Within the realm of technology, it’s rapid evolution and expansion into the multiple ways it affects our daily lives is unmatched. What we now have access to over thirty to forty years ago would have been confined to the realm of science fiction, with devices such as miniature multi-purpose personal cellular devices, that also store personal information, and have access to an extensive database we all know as the world wide web. Yet possibly the most prominent aspect of our new information age would be the access to details and statistics, as well as our ability to share information in the matter of minutes through social media. Yet how does such access affect the youth of the world who are developing in our digital age? Does it benefit our teens and children, or does it do more harm than good?
A wide range of facilities have conducted research on the topic of the use of social media by teens, including such organizations as Child Mind Institute and Mayo Health Clinic, both of which focus on the health and safety of the general population, as well as providing resources for illness and disorders. These research groups have revealed that social media has made teenagers guilty of being over reliant on indirect communication. As opposed to actual physical interaction, teens occupy a majority of their time expressing themselves through texts and emojis, rather than practicing and learning to identify social cues, direct communication, or emotional attachment.
These problems create a clear disparity that prohibits clear communication and maintaining relationships between people, causing teenagers to miss out on developing crucial life skills that are required for the most basic of daily interactions or occupations. The apparent problems from social media don’t stop just there, as social media causes teenagers to fixate on social interaction through apps on their phone, forcing them to believe that creating a connection between themselves and another person should be constant. Teenagers don’t take time for themselves, yet focus on keeping consistent responses to texts.
This can create panic or anxiety in these young teens, due to their adoption of instant gratification they receive from social media, and their friends who allow their sustained interaction. These teens can never get a break from the never-ending demands for intimacy, creating dread or general pressure to persistently interact. Another complication that becomes apparent with social media is teenagers’ exposure to illicit materials, being easily manipulated, or possibly being bullied online obscured from public view.
Parents don’t closely monitor their teen’s activity online because they believe that their teen will know better, however teenagers can make decisions that are impulsive and are based upon irrational logic. This causes difficulties for teens as they might be viewing materials that could be harmful to their perceived notions of reality, creating fantasies of greatness that are unrealistic and that can’t possibly exist. But also generate low self-esteem or self worth in teens from being easily influenced, peer pressured, or manipulated online by complete strangers or cyber bullies. This drastically hampers teens’ social development and psyche, their capacity to believe in themselves, form their own opinions, and operate as an individual separate from a group.
Out of the collective issues that plague teenagers on-set by social media, only a few were discussed here, other examples might include the disruption of teenager’s sleep cycle, short attention spans as social media has spawned the expectation of instant gratification, or how it absorbs teens into a world that neglects the one outside of a small rectangular light box. The research and prevalent problems revealed displays how social media, despite connecting the world, inhibits social skills, deters direct interaction, and stifles the growth of teenagers.
