What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?

                                              Study Shows:

              The average person now spends more time each
                day on their phone and computer than they do
                                                sleeping.



The statistics all tell the same story: Social media are gaining in popularity every day.

   ● The average time spent on social networks per day: 1.72       
      hours  (in 2015).

   ● The average number of hours a teenager spends online per
      week: 27 (2015).


Social media have become prominent parts of life for many young people today. Most people engage with social media without stopping to think what the effects are on our lives, whether positive or negative. Are we as a society becoming more concerned with Facebook "friends" than we are with the people we interact with face-to-face in our daily lives? What will the longterm effects of today's social media use be?

There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites, and blogs. In order to make the right choices, we must dig in and research this topic thoroughly.


What are the positive aspects of engaging in
social media?

The positives of social media:

Education:

  ● Teachers are able to easily collaborate and communicate with
     students and one another.

  ● Students have easy, free access to resources online to help
     them learn.

  ● Grades improve and absenteeism is reduced.

  ● 59% of student users report that they use social networking to       discuss educational topics and 50% use the sites to talk about         school assignments.

  Politics:

  ● Voter participation is increased. Facebook users said they are       more likely to vote if they see that their online friends did.             During the elections of 2010, users who visited Facebook more       than once a day were 2.5 times more likely to attend a                     political  rally or meeting and 43% more likely to say they will       vote.

 ● Social media facilitates political change: Online networks give        social movements a quick, cheap method of disseminating              information and mobilizing people.

 Awareness/Being Informed:

 ● 27.8% of Americans get their news online. (28.8% get it from          newspapers and 18.8% from radio.)

 ● Information spreads faster online than any other media. More      than 50% learn about breaking news on social media.

 ● Social networking provides academic research to everyone            with online access, allowing people access to previously                  unavailable resources.

 ● Social media sites inform and empower individuals to change        themselves and their communities.

 Social Benefits:

 ● Social media allow people to communicate with friends and          this increased online communication strengthens those                    relationships. 52% of online teens say social media have                  helped their friendships. 88% say being online helps them stay      in touch with friends they don't see regularly.

 ● People make new friends. 57% online teens report making              new  friends online.

 Job Opportunities:

 ● Great for professionals for marketing, connecting, and finding      business opportunities.

 ● Employers find employees and unemployed find work. 89% of      job recruiters have hired via LinkedIn, 26% via Facebook, and     15% via Twitter.

 ● Social media sites have created thousands of jobs and new              avenues of income.

The Expectation of Fame and the Importance of
Being "Liked"

                                                Cons
 
                 How Social Media are Detrimental to Youth


What are the negative aspects of engaging in
social media?

The negatives of social media:

A Detriment to Work and/or School:

 ● Enables cheating on school assignments.

 ● While grades did improve for light users, the grades of                    students  who are heavy users of social media tend to suffer.          One study shows that student users have an average GPA of            3.06 while non-users have an average GPA of 3.82.

● For every 93 minutes over the average 106 minutes spent on         Facebook daily, college students’ grades dropped .12 points.

 ● Another study showed that students who went online while            studying scored 20% lower on tests.

 ● Possible negative effects on college admission: 35% of                      admissions officers scan prospective students' social media            and  report discovering information that affects their                        admissions decision.

 ● Social networking sites harm employees' productivity. 51% of        users aged 25-34 checked social media at work.

 ● Using social media can harm employment and prospects. Job        recruiters check a prospective employee's social media                   accounts, and things like profanity, poor spelling or grammar,       racism, sexism, poor health, references to alcohol or drugs, and     sexual and religious content can all count against you.

Lack of Privacy:

 ● People, especially the young, are often too open and public            with personal information when online. Most don't read                  privacy policies and may be unaware that their information          may be used by third parties, like advertisers, insurance                  companies, and the IRS. 21% of teens believe it is safe and              harmless to post personal information, including photos.

 ● Exposure to corporate and governmental intrusions. The US          Justice Department intercepts thousands of pieces of                        information from email and social networking activity per              year.

 ● The IRS trains agents to scan social media for information that      can help them resolve taxpayer cases.

 ● Insurance companies use information gleaned from social              media, as well. If you have "liked" a medical-related page or a        post about a health condition, that information is sometimes          used by insurance companies to determine eligibility and raise      rates.

 ● Online advertising policies are an invasion of privacy. If you          "like" a brand, you’re giving that company access to your                personal information.

 Users Vulnerable to Crime:

 ● Social networking sites allow hate groups to recruit and                 distribute propaganda online.

 ● Unauthorized sharing and copyright infringement threatens          intellectual property and causes loss of income.

 ● Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, phishing                  scams,  and viruses are common online. 68% of users share            their real birth date, 63% share the name of their high school,        18% share their phone number, 12% share a pet's name: This        information might be used in identity theft.

 ● Criminals use social media to commit crimes. Robbers know          when you're away from your home on vacation and stalkers          get information about your whereabouts via social media.

 ● Sexual predators find, stalk, and assault victims through social      media.

 ● Sexting (texting sexual content) can be a big problem. When          teens post sexy photos or comments online, it can lead to                criminal charges and child pornography. 88% of "private"              sexual images posted to social media are stolen and publicly          posted on porn sites without the subject's knowledge.

 ● Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, and viruses            and  exposure to phishing scams are common via social media.

 Social Detriments:

 ● Cyber-bullying (the use of electronic communication to bully         someone, usually by sending intimidating or threatening                 messages) is commonplace online, causes emotional trauma,         and sometimes even leads to suicide. 49.5% of students                   reported victimization by bullying online and 33.7% admitted      to  online bullying. A 2012 study found that at least 800,000            minors had been harassed on Facebook. Middle school children    who experienced cyberbullying were almost twice as likely to        try to kill themselves.

 ● According to one report, 15% of adult users said that                        something  that happened online caused a friendship to end.         12% of adult users said something that happened online caused     a face-to-face argument, and for 3% of adults it turned into a           physical confrontation.

 ● Extensive online engagement is correlated with personality            and brain disorders like poor social skills, ADHD, narcissistic          tendencies, a need for instant gratification, and addictive                behaviors and other emotional distress like depression,                    anxiety, and loneliness.
 
 ● Less time for face-to-face interaction with loved ones. 47% of          18-34-year-old users reported using social media or texting             during meals. 10% of people younger than 25 reported                     checking  their phones and social media during sex.

 ● Children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and            eating disorders and more prone to feeling isolated and                  disconnected (especially youth with disabilities).

 Misinformation:

 ● Enables the spread of false rumors and unreliable                            information:  49.1% of users have read false news on social            media.

 ● Encourages amateur medical advice and self-diagnosis of                health problems, which can be dangerous and life-threatening.

Advertising:

 ● Studies have shown that sites such as Facebook influence you,      via advertisements, to spend more money.

 ● Advertisers gain all kinds of personal information about you          via your social media, information they use to persuade you to      buy their product.

 A Waste of Time:

 ● When alerted to a new post or tweet, it takes about 20 to 25            minutes for the average user to return to their original task.          30% of the time it takes two hours for the user to return to              their  original task.

The Bottom Line: Are Social Media Taking
Over?

Paradoxically, social media sites can make us not only more capable but also more inept. We sometimes share too much with too many, and we have to be conscious of that. Overall, we have to be careful and caution when approaching these things.

In this day and age, we are pressured 10 different ways as far as our beliefs and opinions are concerned. Are having our own thoughts or are we so influenced by external phenomenon that we believe everything we see online?

In many cases it is clear that social media have become not only part of people’s lives but the things their lives revolve around. We see people checking smartphones every two minutes, looking for the latest tweet or status update. It’s important yet difficult to retain the attitude that these sites may be useful, but that's all they are—tools, not lifestyles.

Is Our Internet Culture Destroying Us?

Emmanuel Mrabure  well-known for his opposition to social networking. He believes that the Internet needs to be more "habitable" for users. He has some bold points that we need to take into consideration.


                            Status Updates Never Go Away

         Even if you delete a post, it never goes away. Since
             Twitter began, the Library of Congress has been
          archiving all public tweets. Facebook was cited as
           a source of information in a third of all divorces
                                          filed in 2011