Social Media and          Teenagers

Chances are every teenager you know uses social media. It is becoming a basic need in their life. But, how does spending all this time on social media, affect teens? 

 

There are teenagers, that seem to understand the types of consequences that can come out of using social media. Many adolescents say that social media distracts them from doing their homework. Some teenagers say that companies are manipulating their audience, making them more attached to social media. There are also teenagers (a relatively low amount of teenagers) that state that it makes them feel more popular,  confident, and even better about themselves. This is not all, some also say that it makes them feel less lonely, and/or less depressed. Many declare that it makes them feel less anxious while others, explain that it makes their anxiety develop.

 

In addition to this, Teenagers are constantly changing what type of social media they use. For example, Facebook is getting less and less popular each day. Whereas Instagram and Snapchat, are rising in popularity.

 

The same individuals announce that their most comfortable and most preferred way of communication is through text, while verbal communication remained popular in 2012. Through this, we are able to understand that change is able to occur drastically, in a 6-year time frame.

This could suggest that the gaps between generations are growing every year. According to what has been said so far, social media also has a positive effect on teenagers’ lives. 

 

The content seen by teenagers using social media can be considered harmful, as they’re exposed to racist, sexist, and homophobic themes. Hateful comments have been increasing daily. This means that the exposure to such content is also increasing. Teenagers who say they “often” or “sometimes” encounter specifically racist content has increased to 52 percent in 2018 from 43 percent in 2012.

 

Besides this, Many girls also state that they feel left out when they see a post of their friends in parties (Specifically, parties they had not been invited to.) 

Boys agree, however, this issue has not gravitated as dangerously as it has to the opposite gender.

It is important to keep in note, that this study was specifically done for American teenagers ranging from 13 to 17 years old. The amount of adolescents that had a smartphone has jumped. Only 41% of teenagers in 2012 had phones, whereas now, 89% of teens have phones. This is true only if we count smartphones, but, if we also count tablets the percentages rise from 67% in 2012 to 95% in 2018.

 

It can also be hard to monitor what a teenager may be doing on social media, as only some (16%) have said that they have a second social media account. One which they hide from people (non-close friends, and also parents).