This is for anyone who is interested in reading my full essay discussing the in depth facts about the effects of social media and what I personally think we should do to enhance our use of social media.
Academic Position Paper
The effects of social media on the masses across the world is a highly debated topic amongst both advocates and those who claim the negatives outweigh the positives. The true effect of social media can be determined by how the user attempts to utilize it. If the user is active on social media and becomes focused on what others are doing and what the other users think about them, then this will pose a problem. Will the user be able to find such balance in the new and exotic realm that is the internet, or crumble to the constant self-comparisons that plague many young users? In order for users to use social media positively, they need to understand the need for self-restrictions that need to be followed to keep social media healthy, and the consequences of not doing so.
The problem about prolonged social media use is that the youth often compare themselves to people they find online which in turn lowers the self esteem of the user. This loss of self esteem is mainly due to the fact that on most social media sites, people tend to portray an over glorified sense of life itself. As Taylor and Argo beautifully point out, “89% of adolescents use SM and a recent study found teens spend an average of 9 hours on these sites a day” (Taylor Argo 1) this statistic is astonishing. The power that social media has over the average user is jaw dropping; to put that in perspective, that is over two hours more than the average American sleeps at night. The fact that our youth are spending the same amount of time sleeping as on social media needs to be thought about and discussed. The highs and lows in life are what make the human experience an ever changing and beautiful story to the naked eye. Social media has essentially removed the lows that once were shown through human contact and glorified the highs which are thrown into the platform. With major platform users only showing the glorified moments in their lives, young users see this and wonder why their own lives aren’t as glorified. Donna Freitas, the author of the “Happiness Effect” states how social media has shot the younger audience in the direction of constantly needing to be perfect on many social platforms. She claims that social media has been degrading the youth’s ability to interact face to face and instilling them with a negative perfectionist mindset. Taylor Argo, and Lisa Lowry also agree on the fact that this increase in the need for perfection can be observed in the youth online. This obsessive Behavior is causing the users to become more susceptible to depression and anti-social behavior, which both parents and users should be made aware of.
On the other side of the spectrum, some authors claim that social media is helping and providing benefits its users in this country, Luttig and Cohen who wrote about the scientific effects of social media on youth and poor in this country came at the argument from a scientific point of view. They claimed that in essence, the youth are more involved in their own society due to social media, this increased involvement into social media has allowed for the users to have much easier access into communities in which the user can find friends and connect with many across the world. Luttig and Cohen summarized this perfectly by saying that social media “has different relationships with political attitudes and behaviors across racial and ethnic groups” (Luttig, Cohen). They also provide evidence to support that social media has increased the amount of political involvement in the youth, allowing them to delve not politics at a much earlier age than before.
As the reader I urge you to take a second and think about how social media effects your own life. Ask yourself if you have ever thought about social media and the effects it has on you or your loved ones, and were those effects positive or negative? There are many arguments around social media, and they all stem back to what effect it has on developing minds and the nature of the platforms. With some studies showing the positive aspects of social media ranging “from increased involvement in society and politics, to negative articles stating that the social media is addictive and causes negative mindsets to develop, hearing both sides to the argument its hard choosing which side to lean towards. When it comes to this decision, a middle ground needs to be found. The time in which the user spends “scrolling” should be monitored because if the time extends past over two hours the time begins to become unhealthy. The constant use can lead to an addiction to the platform in which the user becomes enveloped by the curtain that is the escape from reality that the social media provides. This leads to the perfectionist mindset that the authors who wrote negatively about social media talked about. To avoid this the user should watch how much time they spend on the platforms daily. Although the negatives of social media have been clearly stated, its important to remember the many positives of social media. The use of these platforms will lead the user to reach out to endless possibilities from finding friends and groups where they can confide. When making your decision on the everchanging reality of social media, try to see both the sides that are involved and take a second to think about whether you will decide to join social media on its quest to bring the world together. If I were to give the reader advice it would be that with social media comes responsibility. If you are to use social media, take it all with a grain of salt, as most of what you see is in fact glorified, edited, and made specifically to invoke a response from the user. A balanced amount of time on such platforms, and a healthy use of its features can change social media use from negative to positive.
Works Cited
Argo, Taylor; Lowery Lisa. “The Effects of Social Media on Adolescence Health and Well-being” Journal of Adolescent Health, February 2017.https://utkalmaprimo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/np694c/TN_elsevier_sdoi_10_1016_j_jadohealth_2016_10_331
Freitas, Donna. “The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at any Cost” Oxford University Press, 2017. https://utk-almaprimo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/np694c/01UTK_ALMA21272853630002311
Cohen, Cathy J., and Matthew D. Luttig. “Reconceptualizing Political Knowledge: Race, Ethnicity, and Carceral Violence.” Perspectives on Politics, pp. 1–14. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/reconceptualizing-political-knowledge-race-ethnicity-and-carceral-violence/B393C0399987F7CBB429B0D614DC5D1C
SOCIAL MEDIA HUB 