Social media and the youth

Social Media's Impact on Teenagers

Social media is one of the most important aspects of a teenager's life today. Today, every adolescent and even tiny child desires a phone that allows them to connect to the internet (Yang & DeHart, 2016). Children today are surrounded by many types of mobile phones and other internet-accessible devices. They are able to get information from all around the world by locating numerous social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. In a nutshell, social media can be said to have brought the world into one family and therefore it has become easy for the youths to obtain information from across the globe just in a matter of minutes. Social media thus is seen to have impacted heavily on the teens.

The Positive Impact of Social Media

The impact of social media can be both positive and negative. Regarding positive influences, social media has made it much easier for the youths to remain connected despite the several distances that may be separating them (Gualtieri, 2012). They can easily exchange chats with their friends who were their classmates for instance, but though separated by distances after school, they can remain connected as friends thanks to Facebook and twitter. The different platforms have also made it possible for the youths to carry out online discussions over the issues that affect them (Yang & DeHart, 2016). They can create different social media groups to raise funds for their friends who are in need. Social media has made it much easier to carry out online fundraising drives which may be conducted toward education or even to settle hospital bills for friends who are unstable financially, and in this manner, social media continues to improve friendship ties among the youths who are several kilometers away from each other. Social media also makes it easier for the children to carry on online classes despite being far away from school (Gualtieri, 2012). The teens can follow video links and are therefore able to take lectures without necessarily going to the lecture halls. This has made it possible for the youths who are thirsty for education from individual universities or colleges of which some are in other continents. But because of social media and internet, it is possible to connect online to the institution and even obtain lectures. No youth would wish to remain behind the news.

Instant Information and Live Events

Social media plays a significant role in updating the youths just in a matter of a minute. The youths get updated on issues of politics, religion or social events of their friends, and all these can be received from across the globe just using their phones or any gadget that can access the internet. This had made life more comfortable for the youths unlike in the past when the social media did not have many users and even the phones that could access the internet were difficult scarce. During those times, people including the youths relied mainly on other forms of communication such as letters or radios and these were not efficient as social media of today and it was difficult to receive information immediately something happens. The influx of the internet phones and the inventions of different social media platforms have therefore made it much easier for the youths to obtain information.

Positive Impact on Business Opportunities

Nowadays it has even been possible to watch live events directly from your phone and at the comfort of your room. This is another area that social media is seen to have impacted positively on the youths (Park Mi Jung, 2016). You no longer need to be present travel in an event, but you can follow the proceedings from your room and therefore make it possible to be updated about several activities which you could not have managed if you were to travel to the events and be physically present. When it comes to business, social media has made it possible for many youths to carry out online businesses and hence they can make money online (Park Mi Jung, 2016). This is seen as a significant impact onto the youths because many of the teenagers can explore this opportunity and make money online and therefore help them reduce chances of crime engagement since most will be busy on the internet making some cash and hence improving their living standards. Using social media platforms makes it possible for the youths to carry out online selling of their products and even carrying out marketing of their products online. A single post of a product on any of the social media platforms can reach millions of people within the shortest time possible. This improves their sales and also markets their products that reach as many people as possible making it familiar to those who didn’t know the existence of such a product at all.

Negative Impact of Social Media

Social media too has impacted negatively on the youths. Just to start with it reduces concentrations at places of work or even at school (Kim, Sin & He, 2013). Majority of the youths are addicted to their smartphones and want to spend all their time on the social internet platforms. They will always spend time chatting with their friends or just scrolling the updates in Facebook (Park Mi Jung, 2016). This takes a more considerable portion of their time, and a small interview which I conducted in ten youths indicated that an average time spent on the internet is five hours per day and so you can just imagine if someone is employed!. Having it in mind that your employer expects maximum performance from you and then you don’t want to leave your smartphone. It is likely to end up losing the job, and many youths have lost their jobs just because of the too much time they dedicate to their phones and ever busy on the social media platforms (Kim, Sin & He, 2013).

Social media has also led to weak skill developments, hitting the job markets. Various students obtain all the information that they need concerning academics, and hence they don’t struggle to develop the skills themselves, and this beats them when they finally join the job markets, and they don’t perform well (Pamment, 2015). Social media use can also expose you to the world. Many youths frequently disclose their personal information on the social media which can easily be used by people with ill motives to trace you and therefore it is easier for robbers to locate you and do anything they want with you. It is even much more accessible for criminals to hack your emails and discover what kind of business you do all just because of social media.

Many people have also reported cases of social media bullying. When you post any information on any of the platforms, individuals some of whom hide behind their anonymity and then abuse or bully you for reasons they know better. Social media also corrodes the culture of a particular community (Ephraim, 2013). The youths get influenced by musicians, socialites, and hence some of them copy bad cultural behavior not acceptable in the society from the different social media platforms. Some are even affected by drugs abuse which ends up deteriorating their health and some end up in criminal activities. Use of social media is also likely to lead to identity theft where someone merely uses your details or photos you have posted to sway the public that you are the one responsible for a particular crime which themselves they have committed.

Conclusion

It has become clear that social media is becoming part of people's lives, especially the youths (Ephraim, 2013). The kids use their gadgets to check various updates on Twitter, Facebook, or other platforms. Social media can change the lifestyle of the children both positively and negatively. The teenagers should, therefore, check on their use of social media.

References

Ephraim, P. (2013). African youths and the dangers of social networking: a culture-centered approach to using social media. Ethics and Information Technology, 15(4), 275-284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10676-013-9333-2

Gualtieri, L. (2012). An interview with Stephen Downes on the use of social media in higher education. Future Learning, 1(1), 43-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.7564/12-fule10

Kim, K., Sin, S., & He, Y. (2013). Information seeking through social media: Impact of user characteristics on social media use. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 50(1), 1-4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/meet.14505001155

Pamment, J. (2015). Media Influence, Ontological Transformation, and Social Change: Conceptual Overlaps between Development communication and Public Diplomacy. Communication Theory, 25(2), 188-207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/comt.12064

Park Mi Jung. (2016). A Study on the Influence of Social Support on the Social Adaptation Ability of Youths with Immigrant Backgrounds. Multicultural & Peace, 10(2), 53-68. http://dx.doi.org/10.22446/mnpisk.2016.10.2.003

Yang, H., & DeHart, J. (2016). Social Media Use and Online Political Participation among College Students during the US Election 2012. Social Media + Society, 2(1), 205630511562380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2056305115623802