Social media is applications or websites that people can use to converse with friends, post images or memes, and share ideas with other people, as well as to become friends with people from across the globe. Social media has been a very popular thing to use this past decade, and many people use it, and it is most popular among teenagers. Because people use social media a lot, it brings some effects. These effects of social media can be positive or negative. This research paper aims to explain the effects of social media, specifically its side effects on teenagers. During this paper, there will also be an explanation of why the effect is positive or negative. This will be an analytical research paper, which means there won’t be any opinions or arguments. This document contains two sections; section one contains positive effects, and section two contains the other variant of outcomes.
One of the most popular things to do during this past decade is to use social media, which is applications or websites that people can use to converse with friends, post pictures or memes, and share ideas with other people, as well as to become companions with people from throughout the planet. Social media is used by many people, and it is most prevalent for teens. With the usage of social media, arises some side effects. The results from the use of social media could be positive or negative. This research paper’s main goal is to explain some of the central side effects of social media, especially the impacts on teenagers. This article will be separated into two segments. Segment one identifies and explains some positive outcomes, and section two does the same, but with some consequences, as well as identifying and explaining the source for some of the outgrowths. Let’s begin with section one.
When using social media, it can result in some positive effects. Some of these positive effects include making new friends, sharing thoughts and opinions, and collaborating at group work more efficiently when outside of school. The results mostly involve education and companionship. In this section, each of these effects will be explained, including an explanation of why the effect is positive. Let’s start with the outcomes that involve education.
A starting example of positive effects would be the effects on teenagers when it comes to education. For starters, teens can use social media to talk to their classmates if they need help for something school-related, like a group project, or to study for an exam. This would greatly benefit the grades of students since if they don’t get something, they could use social media to contact a friend who could help the person with the problem. This helps especially for stuff like group projects, where the people in the group could contact each other after school through social media so they can continue to work on the project.
From the research found, there are various positive results involving friendship. The first of which, includes making new friends. Social media has made it simpler to do since you can use it to communicate with new people if you like. Some applications even have various chat rooms for people of different interests. Not only that, but teens could be able to talk to their existing friends from anywhere in the world. With social media, teens could also share their ideas with others. They could probably get feedback from others since you can converse with anyone from around the world.
Although there are positive outcomes of social media like making new companions, there is a negative side to the results of social media. These consequences include mental health concerns and addiction. There is also a source of some of the aftermaths, which is currently a major dilemma going on. During this section of the research paper, some of the consequences will be explained, including an explanation of why the effects are negative. The source for many of the issues will also be identified and explained. Let's see what this cause is.
The major cause of many of the negative effects is cyberbullying, which is when someone says or does something hurtful to someone else, while online. Currently, cyberbullying is a big problem happening in social media, with teenagers being affected most. Teens who are cyberbullied generate the same consequences of regular bullying, like loneliness, anxiety, alterations in slumber and appetite, or even depression and suicide.
The results involving emotion just so happens to be the effects of cyberbullying, including depression and anxiety. The reason why depression and anxiety are bad things is that it might result in suicide, which is very serious. There are three types of social media use involving this: stressed posting, oversharing, and triggering posts. Stressed posting is when teens post something negative to get it off their chest, so they could speak to a buddy about it. Oversharing is just what it says, and it can be irritating to some people. Triggering posts is the posting of upsetting content, like cyberbullying. Because of these three kinds of social media use, stuff like cyberbullying could occur, leading to depression or anxiety. Stressed posting, on the other hand, is a good thing since teens could do this to talk to a friend about their quandaries, and they could feel better.
Addiction is another consequence of social media. Only this result is quite a dilemma. This is a difficulty because this causes teens to spend a bit too much time using social media, and it would distract them from things that they need to do, like study. This could also distract teenagers from family. The main reason why addiction is a negative effect is because of how much time is lost from this. There are some things that teens need to do, like homework, or a research paper for Sociology 101, but when social media becomes a distraction, it causes procrastination.
To summarize this entire research paper, social media is applications or websites used to converse with people from around the world, maybe even sharing ideas. Throughout the decade, social media became very widespread among people throughout the planet, and it has influenced people in ways both positive and negative. It has an especially grand impact on teenagers. The central positive outcomes of social media are the capability to share your ideas with anyone around the world, the ability to make new allies with anybody on Earth, and the power to collaborate with your classmates anytime, anywhere. The big cause of the consequences is cyberbullying, and its foremost results involve sadness and addiction. Despite its flaws, social media has been able to impact teenagers greatly, and it could still affect teens for years to come.
References
- Radovic, A. D., Gmelin, T. D., Stein, B. D., & Miller, E. D. (2017). Depressed adolescents positive and negative use of social media. Journal of Adolescence, 55, 5–15. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.12.002 In this article, the authors conducted a study involving 23 depressed adolescents, so they can look at social media's effects on teens. The results are that the teens are using social media for both positive and negative uses. This includes uses like oversharing and stressed posting. The authors of this article knew what they are doing, and about the negative effects of social media on teenagers. They carefully planned a study about this and succeeded, and it shows, as this article is well-researched, and the study was well-planned.
- Garett, R., Lord, L. R., & Young, S. D. (2016). Associations between social media and cyberbullying: a review of the literature. MHealth, 2, 46–46. doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2016.12.01 In this article, authors Renee Garett, Lynwood R. Lord, and Sean D. Young look at papers that explores cyberbullying in social media, and they try to find out the causes of cyberbullying, and its effects on the wellbeing of those who were bullied, as well as the actions of bystanders. This article is well researched, descriptive, and shows one of the main causes of the negative effects social media has on teenagers.
- Meena, P., Mittal, P., & Solanki, R. (2012). Problematic use of social networking sites among urban school going teenagers. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 21(2), 94. doi: 10.4103/0972-6748.119589 In this article, authors Parth Singh Meena, Pankaj Kumar Mittal, and Ram Kumar Solanki did an experiment to see if teenagers are becoming addicted to social media, and they decided that they are using social media way too much, and they might get addicted. This is a good article, because it gives information about another negative effect of social media, becoming addicted to it. Its well-researched and shows another negative effect of social media.
- Monroe, J. (2019, May 24). The Effect of Social Media on Teenagers. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/well-being/effect-of-social-media-on-teenagers/. This article shows the positives and negatives of social media. The positive effects involve friendship, identity formation, and it effects friendships both positively and negatively. The negative effects include increased chances of depression, which leads to teens using social media more often, which makes them even more depressed. It also includes effects like social comparisons. This article is well-researched, and it shows both positive and negative effects of social media.
- Siddiqui, S., & Singh, T. (n.d.). Social Media its Impact with Positive and Negative Aspects. Retrieved from http://www.ijcat.com/archives/volume5/issue2/ijcatr05021006.pdf. This article showcases positive and negative effects of social media. It has been researched well, and the article has been developed well.
