1 Michelle Mason Adam Padgett ENGL 1102 March 31, 2014

Social Media and its Adverse Effects o!ards Adolescents

"hen teens and #o$ng ad$lts thin% of social media, it is vie!ed as a f$n !a# to &e social, comm$nicate, and sta# in to$ch !ith friends and famil#' (t has &ecome a !a# of life, something most #o$ng )eo)le ref$se to live !itho$t' *o!ever, it has &een )roven to &e detrimental to the mental health of man# $sers, #et the# still contin$e to $se it on a dail# &asis' Social media is ca$sing mental and social disorders in teenagers and #o$ng ad$lts' (t is in this sense that social net!or%ing sites are li%e a dr$g+ !e %no! it is &ad for $s, &$t !e m$st contin$e to feed o$r addiction' ,ne of the most )o)$lar social media net!or%ing sites $sed toda# is -ace&oo% !hich has &een )roven to contri&$te to de)ression' .e)ression is a serio$s mental condition that ca$ses a )lethora of adverse o$tcomes+ it ma%es )eo)le less social, have lo! self !orth, and e/)erience feelings of ho)elessness and inade0$ac#' !o of the !a#s -ace&oo% can ca$se de)ression is thro$gh )osting stat$s $)dates and scrolling thro$gh the ne!s feed' 1*o! e/actl# does )osting stat$s $)dates enco$rages this mental illness in )eo)le21 #o$ might as%' Peo)le !ho )ost negative stat$s $)dates a&o$t their de)ressive s#m)toms that receive feed&ac% and attention from their

2 friends are going to &e enco$raged to )ost more )essimistic, c#nical and des)airing $)dates' S' Sh#am S$ndar 3a )rofessor of comm$nications and co4director of the Media Effects 5esearch La&orator# at Penn State 6niversit#7 states, 8 he t#)es of actions $sers ta%e and the %inds of information the# are adding to their -ace&oo% !alls and )rofiles are a reflection of their identities'9 *e contin$es to disc$ss ho! these social net!or%ing !e&sites are dee)l# )ersonal' As for sim)l# scrolling thro$gh #o$r ne!s feed, this can ca$se de)ression, as !ell as self4)it# and feelings of lo! self4!orth &eca$se it forces #o$ to loo% at the good ne!s )eo)le )ost of their grad$ations, )romotions, marriages, and )ict$res of )eo)le more attractive than #o$'

-ace&oo% is a social net!or%ing site that ca$ses #o$ to constantl# com)are #o$rself,
and &e made a!are, reminded, and notified of the s$ccesses and tri$m)hs of friends and famil#' ( have o&served so man# of m# female friends com)lain a&o$t their !eight after scrolling thro$gh (nstagram and vie!ing images of 1)erfect1 girls !ith &ig &oo&s, a firm &$tt, and a tin# little !aist' he# are com)aring themselves to !omen li%e the :ictoria;s Secret models !hich is a&sol$tel# ridic$lo$s' his ca$ses them to set $nrealistic standards for themselves !hen the# are &ea$tif$l as the# are and alread# at a health# !eight' his is not to sa# that setting goals for #o$rself is a &ad thing, &$t ( feel that it is im)ortant to ma%e s$re that #o$ set realistic goals &efore attem)ting to im)rove $)on #o$rself' Ever#one;s &od# is different and not ever# girl can have the &od# of a :ictoria;s Secret model no matter !hat efforts the# ma%e' his is !hat ( tr# to tell m# friends !ho are too hard on themselves a&o$t things li%e &od# image after &eing disco$raged from scrolling thro$gh the -ace&oo% ne!s feed or (nstagram' (t is cases li%e this !here it is eas# to see !h# social media can &e dangero$s' "hen this stream of ne!s is constantl# &eing thro!n in #o$r face ever# time #o$ log on, ho! co$ld it not hinder #o$r

3 mental health2 Social media net!or%ing has &ecome an $navoida&le )art of ever#one<s lives all over the !orld' herefore, !e m$st $se it !ith ca$tion and &e a!are of the negative effects it can have' (f !e ac%no!ledge the fact that there are $n)leasant as)ects of $sing social media and learn ho! to avoid de)ression and other )ossi&le mental illnesses, then !e can contin$e to go a&o$t )osting stat$s $)dates and images etc' !hile maintaining o$r mental health' 6nfort$natel#, it doesn;t sto) there' he $se of social net!or%ing !e&sites and a))lications can ca$se an even greater arra# of other )ersonalit# disorders s$ch as narcissism, )aranoia, and antisocial and com)$lsive &ehavior' (t also ca$ses =ealo$s#, env#, s$rveillance &ehaviors, and the ina&ilit# to tolerate &eing alone' (t is evident that social media can have serio$s conse0$ences and instigate )assionate, negative feelings in fre0$ent $sers' he more a )erson &ecomes addicted to and reg$larl# $ses social media, the more intense and li%el# these mental iss$es &ecome' ( )ersonall# feel that social media is ca$sing so man# of these mental iss$es in $sers &eca$se it is &eing a&$sed d$e to the fact that )eo)le 3teenagers in )artic$lar7 $se it so o&sessivel#' he# &ecome addicted to it and &egin to sh$t o$t the real !orld &eca$se the# fear that the# might &e missing o$t on something im)ortant+ the# can;t stand to &e ;disconnected;' his leads )eo)le to develo) )ro&lems li%e not &eing a&le to &e alone' ># constantl# &eing on social net!or%ing sites and connecting !ith )eo)le virt$all#, )eo)le are never tr$l# alone' herefore, !hen the# are, the# &egin to fear &eing alone and develo) an/iet#' his ma# not seem li%e that &ad of a conse0$ence, ho!ever, setting aside time to &e &# #o$rself is highl# cr$cial to o&taining good

4 mental health' Solit$de allo!s #o$ to re&oot #o$r &rain and $n!ind, hel)s to im)rove concentration and increase creativit#, gives #o$ an o))ort$nit# to find #o$rself and discover !ho #o$ are as an individ$al, and can enhance the 0$alit# of #o$r relationshi)s !ith others' ># s)ending time alone, #o$ allo! #o$rself to learn a&o$t and get to %no! #o$rself &etter and reall# thin% a&o$t !ho #o$ are' ( &elieve that alienation is the %e# to &eing a creative individ$al' "hen #o$ are connected to social !e&sites and a))lications all the time, #o$ are constantl# &eing infl$enced &# all the images #o$ see and things #o$ read' herefore, s)ending time &# #o$rself gives #o$ the o))ort$nit# to thin% dee)l# for #o$rself as an individ$al !ith no other interferences and infl$ences' (n m# o!n e/)eriences !ith social net!or%ing sites, ( )ersonall# str$ggle !ith =ealo$s#' ( have &ecome e/tremel# envio$s of other )eo)le and find m#self !anting all the things the# have that ( don;t' ( get e/tremel# ca$ght $) in loo%ing at all the fascinating and interesting )ict$res other )eo)le )ost and des)eratel# !ish ( co$ld &e living their lives instead of mine' "hen ( am &ro!sing thro$gh social media, ( com)letel# lose m# a&ilit# to a))reciate and feel good a&o$t m#self and m# o!n accom)lishments' (t is virt$all# im)ossi&le to foc$s on )ositive as)ects of m#self and m# o!n life !hen ( loo% thro$gh m# ne!s feed and it is filled !ith stat$s $)dates li%e 1?$st got &oo%ed for another )hoto shoot for @overGirl toda#A M# life is sooo greatA1 or 1( have the &est &o#friend in the !orld, !e are too )erfect for each other' L,L,1 or 1-,6N. B100 ,N *E S 5EE ,.ACAAAA (M S,, L6@DC ,MG E.E.E.AAA1 ( am still !or%ing on

overcoming =ealo$s#+ tho$gh ( have definitel# made )rogress, ( still str$ggle !ith it from time to time' he &est advice ( can give to others str$ggling !ith =ealo$s# d$e to social media is to learn ho! to ta%e control over #o$r attention' "hen ( find m#self

F e/)eriencing feelings of des)air and =ealo$s#, ( redirect m# foc$s from the social media streams immediatel# and distract m#self !ith something more )rod$ctive and less destr$ctive' here is no 0$ic% fi/ to these %inds of iss$es that arise from fre0$ent $se of social media' (t is going to &e a str$ggle, and a =o$rne# that !ill hel) )eo)le learn more a&o$t and acce)t themselves for !ho the# are as )eo)le' (n m# o)inion, social media does not have to &e a &ad thing+ if !e can learn to control it and not let it control $s, it can &e a tr$l# &ea$tif$l and incredi&le technological device' Eric Schmidt once said, 1 he (nternet is the first thing that h$manit# has &$ilt that h$manit# doesn;t $nderstand, the largest e/)eriment in anarch# that !e have ever had'1 *e is a&sol$tel# correct' (t is an e/)eriment and )eo)le sho$ld and !ill find their o!n !a#s to !or% social media in a !a# that !ill not &e harmf$l or detrimental to their health' A non4&reathing, $nfeeling, cold, hard electronic device does not deserve to ta%e a!a# an#one;s ha))iness+ ta%e charge of #o$r o!n ha))iness and ma%e #o$r life as )ositive as it can &e' hese are serio$s mental and social iss$es that )eo)le, )artic$larl# #o$ng adolescents and teenagers, face on a da#4to4da# &asis' hese )ro&lems that ma# res$lt from $sing social net!or%ing !e&sites and a))lications m$st &e ac%no!ledged so that $sers of social net!or%ing !e&sites can learn a&o$t the different t#)es of conse0$ences that ma# occ$r, as !ell as ho! to disco$rage them from ha))ening in the f$t$re' (f #o$ %no! an#one, a famil# mem&er, a friend, or even a stranger, !ho is s$ffering from mental or social disorders d$e to social media, get them hel) as soon as )ossi&le' Even sim)l# listening and tal%ing to them can ma%e a mon$mental im)act on ho! the# )erceive things' ( ho)e that )eo)le !ill ta%e something a!a# from this essa# so that $sers of social media can $se as a safe and f$n !a# to comm$nicate and socialiGe !ith friends and famil# from this da# forth'

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