Social media has showcased behavioral modification amongst its frequent users. Besides yielding positive impacts, it has given birth several negative effects to its users. According to recent studies, it is clear that social media has had a huge impact especially on adolescents (Keles, McCrae & Grealish, 2020). Past meta-analysis has also shown that adolescents are the majority users of social media platforms currently. Social media has contributed to excessive waste of time, rumor spreading, peer pressure, and imitation of bad qualities from other social media users.
Today, most adolescents are more addicted to the use of gadgets where they are exposed to various types of social media content. These gadgets are facilitating quick communication with each other over a short time. Similarly, the internet has enabled most adolescents to meet anyone on different social platforms. For this reason, majority of them are exposed to obscene content that ends up ruining their lives. According to Keles et al. (2020) adolescents are obsessively attracted to existing rumors on social media platforms. Studies have shown that many of them are trying to compete to outdo each other by trying to emulate other characters from social media.
In addition, research by Keles et al. (2020) highlights that adolescents’ heightened behavioral and self-centered world is attributed to peer pressure and unrealistic perception of different peoples’ lifestyles they get on social media. As a result, many adolescents yearn to attract the attention of others while they try to emulate certain celebrities. Nevertheless, the use of social media among adolescents has had many adverse impacts that are worth noting. Cyberbullying is the leading factor with impacts such as bullying and heightened self-consciousness (Keles et al., 2020). As adolescents try to cover the pressure of rejection, they face heightened bullying that contributes to depression, lowered self-esteem, and suicidal incidences.
In conclusion, peer pressure, a false impression of other people’s lives, and rumors spreading on social media have contributed to adolescents’ heightened behavior. Similarly, with other adverse impacts such as cyberbullying and rejection pressure, there have been increased cases of depression, lowered self-esteem, and suicidal incidences among adolescents. There is a need for adolescents to regulate their time spent on social media platforms to eliminate the growing impacts of social media.
Reference
Keles, B., McCrae, N., & Grealish, A. (2020). A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 79-93. Web.