Social Media Negatively Impacting the Youth

1161 Words3 Pages

“Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social.”-Joy Baer Social Media as described by google are websites and applications used for social networking. Many adolescents use Facebook, Myspace, and Instagram, twitter etc. as a form of communication without being explained the many risk factors. Over time more and more proposed threats with teens using social networks has arisen. Social media negatively impacts teens by exposing them to higher risk activities such as cyberbullying, sexting and a lack of privacy. “Most risks fall into the following categories: peer-to-peer; inappropriate content; lack of understanding of online privacy issues; and outside influences of third party advertising groups.” (O'Keeffe) The first official social network sites was Friendster. Friendster came out around 2002 before Friendster was created there were dating sites but no real publicizing sites. After Friendster came (in chronological order) came LinkedIn, Myspace, and Facebook. Today in counting there are well over 200 sites. With technology being so broad and constantly improving these networks can be accessed almost anywhere by any person of any age. In addition, to these networks being accessible the threat is not the site itself but the misuse by adolescent users. “Cyberbullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing or hostile information about another person.” (O'Keeffe) Cyberbullying is statistically proven to decrease adolescent’s self-esteem. Between the ages thirteen years old to eighteen years old are when youth are still trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in in society. Cyberbullying alters the era of self-esteem building. Sometimes teens do not realize just how cruel they c... ... middle of paper ... ...have one that the sites are trustworthy. They don’t realize that everything is permanent even after you delete the account. They are naïve to the fact it’s not them using it that’s wrong it’s how social media is being used. Parents should monitor what is being posted, sent and received. Parents should also monitor how much time is being spent on these social sites because over time they decrease face to face socialization. Social media negatively impacts adolescents over time rather its having sex to early or not allowing them to acquire certain social skills. Works Cited AAP. "Talking to kids and teens about social media and sexting." June 2011. Health Children. 17 March 2014. Health Day. "Social Media Has Good and Bad Effects on Kids: Experts." 2011. USNews. 28 March 2014. O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin. American Academy of Pediatrics. 28 March 2011. 17 March 2014.

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