Effect of Social Media on Youths

Social Media and Society

Imagine the world today without social media. It would be boring as the people would still be visiting each other frequently. However, things are different since a person just needs to in the comfort of their home, in order to chat with another person at a far place just for a little amount of money. The world has become a global village since everyone is able to connect with their friends easily through social media platforms. The only thing a person is required to have is just a smartphone. With the introduction of social media in the society, a lot of benefits have been experienced and at the same time, the youths have been negatively affected. The topic on social media is fascinating to me since it has brought many changes in the way people interact and communicate in the society. However, the youths have been negatively affected greatly.

Facts and Figures

The
use of the internet was invented around 25 years ago. 13 years later, Facebook
was initiated online. Even though everything was done within a short time, a
lot of impressive changes have been felt. In this new discovery, the lives of
the people, as well as their behaviors, have been affected either positively or
negatively. Almost every family has more than two smartphones which means the
number of users of social media like Facebook is increasing each and every day.
In 2013 about 2.7 million people already had become internet user which is 39%
of the world’s population. In the developing countries, about 31% are already
using the internet. Initially, the majority of people were using a desktop but
with time they advanced to the new technology especially in the use of
smartphones which enables the people to communicate with each throughout. From
the statistics above, it shows that the use of internet through the smartphone
will continue being the only way of meeting old and new friends. Moreover, the
use of social media will continue to increase as well as more people become
informed a lot since they just need to read the news through their smartphones.
This is a clear indication that the world we are living today is changing with
a high rate because the way the people are interacting is enough to conclude
that they are already informed due to the use of social media (Zeitel-Bank,
& Tat2014).

The Relationship between Social Media and the Society

The
use of social media has had a major impact on the society. Since the new
technology was integrated into the social settings, there have been major influences
in the way the people are interacting with one another. The use of social media
has increased in the way the people are interacting and at the same, it has
created a barrier in the way people are communicating in a social set up. In
addition, the use of social media has been used to bridge the gap that has
existed due to the generational gap as well as digital divides. In case of a
family, the use of social media may lead to more harm as well as privatization
since every person is using the social media independently as opposed to
collective use. Since the social media was introduced, it has greatly changed the
way the people view themselves, the way they see each other as well as the way
they are interacting with one another. The society has benefitted due to the
introduction of the new technology since communication within the society has
been enhanced as well as the criminal activities also have reduced due to the
efficiency In the way the people are communicating and interacting with one
another. Moreover, the use of social media is of great help since it encourages
everyone to interact with one another at all levels and situations (McGrath,
2012).

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Social
media has brought tremendous changes in the society we live today. It has
changed in the way the people used to interact in the past while doing
business. Social media being one of the most platforms used on the internet
have totally revolutionized the way the people communicate as well as socialize
in the web and especially in the way they entrepreneurs sell their products
(Boyd, 2014).

The use of social media has also been incorporated greatly in politics. The majority of people get updated on the recent news by just clicking on their phones and reading all the information through the smartphone without just having to go near a television as it happened in the past. Despite the platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as whatsapp being used to post information on campaigns, they have been used to move the masses in the favor of a certain candidate. This means that the way politics were done in the past have grown to another level of influencing the decision of the internet users as it is the most visited platform in the world (Sales, 2016).

The
majority of companies are using the social media in posting their products on
the social media. They are using the same platforms to build loyalty of their
customers through them. For example, they are using the Facebook to inform the
customers about any product that has recently arrived in the market as well as
they are receiving immediate feedback from the customer something that did not
happen in the past. When compared to other forms of advertisement such as the
television, the use of social media is cheap and convenient since an individual
only needs to be sited at home and read as well as watch the videos posted their
own account (Robson, & MA, 2013)..

Social
networking sites have revolutionized the way the people interact and socialize
with one another. They have helped different people to reconnect with old
friends as well as new friends. Moreover, they enable an individual to trade
ideas, share pictures and content. Social media has been embraced by almost
everybody in the world something that has enabled the people to pass
information as it is the easiest way of reading the news. From the description
above, it’s clear that different people have been able to connect with one
another as well as learn the culture of the other person easily. In the past,
people used to interact with one another through sports as well as watching a
film together. However, since the social media was introduced, things have
changed as they have occupied the larger part of their leisure time. Since the
social media have removed all the barriers that may have affected communication
in the past, it becomes easy for everyone today to share information since
everyone has a chance to write what they think about a certain issue in the
society (Robson, & MA, 2013).

The
people used to interact only during an occasion such as the rites of passage in
the past; but today everybody is able to interact with his friends through the
use of social media. It has enabled the people to communicate about certain
issues affecting them altogether. For example, the people who are suffering
from a terminal illness they have a group where they support one another socially
and psychologically. In the past it was difficult but after the introduction of
the social media, things have changed since such a group becomes easy for them
to share experience and support one another emotionally. For example,
initially, the students used to call each other for a group work which was
difficult because convening such a group was not easy since everyone was busy
with their own issues. Today, at a school set the availability of social media
makes everyone is given a chance to give his or her comments about an issue
thus making learning to be easy for the teenagers (Amedie, 2015).

Positive Aspects about Social Media

In
the education sector, the use of social media has been already been implemented
and the students are aware of what they will learn before the lecture session
starts. For example, the students are able to reach to others through Facebook
in case they are sharing a topic or a course. Moreover, social media has become
a place where every individual visit and talk about an issue affecting them and
they get a response within a short time. Moreover, the teachers have been using
the social media especially when they are giving tests and assignments.

Social
media has really helped in understanding one audience by knowing what they like
and what they do not like. Moreover, it has been used to increase awareness of
the students. It has helped the people to share ideas despite a person being
far this means that the use social media have enabled the people to share ideas
beyond boundaries. Since everything happens in the society, the use of social
media has helped all the members to connect with their friends. Additionally,
it has been used to advertise, create awareness as well as support a certain
person in politics. For example many are the time that the youths come together
a form a support group where they will be sharing their issues together. Such a
group is encouraging since the youth are benefiting from each other despite
doing their own discussion while at home.

The youth in the process of using the social media they develop awareness. When a teenager is using a phone they develop themselves according to the society and world. Moreover, they also experience political and cultural awareness. When the youths are using the social media, they develop social skills. It’s only I the social media like Facebook to expand his or her social circle as well as develop new friends. In addition, the youth gains a lot by learning all that is happening in the modern n society where every youth is only concerned with whom to chat with and at the same time they do not know where to get their rewards. It’s only in the social media where an individual is able to meet a friend or a person you have stayed for a long time without meeting. Therefore, this aspect of connecting with friends and chatting can only be found in the social media phenomena that have totally changed the way the people in the society used to interact with one another. In addition, I cannot forget to mention that with the emergence of many groups a person is able to get a peer or a person they can settle with serious in the social media. Initially, when searching for a mate a person was needed to move to a far place so that they can meet with one another but the society today things have changed because a person only needs to have a Facebook account and they are good to go as they will share their experience and pictures.Therefore.no one can ignore the positive aspects of social media especially in helping an old friend to meet one another and share their experiences and ideas.

Another
and the most important thing that the youths develop is the writing and reading
skills. In the social media a youth may meet a learned friend and on listening
to him, the teenager will be tempted to come up with simple questions. Having
asocial media the student can benefit a lot since he is learning the ideas of
the others as well as he or she is writing his own ideas, Moreover, whenever he
writes his own ideas they are either criticized or supported almost immediately
by his peers thus learning a lot as well as knowing his or her weaknesses (O’Keeffe,
& Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

Negative Effects of Social Media

Heavy
use of the social media leads to addiction. The people who are likely to
develop addiction while using social media are young adults and the teens.
However, addiction is not also ruled out completely among the adult’s ass they
also have a Facebook accounts. Additionally, the other mental effects can be
felt since the majority of the people spend most of their time on the bed
chatting while they are supposed to be asleep. Spending too much time in the
social media leads to lack of focus because they are not good time manager of
the activities they do. An aspect that is shown by the social media users is
that they are not ready to leave it despite being addictive and hinder them
from carrying their own activities as required. Therefore, it is the role of
every person to realize that despite having numerous benefits of social media
it has their effect which at times leads to worse situations such as developing
mental illness and other disorders which could not have developed if the social
sites are used in a good way (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

Also,
the people who are heavy users of the social media risk themselves from getting
depressed and anxious. Even though social media has many people who use it,
they fail to recognize that they are addictive and the young adults risk of
suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. The majority of the youths find
themselves being in an awkward position because they fail to do noble duties
either at school or at the place of work just because their time is mostly on
Facebook. As the young adults continue to use the social media they become
addicted and in the end, they complaining a lot because they were fired or they
failed an exam (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

In the past few years, the youths did not engage in the use of social media because there were such discoveries. Today, they admire to use the social media without first thinking about its effects on them. For example, the youths at times indulge themselves in an activity like hate speech, For instance, a friend may communicate with a teenager and all of sudden the person chatting with abuses him or her. This incidence is the same as cyber bullying. Mostly this kind of vices occurs in Facebook where a person is being treated by others because he refused at obey their own will. The issue of cyber bullying is on increase and it’s the high time that everyone stops it in order to minimize more harm. Moreover, the teenagers experience identity theft. This occurs when a person happens to steal their details like an email. After getting the email, he sells the same email to another company that will follow the person in everything he or she does. Mostly, the teens do not understand the importance of making sure that anything personal is kept safe. If a person happens to get details that are supposed to be person, they may use the same details to hack the bank account which should not happen at all (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

One
of the issues that have been affecting the youths in the society is when they
experience stalking. Stalking occurs when a persona happens to post his details
and in the same platform, an old friend who is not good uses the same details
to abuse the person or even curse the person. This is a clear indication that
the youths experience multiple of problems. Therefore, the parent should play a
great role in they take care of their children by trying as much as possible to
control their behaviors  especially the
number of hours they spend while chatting (Change,  & Corcoran, 2012).

How to Minimize the Effects of Social Media on the Youths

Even
though there have been several benefits of social media, negative effects keep
on being experienced and therefore, it’s essential to curb these effects since
some of them are affecting various relationships, academic and the way an
employee performs in the company. Some of the solutions to the problems that
are brought by social media include; time management, not accepting everybody
as a friend (Fuchs, & Sandoval, 2014).

One
of the most important issues while using a social media platform is time
management. Most of the people are using the social media at the wrong time
since they are employed and while handling a customer they are still chatting
on their Facebook. This behavior should not be encouraged as it will affect the
attitude of the client and he or she may not come back for more services in the
same place some other time. In a case for students, they find themselves that
they have done the assignment just because they spent most of their time
chatting with a friend as well as admiring the picture of the others that are
posted on the wall. The society and the behaviors of the people have been
affected a lot. Being able to convince a person that social media is addictive
he or she may not support you because they like posting an issue on the
Facebook as well as commenting on other people questions and worries thus
taking much of their time. Therefore, it’s essential to separate issue by
keeping one’s personal life separate from the work life or even while at
school. Most are the times when the teacher complains that the students are not
able to do their assignment just because they do not manage their time as they
are supposed because they engage themselves in social activities which may not
yield any results. For example, a student does not do the homework simply
because they are serious with the chatting and admiring the photos of their
friend rather than focusing on important issues such as their studies (Fuchs,
& Sandoval, 2014).

The
other way of preventing more harm oneself self-esteem and psychological
well-being is not accepting people in the social media without evaluating them.
For example, an individual may like a person and after some time they start
harassing him as well as posting abusive comments on them. By doing this, the
person will be affected emotionally and psychologically thus using a lot of
money In order to attend counseling. At times, there other people who posted
pictures that are not good and being innocent while using the Facebook, the
person will be influenced by the picture and the things that are not acceptable
thus changing one’s behavior and perception about some issues affecting the
people in the society. The majority of the youths do not learn a lot of
information from their elders these days, as things has changed and a lot of
information is obtained from the social media. This is enough reason to say
that after having a Facebook account they learn some issues and behaviors that
influence their behavior and in the end, they became bad people in the society
(Haythornthwaite, 2005).

The
other way a teenager can live a healthy life while using the social media is by
not sharing their personal information. Whenever a teenager happens to share
all their personal information with friends they risk their lives and happiness
because the same information can be used to bully them. Therefore, it’s
essential for every teenager to have self-control in the way they are using the
social media platform as they can benefit from them and at the same time they
can experience negative effects. One of the most feared situations in the life
of a teenager is when they share their secrets with the other as they risk
their accounts from being hacked and at the same time they risk their security.
Therefore, the youths should be keen who their friends are since if they happen
to share their personal information with a stranger they may end up committing
suicide after they are exposed to the world through the same social media
(Haythornthwaite, 2005).

In
conclusion, Social media has become unstoppable even if some people claiming
that it has led into various addictions. It has helped in facilitating
communication in just a few seconds, connect friends, as well as in
participating in one’s democratic right. Even though the use of social media
has important benefits, it has helped the people to create false identities.
Moreover, the parents should engage the children in their talk so that they can
learn the benefit and drawbacks of social media. In addition, it is becoming
expensive since there are many young people being treated for being addicted as
well as being depressed. Therefore, the best ways of ensuring that the youths
are not affected is just to be taught on how to balance issues and activities
to avoid being too much on social media at the expensive of learning or work.
Social media has been said by many scholars and researchers that it has changed
the way the people used to interact with one another in the society. Today,
almost everybody is holding their phone chatting and sharing information with
others in a comfortable way without having to travel to the person for
something that they could have shared. This means that the society has totally
changed in the way people interact as well as the way everyone is communicating
with one another. Even though the use of social media has brought many positive
changes in the society, it has also brought negative effects on the lives of
people and their relationships with others and therefore, these issues need to
be handled with care in order to save our youths who are the leaders of
tomorrow.

References

• Amedie, J. (2015). The Impact of social media on society.
• Boyd, D. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.
• Fuchs, C., & Sandoval, M. (Eds.). (2014). Critique, social media and the information society (pp. 51-65). London: Routledge.
• Haythornthwaite, C. (2005). Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Information, Community & Society, 8(2), 125-147.
• McGrath, S. (2012). The impact of new media technologies on social interaction in the household. Electronic Culture and Social Change.
• O’Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804.
• Robson, G., & MA, C. O. (2013). Social Media and the Transformation of Interaction in Society.
• Sahlin, J. P. (Ed.). (2015). Social Media and the Transformation of Interaction in Society. IGI Global.
• Sales, N. J. (2016). American girls: Social media and the secret lives of teenagers. Vintage.
• Zeitel-Bank, N., & Tat, U. (2014). Social media and its effects on individuals and social systems. Journal Management, Knowledge, And Learning.

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