The Impact of Social Media: Connecting the World - Research Paper

Introduction

Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have increasingly become popular across the world, especially to young teens and adults. Social media platforms have enabled people to get into contact with each other both nationally and internationally.

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Social media has had an immense impact on the world in both positive ways. Social media platforms have enabled users to view more than what is around them (RAYSAC n.p). In addition, social media has been used to help boost businesses, especially when entrepreneurs use the platforms for advertising their products and services.

However, social media has also caused negative impacts on young teens and adults since they become more sheltered and remain indoors. Also, young teens and adults become less independent as compared to the generations that existed before social media. The paper focuses on analyzing the negative impacts that social media has caused to young teens and adults.

Young teens spend a lot of their time on social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. As a result, they become more susceptible to peer pressure mental ill health, low self-esteem as well as creating isolation among people which leads to negative health impacts such as obesity due to sedentary lifestyle brought about by the excess addiction to social media (Primack et al. n.p). A number of research studies have found a relation between the increased use of social media and depression, sleep disorders, suicidal thoughts, anxiety and eating disorders (Primack et al. n.p).

Social media causes isolation among young teens and adults since they spend a lot of time indoors as opposed to getting out and interacting with friends and peers (Primack et al. n.p). Social media gives teens the urge not to interact with people since they can get almost everything they want on social media.

For instance, they post their pictures and update the status on their social media platforms which gives them a deceitful sense of self-worthiness. They get likes and a comment on social media, which makes them feel valued and loved which in most cases, is not usually the case (Primack et al. n.p). The addiction to social media makes them live deceitful lifestyles just to make an impression to their peers and as a result, get many likes and comments.

Due to increased use of social media, they fail to engage in outdoor activities such as regular exercising, walking, swimming, as well as camping activities and thus increase the risk of contracting diseases that emerge as a result of sedentary lifestyles such as diabetes, high blood pressure, as well as obesity (Shin and Ismail 12). In addition, excessive use of social media among young teens and adults causes anxiety and depression due to the lack of face to face communications with other people.

Psychologists believe that when a problem is shared, it is half solved (Primack et al. n.p). However, when young teens get themselves into stressful conditions, they are unable to have a face to face communications with people that they can share their challenges. As a result, such young teens and adults suffer from the stressful conditions they experience, such as the loss of a loved one, and thus, leading them into depression.

In addition, the lack of face to face communications to help express their fears and stressful conditions may easily lead them into drug and substance abuse. Social media makes it hard for such individuals to interact and connect with people and thus causing them to live stressful and depressive lives.

Moreover, social media makes young teens and adults have the wrong impression that they are loved by peers due to the many likes and comments they get when they post their thoughts and pictures. However, that is usually not a true reflection of what is in reality, and thus, develop self-esteem challenges. The hype created by the use of social media makes the feel socially accepted by their peers.

However, when it comes to one on one interaction, they find out that that is not the case and therefore, end up having low self-esteem (O'Keeffe and Clarke-Pearson 803). When such young teens develop low self-esteem and become depressed, their growth and development is affected. For instance, they could lose friends as well as become bitter with the environment around them. Also, they could find themselves living lonely lives because they are extremely obsessed with social media.

Since the young teens and adults are always on their laptops and smartphones, they are unable to learn and implement social skills. For instance, it becomes hard for them to interact especially with those of the opposite gender, thus becoming even more problematic and challenging during courtship (Christofferson 8-10).

According to research conducted by Pittsburgh University, it was found out that people who extensively use social media may develop feelings of being isolated or hatred (Christofferson 11). Also, young teens, especially students, may develop certain negative impacts due to over-reliance on social media.

For instance, they may develop reduced concentration and reduced learning, as well as abilities to conduct comprehensive researches. In addition, the use of social media may make young teens incapable of multitasking, loss of motivation in life and may as well lead to reduced command and mystery over creative skills.

Cyberbullying is another negative impact that social media may have on young teens and adults. It refers to a form of harassment using electronic means and gadgets (Iskandrian 13). Besides, it can be in the form of abuse, threats and embarrassment, for instance, by sending hurtful messages, spreading mean rumours, as well as posting embarrassing videos and photos of an individual.

In the generations, before social media was invented, only physical bullying existed. However, in the modern era, young teens and adults are at the risk of being cyberbullied online, even by anonymous individuals. For instance, an individual can make a fake profile account on Facebook and send threatening messages to a person or cause embarrassment. Therefore, cyberbullying may cause mental, and reputation scars to a young teen as well as adults and can even lead to mental illness.

Also, a friend or a lover can create a fake account and post embarrassing photos such as nudes of a young teen (Iskandrian 15). Such forms of cyberbullying may be because an individual develop suicidal thoughts.

In the modern era, there is a lot of fake news that is commonly spread over social media platforms, and when it is about an individual who is probably not emotionally strong, they are likely to stop their lives and thus social media can have such far-reaching impacts on young teens and adults.

Also, negative body image is also a consequence of social media platforms, especially on Instagram to young teens and adults. For most Instagram accounts, they are filled with pictures of beautiful photos of the owners of the account, which can make a person develop a sense of low self-worth as well as a result to peer pressure.

Someone may try to analyze how different they look from those pictures and therefore lead to self-hatred. In the modern world, body image and shape is a concern for everyone and all people; especially the young teens, always want to look like supermodels.

However, that is not the case for each individual since everyone is created differently, and there are individuals, for instance, who inherit the genes of being plum or even obesity (Fuchs 16). Therefore, however hard they try to have the bodies of their peers on social media, it turns out to be fruitless, and therefore, injures their self-respect and self-worth.

As a result, they may engage in unhealthy practices such as plastic surgery and use of toxic medications to make their bodies look desirable. In the course of such attempts, they end up leading to permanent body damage or conditions due to peer pressure exerted to them by social media.

Use of social media among young teens may lead to unrealistic goals and expectations. Most of the pictures posted on social media lack authenticity and may lead to unnecessary pressures and expectations to a young teen (Fuchs 17). For instance, a friend may post a picture driving a top of the range car or visiting a state of the art destination for a holiday.

The pictures could either be or not authentic. However, such pictures would make one develop unrealistic goals of trying to travel to the same destination or driving the same car, which only remains to be an unrealistic goal.

In addition, the use of social media among young teens and adults may lead to addiction as well as unhealthy sleep patterns. Individuals who spend a lot of time on social media are likely to develop irregular sleep patterns as well as a negative effect on their sleep quality.

Young teens develop a habit of using their smartphones and laptops while on the bed at night (Primack et al. n.p). As a result, they find themselves spending too much time browsing from one social media platform to the other. In the end, since they do not get enough sleep, they become less productive during the day.

Therefore, to remain productive during the day, young teens and adults should be advised to have enough sleep and cease from the use of social media while on their beds. Moreover, social media can lead to addiction to young people more than alcohol and other drugs can. This type of addiction can have adverse effects on an individual's job or studies for students.

One of the most common negative impacts of social media among young teens and adults is the fear of missing out (YouTube n.p). The fear is a form of anxiety caused when someone has experience or fun without better than you or in an individual's absence (Primack et al. n.p). For instance, an individual may keep checking at WhatsApp messages or Instagram and Facebook to check if, for instance, one is invited for an activity or a party. As a result, the fear of missing out may lead to bitter lives or living a purposeless life.

Young teens and adults are negatively affected by social media and may as well affect the brain in unexpected and negative ways. For instance, the use of social media may interfere with the ability of a young teen to think independently.

Social media causes peer pressure which, as a result, alters and affects the ability of an individual to make independent decisions (YouTube n.p). Social media can affect an individual's decisions ranging from how to dress, type of car to buy, as well as the type of lifestyle to live. As a result, one may end up making unwise decisions since they do not follow what they are passionate about but instead follow the footsteps of other people.

The use of social media may also lead to a spark phantom vibration (Primack et al. n.p). The vibration occurs due to the numerous notifications to the brain when one is sent a message. As time progresses, one is likely to develop fake vibrations as perceived in the brain (Primack et al. n.p). As a result, one may keep checking at their smartphone or laptop to check for a message or notification even when there is none.

Also, social media denies individuals the ability to multitask (Schwartz et al. n.p). Most of the things on social media are usually interesting or mind engaging and may make an individual unable to simultaneously concentrate on other issues. For instance, an individual is unable to multitask between cooking and remaining on social media.

Identity theft is another negative impact, especially on young teens and adults. Most people create social media accounts without thoroughly reading the privacy settings created by individual social media platforms (Murray et al. 500).

Therefore, due to ignorance or lack of reading a...