Social Media and the Effects on American Adolescent

Social Media and The Effects on the American Adolescent is an issue that presents itself in American adolescents today. This is an issue that has become increasingly present within the past decade. With the advent of social media and the internet becoming more apart of everyday life, people can develop issues associated with stress and other emotional issues. However, positive issues are also associated with the presence of social media in today's world.

Per Time, an article claims that the majority of adolescent feel that they are always connected online and can never seem to truly get away from social media. Millennials are the first real generation that has grown up with social media. Unlike generations before them, Millennials learned the rules of social media and how to behave and act in this foreign world. With learning this new world, many stresses arose as they tried to figure out how to act and conduct in this world.

Positive Aspects of Social Media

Social media has some positive contributions to the lives of adolescents. Positive aspects may include, feelings of inclusion, access to friends one would have never met otherwise, or possibilities of romantic relationships. As studied in the paper, Social anxiety and technology: Face-to-face communication versus technological communication among teens, those that have social and emotional issues can feel more included with social media and online activiteis.

Negative Aspects of Social Media

The negative aspects of social media seem to stand out more. These can include ostracizing and cyberbullying an individual. A study claims that there is a high correlation between the amount of time an adolescent spends online and their overall mood function and behavior. The more the individual spends online, the worst their mood and function seems to become.

It seems that while making friends is possible on social media, the validity of those friendships seems to be put into question. A study claims that while social media can be good, some affects that may come from it include the individual feeling alone and making friends is an illusion. Often, it seems that people have to worry if friends are truly genuine or not.

Physical Reactions to Social Media

The anxiety that comes from a negative experience on social media, can affect the person in the real world. An article from Time discusses how a girl inflicts pain on her based on what she sees from social media. The stress that is associated with social media can be taxing on the individual. What happens online can translate into the real world. Such as [...] or other forms of harm against the individual.

An article from US News claims that people are posting images of bulimia and anorexia online to encourage others to not seek treatment and that it is okay. Combined with some of the negative effects of social media, the physical harm that it can do to an individual can be noticed. Not limited to normalizing eating disorders, but also other aspects of physical ailment can appear as well.