The impact of social media on young generation
Outline
Introduction. General information about social media, their influence in modern world and present a thesis that they should be restricted for youth.
I Advantages of Social Media Impact for Young Generations
A. Social media help to develop skills and jobs opportunities
B. Social media assist in development of political and cultural awareness of teenagers
C. Social media favor socialization and virtual empathy of teenagers
II Disadvantages of Social Media Impact for Young Generations
A. What psychological disorders social media can cause
B. Social media have negative effect on health
C. Threats of social networking imply explicit content, fraud, sex and violence as well as cyber bully
D. Social media provokes bad school performance
Refutation
Prove that disadvantages of social media for teens overweigh the advantages and thus must be banned for teenagers
Conclusion
Effect of Social Media on Young Generation
The digital age that we all live in presents us more and more opportunities and inventories in the sphere of communications and media. The faster the technology develops, the more challenges and risks the Internet users face, and the more the next generations are affected and altered by such a vast variety of opportunities. One of such options of modern digital age is social media that can be defined as a number of Internet sites that enable interaction of people from all over the world (Whiteman, 2014). There is no more need to write long letters and send them via mail to reach a friend in another corner of the world, since it takes a few minutes to send him a message on Facebook and closely follow what he has been up to for a specific period of time. All these situations simplify our lives and make them faster, however are we sure that the outcome of such technological advantage as social media is always good? Whether its impact is good or bad, is a highly disputable issue, since there are two sides to every coin. However, in terms of social media, the drawbacks of their impact are significantly bigger than their benefits. Thus, in this essay,
I. Advantages of Social Media Impact for Young Generations
Modern youth has a tremendous choice of media resources that are available 24\7 and are accessible due to the development of technology. It would not be an exaggeration to state that technology as well as the digital and information era have changed our lives forever and will continue to evolve posing a significant impact on lives of future generations. Younger children have never seen a world without a computer or mobile phone, video games or World Wide Web. It is beyond any doubt that such modernization of life has numerous benefits, however, there also drawbacks of people and especially youth spending a lot of time on the Web.
It is hard to object that the appearance of the Internet in the 1990s has changed the dissemination of information forever. Moreover, it opened a new market for creative and smart people to run new businesses. In such a way, the youth was faced limitless possibilities and realized them successfully, ending up as millionaires (Nichols, Good, 2004). For those, who did not catch up with the wave of online entrepreneurships or did not succeed enough to become wealthy, still it is not necessary to work at the office or workshop. Indeed, if a person is skilled enough, he or she can earn for living while staying online and even working in the social media as the social media specialists do. So, one of the main achievements of social media is that even a teenager can earn for living without washing dishes at McDonalds, but receiving good wages when staying online and working in Facebook or Twitter as social media marketing specialist. Researchers also prove that social networking can provide good tools for teaching in compelling ways that young students will be interested in (Rosen, 2011).
Due to the social media, children develop political and cultural awareness, since information is everywhere and it is accessible (Mokeayne, 2014). Teenagers who can be limited by their own cultural circles offline are exposed to a wide range of different people through social networks. Thus, it is easier for them to set up communication environments with ethnically or culturally diverse people such as Latino, Asian or African American. Such interaction helps young people to avoid stereotypes and encourages critical thinking. Rosen claims that teenagers who spend time in social networks ten to show more empathy for others (2011). Furthermore, since most of the news channels and modern politicians are present in social media, teenagers have an opportunity to develop their political awareness as well. Moreover, youth become aware of everything happening around the world and thus can be encouraged to participate in benevolent actions or charities (Mokeayne, 2014).
Furthermore, social media make communication easier and develop social interactions of teenagers. Children are communicating with their peers by means of social media, so the new friendships are cultivated that are often extended offline as well (Mokeayne, 2014). According to research conducted by Rosen (2011), among positive impacts of social networking is the help for the introverted teenagers to become more sociable and teach them how to socialize. Children who use social media have more social support, increased social confidence, and good media literacy. We should not omit the skills that teenagers acquire when using the social media social skills that will help them to be more confident in the technologically developed society in the future (Mokeayne, 2014).
II. Disadvantages of Social Media Impact for Young Generations
Engagement in social networks also involves many drawbacks and may have a negative effect on youth. Social networking may result in mental and physical disorders among teenagers. Rosen (2011) states that teenagers who use Facebook tend to demonstrate narcissism more often. In general, the researcher claims that youth who are strongly present in the social media have more signs of psychological disorders such as mania, antisocial behaviors or aggression. Moreover, young people who are passionate about their social networks and are constantly checking their Twitter, Facebook accounts or Instagram may become too obsessed (Sadiki, 2013) that may lead to feeling miserable, aggression or depression. Whiteman (2014) stresses that the survey conducted in 2012 by the Anxiety UK conducted a survey on social media use and its effects on emotions has shown that 53 per cent of participants claimed that social media networks had altered their behavioral tendencies, 51 per cent claiming that this change was negative. Furthermore, daily overuse of media surely has a negative influence on physical health of children. Being active online, children fail to participate in physical activities, because instead of being engaged in sports, they prefer to stay in front of the screens because of their addiction (Brenchley, Trombini, Lintott, 2013). In such a way, teenagers become more susceptible to future health problems not only in psychological perspective, but also in physical one.
Heavy users of social networks have problems with face-to-face communication that may end up with absence of live communication among teenagers that is vitally important for their future success both in personal life and in the society. According to the recent study by Dr. Rauch and his team, people who have high levels of anxiety are experiencing serious problems in face-to-face communication (Whiteman 2014). Moreover, the survey demonstrates that two thirds of people have difficulty sleeping and relaxing after they have been online.
Social media also pose the external dangers for adolescents such as explicit content, violence, money outsourcing, and sex. Indeed, 66 per cent of parents with children aged 10 to 15 years old show deep concern about children communicating with strangers online, while 64 per cent of parents also fear that their child will be exposed to explicit content online (Brenchley, Trombini, Lintott, 2013). Nowadays, Internet environment is filled with media violence and sex that are actually everywhere and can be easily accessed by children or teenagers (Nichols, Good, 2004). Not being aware and cautious enough, teenagers can become victims of online frauds and expose the credit card details to them or, what is worse, become victims of online sexual assaults. In recent years, cyber bullying has become a major problem for teenagers. The attackers create false identities in order to terrorize the victims by posting things in front of their peers. It can take other forms such as text, email, or chat rooms. According to the National Children’s Home study in Britain, one in four adolescents has been bullied online. Cyber bullying leaves heavy psychological traces on children and sometimes can become a reason for teenager suicides (Kincel 2005).
Among other drawback of social networking is prevention from sufficient studying. Indeed, social networking prevents young adults from good school performance. Teenagers tend to use social networks nearly 12 hours per day and these tendencies are increasing enormously (Sadiki, 2013). Children prefer to stay online than to devote time to education, they get distracted from learing and become inattentive and unfocused that definitely impacts their performance at school. According to Rosen (2011), studies revealed that students of all ages who checked Facebook at least once during a 15-minute study period received lower grades than those students who did not.
Refutation
Although social media are claimed to have a strong positive effect on teenagers by providing opportunities for social interaction with people of various ethnicity, nation and race, Of course, they make access to information easier, however, this information is not always appropriate and may cause a negative outcome when a child reaches porno or fraud website via social media. Moreover, children may also be communicating with strangers online and thus be involved in sexual assaults. Clearly, cultural and political awareness that teenagers get through the social media is important. However, social media have proved to have bad influence on school performance, because they distract children from learning and require too much time and attention of a typical middle school, high school or college student. Moreover, in terms of education, books can perfectly substitute the social media, so in order to study, they are not important at all. It should be emphasized that users of social media are exposed to various external threats as violence, sex assaults, fraud, money spending and cyber bullying, that can have bad results for children and their parents. As for the health issues, social media also bring more harm than good. Scientists report that users of social networks may cause serious psychological disorders, anxieties and sleep disorders. Moreover, using the social media can become a serious addiction and even an obsession that can lead to depression and lack of communication. The adolescents who are addicted to social networks, demonstrate isolation and unwillingness to interact with the outer world that can be posed as a serious problem in their future. Moreover, children become more prone to depression, anxiety and behavioral disorders.
Conclusion
The role of the social media in modern world and their impact on our lives is huge and inevitable. However, social media has proved to have more negative effects on young people, since their individualities are not completely formed yet and thus children are vulnerable to harsh influences that social networks can pose. All in all although social media can be of a good advantage to teenagers and make them more flexible in perspective of the future jobs and communication, assists in education and interaction with peers, teenagers, it is important that it should be banned from social networks until the age of 18, because the drawbacks of the social media significantly overweigh their benefits.