In the present society, the use of social media has been on the rise and has become a section of every individual’s life and especially the young generation. The youths are primarily influenced by the advancement of technology regarding social media in general. Almost every person utilizes social networking sites in order to stay connected and up to date concerning their colleagues and regarding the information about the entire universe. It is essential to understand how the behavior of young persons is affected by the social media due to the vast change and advancement as a result of new technology. This research paper presents a critical analysis of the effects that social media has on the young generation.
From the investigation that was carried out by the Pew Internet " American Life Project approximately 95% of people between that ages 12 and 17 years used the Internet with roughly 81% employing social network sites (Stover 26). More often than not, individuals tend to forget that with positive results comes a negative, even though it is well-known that social media may have beneficial impacts on the lives of human beings. Social media sites may result in huge distractions and interruptions from critical and valuable pursuits such as education. Furthermore, social media networks may lead to adverse mental health issues and communication skills reduction.
Social media in the contemporary society is developing at a faster rate. Individuals utilize it in all parts of the world, and it is popular among the young people. Nevertheless, there exist young individuals who are addicted to social media and are not in a position to control themselves. Social media addiction may result in a variety of impacts that include lousy health, living away from reality, and poor study habits.
Social media is a kind of electronic interaction and relaying of messages such as social networking in which the users employ online set of connections to share personal messages, information, ideas, and other content (Peter 216). The use of social media comes with an incredible impact on our community at large. Having said that we find that social media use for the young generation has transformed the manner in which they socialize and communicate. These days, there is a comprehensive and all-embracing debate regarding how social media affects young people. Most of the individuals argue concerning how the adverse effects outweigh the positive impacts. Social media often affects young generation negatively even though all the positive effects that it has on the society. This is because young people misuse social media and leaves them susceptible to privacy invasion, academic failures, cyberbullying, and sexual exploitation. Parents require to closely monitor what their children are doing and the amount of time that they use while using social media (Livingstone and Livingstone 29). Aforementioned will assist in solving some of the problems that may arise due to the use of social broadcasting sites. Furthermore, young individuals who are involved in harassment and cyberbullying should receive prosecution to the full scope of the law. Social media began with a few sites but has grown such that now, there are thousands of sites that are in use. These include Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Furthermore, with all these existing convenience and sites, it can as well be too much for a young person to handle without appropriate supervision or management. The way young generation connects these days is through social media, but with less access to people and information thus it can be a scary situation. Some of the shows such as MTV’s Catfish are the primary instances of how social media is negatively impacting young people. In today’s world, the term catfish is used to mean pretending to be another person or some people who are not online by posting untrue information such as pictures of persons, on social media with the intent of maybe tarnishing the name of the other person of making her or him fall in love with you. The entire show is based on the finding that the catfish are being exposed for their real nature. In this case, it will leave the other person in shock or hurt about who the individuals they thought had relationship with. Aforementioned may have a long-lasting effect on a young individual. Thus, we find that even though social media use if new, the impact it has on the young generation in a span of short time is surprising.
Furthermore, social media addiction makes young people have bad grades in their studies in schools at various levels. Many students who were then excellent have become evil youths due to social media. In this case, such kind of students go to class, but they do not concentrate on their studies (Bryfonski 22). That said, we find that these kinds of the lousy student will be utilizing cell phones to surf Instagram, Facebook, or Messenger to chat with other people (Golbeck 41). They will be disrupted since they will be checking their gadgets frequently to see what took place on social media. Social media addict students will not do their assignments or homework’s since they are always busy with social media (Livingstone and Livingstone 59). For instance, Kim, a young boy from Venezuela is addicted to social media. He was a hard-working and bright student in the past. That said, Kim always prepared for new lessons and did all the homework on time and got the best grades. Nevertheless, since he began using social media too much, everything has changed. Instead of listening to the professor in the classroom, he posts selfies on Instagram and Facebook. While at home, on the other hand, Kim continues using his phone and does not do assignments nor study. As an outcome, in the final exam and other mid-term assessment examinations, he failed by obtaining lower grades. From this scenario, we find that social media addiction leads to bad habits in studies.
Moreover, young individuals who is social media addicts can live far away from reality. In essence, they will not have an opportunity or time for outdoor activities such as camping or playing sports because of utilizing mobile gadgets all day (Baumeister and Vohs 12). These individuals love communicating and chatting with colleagues on social media instead of going out to meet or talk with their friends or parents. They will, in this case, stay at home indoors and update their social media news by posting photos or status to share with friends. They will progressively live in a virtual world.
Last but not least, too much use of social media will have severe effects on the health of an individual especially on the mental health. Young people will tend to go to bed late at night to chat with friends or read news on Facebook or other social media sites since they are addicted to social media. Laranjo (p.96) argued that staying up late is harmful to the health of a human being, particularly, the brain. The health of young people will be severely affected if they do not have enough sleep since they will always feel tired and lose weight. They will be in a sleepy condition, and thus their brains will not effectively work. Nevertheless, social media addiction can result in depression of the young people in that when they use it; they will see other people (Golbeck 43). If they see that others are better in talent or appearance, they will feel inferior. These young individuals may feel ashamed of themselves since they envy people who are more intelligent or famous than them. As such, these youths will feel depressed, under pressure, and stressed, wondering why they can’t be excellent, beautiful, or talented like other individuals. Such mental challenges are daring and risky for young individuals since these problems may result in young people losing their minds and at the end leading to death.
To sum up, social media use is continually changing with the ever-advancing technology that evolves every minute. Aforementioned has offered access to information and opinions that expand the points of view and minds of individuals (Baumeister and Vohs 35). This paper expounded on the topic on social media, particularly the effects of social media on the young generation. Addiction to social media is not at all beneficial, even though using social media has many usefulness’s in our lives. It will make us live away from reality, awful effects on studying, and have adverse impacts on health. Young people should spend more time studying, playing sports, and participating in school activities to avoid being addicted to social media sites.
Works Cited
Baumeister, Roy F, and Kathleen D. Vohs. Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Sage Publications, 2007.
Bryfonski, Dedria. The Global Impact of Social Media. Greenhaven P, 2012.
Golbeck, Jennifer. "Finding people on social media." Introduction to Social Media Investigation, 2015, pp. 39-45.
Laranjo, L. "Social Media and Health Behavior Change." Participatory Health Through Social Media, 2016, pp. 83-111.
Livingstone, Sonia M, and Sonia M. Livingstone. Young People and New Media: Childhood and the Changing Media Environment. SAGE, 2002.
Peter, Jochen. "New Communication Technologies and Young People: The Case of Social Robots." Youth and Media, 2018, pp. 203-217.
Stover, Maria. "Pew Internet and American Life Project." Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics, 2014.
