How Does Social Media Affect Social Skills?

Social media are computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interest and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. Many people in todays world find it easier to communicate via email, text, and through social sites, It saves a trip across town or even a face to face connection. People take advantage of the time saver that social media provides in today’s busy world. However technology plays a huge role in affecting social skills in the youth and even in some adults as well. The question that raises eyebrows is how much will this epidemic affect the world as time progresses? According to Katina Michael (PC World) Feb 23rd, 2017 “It is estimated there will be 2.67 billion social network users by 2018”. That is a huge population in todays world nearly everyone who has access to technology equipments that …show more content…
The reward network is associated with associative learning, incentives, motivation, desire or craving a reward. Which is why teens look for social approval and outcomes based on their peers. Dopamine is considered to be the pleasure chemical of the brain that creates want. As previously mentioned social media creates desires for people that can be unrealistic to them, however according to huffpost.com “the release of dopamine during online social networking makes it much harder for people to resist the activity”. Which will eventually enable depression once those desires aren’t met. Based on a poll amongst participants According to UPMC.com March 22nd,2016 “Participants who reported most frequently checking social media throughout the week had 2.7 times the likelihood of depression. Similarly, compared to the peers who spent less time on social media, participants who spent the most time on social media through the day had 1.7 times the risk of