Social media use has grown exponentially since the creation of the first site in 1997. In the US alone, 74% of Facebook users access their accounts on a daily basis. Moreover, most of the social media users have overlapping accounts across other social media platforms such as linked in, Instagram and Twitter (Smith " Anderson, 2018). Similarly, reports indicate that at least 60% of children below the age of 18 and above age 13 own a social media profile that they spend approximately two hours on (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2017). Over time, offline habits such as bullying and sexual malpractices have proliferated social networks. Moreover, recent studies have found a strong correlation between social media use, depression and narcissistic behaviors among children (Hamm et al., 2015); (Woods " Scott, 2016). Despite efforts to comprehend the short-term and long-term effects of social media use on children's behavior, the results have been mostly inconclusive. Thus, the purpose of the ongoing report is to investigate the impact of social media use on children's behavior.
The choice of the topic was motivated by both a personal interest and the research gap noted in the study of social media and how it affects children’s behavior. Moreover, social media is a relatively new concept; therefore, there is little research in the field. The ongoing report hopes to contribute to the growing body of investigations on how social media affects children's behaviour. The study is carried out through a rigorous analysis of literature in the field. Ultimately, the aim is to link results from different researchers to help infer conclusions. The analysis of research arranged logically to highlight the most critical points. Besides, the report compares findings from various studies through critique and descriptive approaches to exhaustively elucidate the topic of research. The next sections are the analysis of literature followed by the conclusion.
Analysis
Earlier studies on the effect of social media were mainly focused on the psychological and physical damage that social media can cause. For instance, a review conducted by O’Keeffe " Pearson, (2011) explored social media and its effect on children from a paedetriatic perspective. Similar to other authors in the field like Hamm, et al. (2015) and Dheer, Yossatorn, Kaur, and Chen (2018), O’Keeffe " Pearson(2011) claimed that social media exposed children to the risk of cyberbullying that eventually escalated to depression resulting from isolation and low self-esteem. The latter is a widely accepted explanation for the increase in the number of social media related suicides (Woods " Scott, 2016); (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2017); (Smith " Anderson, 2018).
Aside from harassment caused by cyberbullying, researchers also identified an increased risk of sexual misconduct among children using social media (Barnes " Laird , 2012). According to reports, children are scientifically inclined to pursue new ideas; thus, they are easily susceptible to sexual predators in social media sites (Barnes " Laird , 2012). Aside from that, the free and unmonitored environment in social media sites has a led development of sex-oriented behavior such as “sexting” that negatively impacts the mental development of children.
Social media has dynamically changed. Currently, the technology in place allows advertisers to send targetted ads to their audiences. The latter is detrimental to the development of children as marketers use data collected from their digital footprints online to influence their purchase behaviors and at times beliefs (Smith " Anderson, 2018); (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2017). Although it is mostly accepted that children between the age of 13-18 are currently technology savvy; most of them do not understand the privacy concerns arising from social media use. Thus, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Pyschiatry(2017), the use of targetted ads may affect the behavior of children negatively as they may accept beliefs or inclinations that are incorrect since they seem reasonable in social media sites.
Social media use by children may negatively affects their emotions and personal lives. Woods and Scott (2016) claim that social media use is associated with increased anxiety, low self-esteem and even sleep deprivation amongst adolescents. In line with the latter statements, Dheer et al. (2018) added that anxiety arises from the fear of missing out created by extreme social media use. Ultimately, the above effects destabilize the balance in children's lives; thus, causing changes in behaviors that may be antisocial, violent or suicidal.
The challenges facing children while using social media are expected to increase due to the decreased role of parents in curbing deviant behavior arising from social media. Parents are less technology savvy than the current generation of children. As a result, children are left to explore social media without proper guidance and protection from harm. Aside from that, results from reports indicated that social media use might be addictive and as its use increases, it becomes harder to stop. For instance, a survey conducted in the US noted that at least 51% of social media users claim that stopping social media use is difficult (Smith " Anderson, 2018). As earlier mentioned most of the studies on the effect social media use on children's behavior are inconclusive. The latter is because a wide array of factors can cause adverse effects such as depression and anti-social behavior.
Conclusion
Social media use has benefits for children as it allows them to communicate creatively and confidently. The current report focused on the effect of social media on children’s behavior. From the analysis, children’s mental health is threatened by extreme and uncontrolled social media use. The latter typically manifests into behavioral issues such as a suicidal nature due to depression, narcissistic behaviors, and sexual misconduct. Moreover, social media may induce low self-esteem, anxiety and sleep deprivation; thus, decreasing the amount of time spent building meaningful relationships offline. Further, social media targeted advertisements may influence children’s purchasing patterns and beliefs; therefore, altering their behavior.
References
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Pyschiatry. (2017, February). Social Networking and Children. Retrieved from American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-and-Social-Networking-100.aspx
Barnes, A., " Laird , C. (2012, June 6). The effects of Social Media on Children. Retrieved from Communication and Social Media: https://sites.ewu.edu/cmst496-stafford/2012/06/06/the-effects-of-social-media-on-children/
Dheer, A., Yossatorn, Y., Kaur, P., " Chen, S. (2018). Online Social media Fatigue and Psychological Wellbeing—A Study of Compulsive use, Fear of Missing Out, Fatigue, Anxiety, and Depression. International Journal of Information and Management, 40, 141-152. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.01.012
Hamm, M. P., Newton, A. S., Annabritt, C., Shulhan, J., Milne, A., Sundar, P., . . . Hartling, L. (2015, August). Prevalence and Effect of Cyberbullying on Children and Young People: A Scoping Review of Social Media Studies. JAMA, 169(8), 770-777. doi:https://10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0944
O'Keeffe, G. S., " Pearson, K. C. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. American Academy of Pediatrics, 127(4). doi:https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-0054
Smith, A., " Anderson, M. (2018, March 1). Social Media Use in 2018. Retrieved from Pew Research Center Internet and Technology: http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/
Woods, H. C., " Scott, H. (2016, August). #Sleepyteens: Social Media use in Adolescence is Associated With Poor Sleep Quality, Anxiety, Depression and Low Self-Esteem. Journal of Adolescence, 51, 41-49. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.05.008
