Harmful Effects Of Social Media Essay

Decent Essays
During this time, social media gained a widespread audience. Sites such a Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook were originally created to connect with people over the world. Although the original intentions of these social sites were positive these mediums of social interactions now have negative effects. The age group most affected by social media is young children and adolescents ages 8-26, they make up 84% of all social media users. (Ahn June) There are tons of harmful effects young children and adolescents’ come across. Most effects fall into the following categories: cyberbullying, privacy issues, early sexual promiscuity, media substance abuse and education. Nowadays, face to face interactions has become embarrassment moments for young …show more content…
Since teens are constantly connected to social media with a widespread use of smartphones, tablets and laptops , there able to have constant access to their peers. This leaves teens in a state of dependency of social media. The inability to be alone causes young children and adolescents to lack independence. The media has been so powerful that soon as young children and adolescents go online they get affected instantly. “Facebook Depression” has a great deal on young adults, it causes social isolation which cause teen to turn to risky sites for “help”. These sites may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices and self-destructive behaviors.( Pearson, Kathleen) Research indicates that, 43% of young children and adolescents express disconnection sometimes, where 41% say they are “addicted” to their phones and 36% say they sometimes wish they could go back to a time where there was no social Medias. (“Teens Use of Social Media”) The original intent of social media to connect with users has ironically been twisted to cause anti-social effects. The access, use of communicating through social media has led to a serious decrease in face to face interaction. Young people are growing up without the need to talk to each other in person which severely impacts social skills. The use of social media is so insensitive that when young people are in the social setting in person they neglect their companions and turn to social media to connect with their cyber friends. The newer amount of cyber friend’s young adults come into contact with through social media draws

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