When we say Social Media it is not a “one-side-fits-all” thing. Each social media platform has its own functionalities from sharing pictures, joining community groups, and participating in trending videos. Similarly, the Impact of Social Media on Youth and teenagers is also different from their design. Here at Innocams, I am going to share with you both the positive and negative influence of social media on today’s generation.
In the comprehensive guide below, we are going to explore the impact of social networking platforms and understand why they are bad for teenagers. So, let’s start the discovery with me!
Positive and Negative Impact of Social Media on Youth
Positive Impact of Social Media on Youth
Academics
Social media contain a vast library of information on any imaginable topic. It is a great source for teenagers and learners to research and analyse data. Youths and teens use various social networking tools to do their academic activities. We can also find the positive Impact of Social Media on Youth during the Covid-19 pandemic as video conferencing tools acted as powerful equipment for educational purposes.
Help and Guidance
Social media also has a notable role in helping teens. Various groups and charities support and advise young stars who are suffering lonely and want to express their creative side. Kids and teenagers who are suffering from domestic violence, physical abuse, and mental depression often seek help on social media.
Entertainment and Social Connection
These platforms are a great source of entertainment for everyone. In various surveys on the Impact of Social Media on Youth, teenagers often said that social networking platforms help them feel connected to family and friends.
Self-expression and Self-affirmation
Studies have reflected that these platforms have helped teens and youth to understand who they actually are and what they want to become. Social media is an undeniable source of self-expression and self-affirmation. Here youngsters can be influenced by experts and share their creativity with others.
Negative Impact of Social Media on Youth
Cyberbullying
One of the notable Impact of Social Media on Youth is cyberbullying and online harassment. One survey reflected that almost half of teenagers experience cyberbullying, aggressive behaviour, and harassment on social media. Those negative behaviours intend to increase substance use, worsen mental health symptoms, and decrease school performance and life satisfaction.
Mental Illness
The connection between mental wellness and social media is complicated. Too much usage of social media leads to addiction and FOMO. These are the symptoms of poor mental health such as feelings of isolation or sadness, depression, anxiety, and frustration. The impact of social media on society and teens is worsening their mental condition.
Harmful Content
On social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, people often share pornography, adult content, child sexual abuse, harassment, and illegal substances. These inappropriate contents are the source of negative Impact of Social Media on Youth.
Sleeping Disorder
Hours of scrolling on social media for entertainment significantly affect the sleeping cycle. Too much usage of mobile phones leads teens to psychological, emotional, and physiological arousal. Analysis of a group of teenagers reflects that due to digital media use at bedtime and sleeping disorders, many youths experience digital stress.
Why Social Media Is Bad for Teenagers?
Though there are undeniable benefits of social networking platforms, the Impact of Social Media on Youth can not be unseen. Research on American teenagers aged between 12 to 18 reflects those who use social media over five hours each day face twice the risk of having mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression.
As soon as mentally unwell teen search for their symptoms on social media, it feeds them with information such as depression and suicide. These violating and inappropriate contents have become an issue for the youth. From eating disorders to sleeping disorders, social media addiction has completely changed the lifecycle of today’s generation.
These serious issues on the impact of social media essay reflect that these digital platforms have seriously become a bad influence for today’s and the next generation. Now that you have known the negative Impact of Social Media on Youth that is hindering their lifestyle, it is essential to understand what can be done to mitigate the issues. Explore with us in the below section:
What Youths Can Do?
- As a teen, you can curate social media feeds so that they offer more positive experiences. It includes muting users who are stressing you out, changing the followers, reporting harmful content, and blocking face or toxic users.
- To avoid the negative Impact of Social Media on Youth, you can talk with others you trust about your social networking experiences. This way, you will be able to identify and solve potential problems.
- It is always essential to pay attention to how and when you are using social media. Balancing your social media time can maximise your productivity in daily work.
- If you think you are suffering from digital stress and depression, you can join offline activities and hobbies that make you feel better.
Final Thoughts
Many experts believe that the Impact of Social Media on Youth is overstimulating the social connection. As a result, social networking platforms increase mental health disorders among teens such as depression, anxiety, and frustration. However, some researchers also said that social media has been a great source of education and global connectivity in recent years.
The studies and analyses on the influence of social media will continue. We need to take adequate steps to avoid these issues and maximize our social media usage as the next generation of this world. So, keep in touch with Innocams to get more helpful information on the usage of the web and technology.
FAQ:
Does social media have a bad influence on youth?
Many researches and analyses on American youth and teenagers aged 12 to 18 have reflected that social media has a significantly bad influence on them.
How teenagers can avoid the negative impact of social media?
To avoid the negative impact of social media on youth and teenagers, they can limit their social media usage, curate their social feeds, block harmful users, and report online harassment and cyberbullying.
Why social media is bad for teenager’s mental health?
As teens easily get addicted to social media they become detached from face-to-face conversations. Also, cyberbullying, trolling, harassment and sleeping disorders increase the possibility of mental health illness among the youth.
