In October of 2012, thirteen year old student Erin Gallagher took her life after receiving an abundance of malicious comments through the anonymous social media website, Ask.fm. In December of 2012, fifteen year old sister of Erin, Shannon Gallagher, committed suicide due to her inability to live without her sister. In the United States alone, many families experienced the same tragedy that occurred with the Gallaghers (Mosbegen). According to the Megan Meier Foundation’s statistics about cyber-bullying, around fifty-three percent of adolescents admitted to saying mean and hurtful comments to peers through social media. This leads to the belief that a much larger percentage of adolescents who committed cyber-bullying actions exist, but refuse to admit it. Additionally, one in three mentioned participating in the cyber-bullying more than once (Bullying, Cyberbullying & Suicide Statistics).The increase in suicides amongst adolescents in recent years correlates to the new trend of ephermal or anonymous social media.
THE SWITCH TO EPHERMAL AND ANONYMOUS SOCIAL MEDIA
Ephermal social media, a term originated by Washington Post writer Cecilia Kang, means that content lasts for either short periods of time or lacks any association with the user; popular social mediums such as snapshot centered Snapchat and the anonymous communication website, Ask.fm exemplify the idea of the ephermal app. Why have adolescents made the transition from the slowly declining social media giant Facebook, Twitter and other profile-based social medias? As Erik Qualman, expert in digital media and future trends, said, "What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. But teenagers are realizing that it doesn't have to stay on Snapchat,” (Kerp...
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Technology plays an important role in cyberbullying. According to Hinduja and Patchin, “The primary means through which it can occur include the Internet-enabled
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Young adults today are becoming more and more inclined to focus their attention on social media.
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In Donah Boyd’s, “Myspace or Facebook?” she argues that social media sites create social division among different groups of people, we should acknowledge this because it might help us understand teenagers more according to their preferences of social media.
There is no secret that a modern day teenager’s life is built around the usage of technology. As a result of society’s heavy reliance on technology, social media has become popular amongst people who are “technologically advanced.” Though there is a wide variety of social sites that can be accessed through modern day technology, a few have become very popular. Social sites which have become widely popular among teens include Instagram, Tumblr, and Snapchat. These social networking sites provide instant social connection and emotional support while letting teens post and send pictures of their everyday life. Many teens look towards social media for emotional support and social acceptance. The continual usage of these sites are negatively impacting the self- esteem of teenagers worldwide since they heavily rely on social medias to portray images of what they believe is acceptable for the society we live in.
We live in a world that has become addicted and dedicated toward social media and it is driving America’s youth into the ground. Teenagers and adults are so wrapped up in social media that is runs their lives every day. Constantly people are checking their phones for the latest on social networks. They have to see pictures, tweets, statuses, comments, likes, and the list goes on and on. Social media is becoming the focus point in the modern American society that it is beginning to control people’s social skills, communication skills, and their livelihood.
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In the twenty -first century, teenagers live in a life of social networking and life’s online. It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed over the decades, especially in technology. Technology helps people to contact relatives and friends from long distance more easily and conveniently. People can now talk to each other from everywhere in the world simply through chat and video calls. By time, internet connections have spread throughout households and social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram has increased gradually. However, the internet and several modern technologies have wasted many times and has hurt the society. Social media plays such a big role in people’s lives that some people couldn’t even imagine
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