 18% of them said that using their social networking site heightened their depression, while 13% say social networking made them less depressed. These statistics form the basis of one of the most dominant topic of discussion associated with teenage and adolescents. In an effort to fit into certain social groups, and because of peer pressure, there are a rising number of teenagers suffering from identity crisis. The section above gives estimates in figures, making it very clear that teens today are highly engaged in social media and are likely to fall prone to living double lives. Although not all of them, many adolescents assume someone else’s life on social media. They wear a character that is very different from what they project to their families, schools or churches. For example, school going teens tweet and post things on Facebook that are a total contradiction of what their guardians, family member, teachers and relatives, think of them. Online risk-taking behaviour Many teen related death and illness are associated with indulgence in risky activities, like drug and substance abuse, violence, and sexual behavior. Sadly, the internet has the ability to provide teens with yet another avenue to engage in risky activities. A look into some of MySpace profiles shows that many teenage users demonstrated a familiarity with what is normally though to be adult-orientated practices. In their profiles, 20% used swear words, 18% advocated for the use of alcohol, 2% claimed to have used marijuana 8% mentioned smoking and 5% revealing suggestive photographs. Social networking sites provide a platform for teenagers to publicly display their indulgence into risky behaviours, since it is seen as trendy to do so. This puts pressure on many more teens to engage in the unruly practices. Today, the effect of engaging in risky behaviour publicly may also have a negative impact on their future employment opportunities and university admissions, since most institutions make background checks on prospective members before recruitment nowadays. No institution would want to associate themselves with a person with a history of ill mannerisms. Their history on social media platforms would serve as evidence to the recruits background and character. Social Media and Relationships Most teens claim that the use social media has helped boost their relationships. Over half (52%) of all teens on social media say that their use of social media platforms has mainly improved their relationships with pals, in comparison to just 4% who attest the use of social media to the hurt they experienced in their relationships. A third (37%) of them also says that the use of social media has mainly boosted their relationships with their family members, in comparison to just 2% who claim to have been hurt by them. Similarly, a most teens say social media helped them stay in touch with far way friends (88%), while others get to relate with other students at their school better (69%), and establish connections with new people who they have a common interest (57%).It is a general feeling with most teens that, on average, the use of social media has nurtured rather than hurt their relationships. Close to half of all teens (54%) claim that social networking has made them feel more connected with family and friends . a mere 2% said it’s made them feel less in touch, and the rest said it made no difference anyway. At the same time, most teens when asked how they did perceive the effect of social networking in relation to the time they spend with their friends in person, most say Social Networking often deters them from socializing with people they are together without any particular time. Statistics from the US Centre for Crimes against Child Research estimated that in 2006, 612 arrests were made for crimes related to online sexual harassment. A stranger they had met online solicited According to them, many teen victims for sex. This statistic remains an understatement of the real situation on the ground since very little crimes against crimes are reported to the authorities. A visit to chat rooms is normally associated with receiving aggressive sexual content and sexual advances. This situation is made worse by the fact that chat rooms facilitate direct and instant communication among users and they have much preference by the teens despite being constantly associated with explicitly sexual conversations, obscenities and innuendo. There exists evidence that some teens who visit these platforms are highly prone to succumb to depression, have a background for sexual abuse and are more likely to participate in sexual behaviour quite early in life, compared to those who do not visit chat rooms. Interestingly, both gay males and females who question their sexuality are more at risk to fall prey to sexual predators. Another bad effect of social networking is the increase of child pornography and prediction. A serious internet based sex crime continues to haunt many internet users especially the underage users. A study on online child sex offenders revealed that 20% of them took sexually suggestive pictures of their victims or asked their victims to take pictures of themselves or their friends. They also sent obscene pictures of themselves in sexual poses to most of their victims. These pictures end up circulating the internet since they generate so much interest. There is no way to limit who accesses these pictures so teens might be exposed to them in the end. 15 per cent of the teens interviewed claimed that they had experienced unwanted attention online from complete strangers on the various social networking cites, chat rooms and via instant messaging Online Hate Speech Another aspect of teens’ social networking life that remains relatively unex­plored is the increase in number of times teens come across discriminatory, malicious, hateful or content from sexist, homophobic people or racist remarks and comments targeting other people for their religion or some other aspect in life that has been a source of heated debate. This survey looked into teens’ subjection to hate speech in social networks, that is, blog posts, tweets, Facebook pages, and online chat in virtual worlds, comments on photos, or multiplayer computer or video games. Close to 40% social media users claim to often or some­times encounter sexist content (44%), homophobic content (43%), or racist content (43%) comments, and a three in ten also say the same about negative remarks about others’ religious beliefs. As if that is not enough, one in four (24%) teens on social media users said that they “often” encountered these types of derogatory speech more than ones did. Cyber bullying This is using electronic media, for example, text messages, email, or social networking sites, to harass another person. Bullying involves spreading vicious rumors, sending threatening messages, mounting personal attacks on them and posting embarrassing material, such as photographs and videos. Some features make Cyber bullying more appealing in comparison to normal bullying, the main one being that the bully remains anonymous thus providing them an opportunity to say things they might find hard to tell someone in person. The other thing with cyber bullying is that it is impossible for the bully to judge the victim’s response, as they would do with face-to-face contact. This vice can happen to anybody, anywhere, any time and can have adverse effect on the victim. Most cyber bullies it is entertaining and funny, without realizing how negatively it affects the victim. Addiction Since the very first encounters with social media platforms, a significant number of teenagers using these platforms have always complained about being addicted to the practice. The increase in number of these platforms serves as an indication of just how much they are in demand by multitudes of people. Some teens even have accounts opened in as many social media sites as possible. They spends a significant part of their time on visiting all the sites and constantly updating their profiles while also looking into other people’s profiles to get in touch with what is happening in their life. Some have so many friends on these platforms, some of whom they do not know, and end up struggling to keep up with the constant flow of pleasantries exchanged between them and other people. It end up overwhelming them and being part of their life such that a day cannot go by without feeling the need to connect with other people online, least they spend the entire day feeling unfulfilled. Not only does this practice rob them of much of their personal time, it also reduces the time they spend on doing productive things such as schoolwork and extracurricular activities. Internet bills also mount tremendously causing a financial strain on their guardians. Narcissism This is whereby one seeks too much gratification with oneself, and ends up being so preoccupied with oneself to an extent that one cannot think of something else more fondly than they are. This is an emerging trend thanks to social media, not only to teenagers, but also to adults on social networks. People are struggling to be noticed or get approval from their friends online. They are keen to ensure they highlight the best of themselves in a desperate act to win over more followers on some of the most popular social networking sites such as Instagram and Twitter. Further still, people, and especially teens seem to want to belong to certain cliques, and to belong, they are willing to do whatever it takes to boost their image to conform to certain attributes. In the process of doing so teens find themselves obsessed with themselves, like for example constantly taking the best pictures of themselves. More comfortable, less sensitive. Another impact social media has had on teens is teens being more comfortable online doing things that they should be more sensitive to doing. ‘Sexting’ is a perfect example of how comfortable teens are online. Many teens today are not comfortable enough to engage in physical sexual activity in person with someone, but are more than comfortable to participate in sexual activity online with someone. Social media apps like Snapchat make this extremely easy for teens. Teens feel “comfortable” behind their phone or computer screens so they will without a doubt post nude or semi-nude pictures at any opportunity or they will freely engage in sexual or explicit talk through Facebook messaging, texting, or chat rooms but would not be as comfortable if they had those conversations in person. Are all adolescents using social media to send suggestive texts to each other and stuff like that? This cannot be further from the truth, but many are. No matter what we call it, misuse, or pretence, teens are much more comfortable doing some things behind their screens than would is in person. Social media has therefore made it easier for teens to carry out activities they would not otherwise carry out because they can do it “comfortably” behind a screen. Conclusion Has social media ruined teenagers? I do not think so. However, there have been some negative effects on teens because of social media. It is important to remember these things when raising or ministering to a teenager. Social media has and is changing the way they life. It is effecting who they are, what they do, and how interact. The things above are just a few of the negative effects I see social media having on teens. There are ways in which social networking affects teenagers are more than the generalised ones in this essay. The question that has lingered in so many people’s minds today is “has the use of social media ruined teenagers?” I do not think this is the case. However, I cannot dispute the fact that there have indeed been negative effects to teens because of social media. It is therefore very vital to recall these things when bringing up or monitoring to a teenager. Social media has and will continue to change the way of life. It is affecting who they are, what they do and how they interact with people. Such things are a few of the negative effects I see social media having on the teens. Reference In Saleh, F. M., In Grudzinskas, A., & In Judge, A. (2014). Adolescent sexual behavior in the digital age: Considerations for clinicians, legal professionals, and educators. Levesque, R. J. R. (2012). Encyclopedia of adolescence: Vol. 1. New York: Springer. Gentile, D. A. (2003). Media violence and children: A complete guide for parents and professionals. Westport, CT: Praeger. In McLean, K. C., & In Syed, M. U. (2014). The Oxford handbook of identity development. Read More