Is Social Media Good For Teenagers?

 Is Social Media Good For Teenagers?

 

Social media has become an integral part of nearly every teenager in the world.  As a result, parents, educators, and other adults have a great desire to understand the role that social media plays in teens’ lives. Some are optimistic about social media use, while others are sure it will cause more harm than good, especially when it comes to the emotional well-being of the teens. Mostly teenagers spend much of their time engaging in activities on Instagram. They are updating status, posting pictures, liking, and commenting and others posting for nearly six hours a day on average. For many, their addiction to social media has started to interfere with their daily lives and parents are outraged. The obvious question for most is when has social media use become an addiction and what should be done about it. Teens of today are the first to embark upon teenage years with social networking sites; therefore it is still unclear if social networking will be more of a benefit or detriment to the average teen.

 

Internet addiction is described as  the use of social media to an extent that creates psychological, social, school, and work difficulties in one’ life.  A person with a technology addiction will spend a great amount of time using the Internet, which leads to increased levels of loneliness and depression from the lack of human relationships outside the use of technology. Social media can be a double edged sword. Teenagers can benefits from expanding their social network and meeting people from different cultures and different parts of  the word- something that would not have been possible twenty years ago from the comfort of one’s own home.  Teens with similar hobbies and mindsets often form communities within social media stations. However, studies have shown that social media networks seem to attract teens with psychological and social problems more often than it does teens without these problems. This is because using social media has a degree of anonymity. 

 

A teen can be whoever he/she wants to be on social media. In some sense digital technology has broken a barrier between reality and imagination. Those teens may become addicted to social media because they are enjoying the life they have created there more than the life they are actually living. Social media addiction as a legitimate diagnosis because it is difficult to diagnose this as a disorder. When a teen spends hours on social media sites is he/she addicted to social media? Some signs of social media addiction are: Feeling preoccupied with the Internet, use the Internet with increasing amounts of time to achieve satisfaction, had repeatedly unsuccessful attempts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use, feeling restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when not using the Internet, staying online longer than intended, jeopardized significant relationships because of Internet use. 

 

The Internet is a great tool for teens to use when used properly and with proportion. However, too much use of the Internet can have a negative effect on a teen’s well-being. Although teens love social media, many have shared a desire to “unplug” and go back to normal life. Teens who report this say that they are addicted to their cell phones because they are attached to their social media sites. This something has to be easy to focus on. 

Social media gives the teen a sense of empowerment that they are usually not capable of having in the real world. Teens’ addiction to social media is merely a compulsion to fit in with other teens. Some teens may overdo it because social media interferes with the face to face human relationships they have. For the most part, using social media is probably harmless. Most teens are able to discern if social media has become an issue. For other teens that are unable to do this, parents must step in. Parents must be vigilant of teens Internet use. There are far more dangerous aspects of using the Internet than the possibility of becoming addicted.