Kyra Balls
Ms. Lehmann
English 2-1B
7 February 2020
Social Media Making Things Complicated
In 2018, 81% of teens now use social media, and 70% use it more than once a day (Herold). With this increase of young adults using social media, we must ask ourselves: how is social media affecting our lives? Teens should be responsible users of social media because social media impacts teens’ well-being, social connectedness, and academic achievements. In examining social media’s impact on well-being, it is clear the connection is complex.
How we use social media impacts our well-being. Social media has both positive and negative impacts on teens’ emotional health. There are a range of challenges teens face in life, and social media allows them to seek out help they might not get otherwise. James et al write, “The ability to communicate anonymously can mitigate barriers, such as shame, that interfere with support-seeking offline” (72). Being able to anonymously ask for help has a positive impact on teens’ lives because it allows people to ask for help without feeling judged so that they can get the help they need. Having considered the positive impact of social media, users must also be aware of the negative. Social media has been blamed for many negative impacts on people’s lives. James et al explain, “Several investigations document correlations between heavy media use and reduced well-being – related outcomes, such as diminished life satisfaction, internalizing negative experiences, and various dimensions of ill-being, such as depression, anxiety, attention problems, and stress” (72). When young adults use social media to compare themselves to others, negative outcomes will follow. When social media presents the good things in our lives as the only things, users can lose sight of the messiness of life, making them feel less satisfied with what they have. The impact that social media has on adolescents’ well-being depends upon how it is being used.
Social media’s impact on face-to-face interaction and connectedness is complicated, because it is making it harder for teens to interact. Some teens are moving away from face-to-face interaction because of social media, although some teens say social media has brought them closer to their friends. Studies show that social media has positive and negative effects on our well-being, but recent studies have shown that the way we react to social media depends on our personalities. If teens are more vulnerable, they are more likely to be influenced by social media. According to the author K. Y. the CSM (Common Sense Media) survey says, “The 17 percent who scored in the low-SEWB [ socialemotional well-being] group were the most impacted by social media interactions, suggesting that the child’s personality – not the platform – is more important factor when determining the influence of social media” (2). Because everyone has a different personality, we can’t always know how social media affects everyone; it depends on the person. Young adults who are more vulnerable will have more high and low experiences, making it harder for them to control how they feel, instead of “flatlining” or being able to control how social media affects them. Social media has made face-to-face interaction harder for teens because they are getting more and more distracted by it. Many teens are moving away from communicating with friends in person and turning towards social media. K. Y. says, “Only 32 percent say their favorite way to communicate with friends is in person (dropping from 49 percent in 2012) and teens are more likely to say they are distracted by social media when they are with other people (54 percent, up from 44)” (18). The way teens communicate is changing. Social media has put up barriers between face-to-face interactions but has allowed teens to make new connections all over the world. Social media has affected the way teens interact in complicated ways.
Some argue that the dangers of social media have been overexaggerated. Despite the appeal of this argument, the negative effects of social media cannot be ignored entirely. Using social media too much has been connected to a lack of emotional and physical well-being as well as weaker social connectedness. Success in school has also been impacted by screen time. “Academic performance is directly related to sleep time and inversely related to overall sedentary SMU [screen media usage] among the students who participated in this study” (Peiró-Velert et al 5). The study found that the more time students spent on their screens, the less time they had to sleep, which resulted in lower academic achievement. It’s obvious that social media’s impact is complicated, and people should be mindful of how they use it.
By using social media responsibly, teens can minimize its impact on health, connections with others, and success in school. Being aware of how they use social media can help minimize the impact on teens’ well-being. Teens feel more distracted by social media, so by setting time limits on screen time, young adults will become socially connected. Social media also affects academic performance indirectly, making success in school harder. Given the high number of teens using social media, young adults need to be informed on how to use it.
Works Cited Page
Harold, Benjamin. “Teen Social Media Use Is Skyrocketing. But Don’t Panic, New Research Says.” Education Week, 10 September 2018, Accessed 26 February 2020.
James, Carrie, Katie Davis, Linda Charmaraman, Sara Konrath, Petr Slovak, Emily, Weinstein, and Lana Yarosh. “Digital Life and Youth Well-being, Social Connectedness, Empathy, and Narcissism.” Pediatrics, vol. 140, no. S2, November 2017, pp. 71-75. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-1758F. Accessed 21 January 2020.
K. Y. “Social Media and Teens.” School Library Journal, vol.64, no. 10, October 2018, pp. 18-18. Academic Search Premier. Accessed 21 January 2020.
Peiró-Velert, Carmen, Alexandra Valencia-Peris, Luis M. González, Xavier García- Massó, Pilar Serra-Año, José Devís-Devís. “Screen Media Usage, Sleep Time and Academic Performance in Adolescents: Clustering a Self-Organizing Maps Analysis.” Plos One, vol. 9, no. 6, June 2014, pp.1-9. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099478. Accessed 10 February 2020.
Ms. Lehmann
English 2-1B
7 February 2020
Social Media Making Things Complicated
In 2018, 81% of teens now use social media, and 70% use it more than once a day (Herold). With this increase of young adults using social media, we must ask ourselves: how is social media affecting our lives? Teens should be responsible users of social media because social media impacts teens’ well-being, social connectedness, and academic achievements. In examining social media’s impact on well-being, it is clear the connection is complex.
How we use social media impacts our well-being. Social media has both positive and negative impacts on teens’ emotional health. There are a range of challenges teens face in life, and social media allows them to seek out help they might not get otherwise. James et al write, “The ability to communicate anonymously can mitigate barriers, such as shame, that interfere with support-seeking offline” (72). Being able to anonymously ask for help has a positive impact on teens’ lives because it allows people to ask for help without feeling judged so that they can get the help they need. Having considered the positive impact of social media, users must also be aware of the negative. Social media has been blamed for many negative impacts on people’s lives. James et al explain, “Several investigations document correlations between heavy media use and reduced well-being – related outcomes, such as diminished life satisfaction, internalizing negative experiences, and various dimensions of ill-being, such as depression, anxiety, attention problems, and stress” (72). When young adults use social media to compare themselves to others, negative outcomes will follow. When social media presents the good things in our lives as the only things, users can lose sight of the messiness of life, making them feel less satisfied with what they have. The impact that social media has on adolescents’ well-being depends upon how it is being used.
Social media’s impact on face-to-face interaction and connectedness is complicated, because it is making it harder for teens to interact. Some teens are moving away from face-to-face interaction because of social media, although some teens say social media has brought them closer to their friends. Studies show that social media has positive and negative effects on our well-being, but recent studies have shown that the way we react to social media depends on our personalities. If teens are more vulnerable, they are more likely to be influenced by social media. According to the author K. Y. the CSM (Common Sense Media) survey says, “The 17 percent who scored in the low-SEWB [ socialemotional well-being] group were the most impacted by social media interactions, suggesting that the child’s personality – not the platform – is more important factor when determining the influence of social media” (2). Because everyone has a different personality, we can’t always know how social media affects everyone; it depends on the person. Young adults who are more vulnerable will have more high and low experiences, making it harder for them to control how they feel, instead of “flatlining” or being able to control how social media affects them. Social media has made face-to-face interaction harder for teens because they are getting more and more distracted by it. Many teens are moving away from communicating with friends in person and turning towards social media. K. Y. says, “Only 32 percent say their favorite way to communicate with friends is in person (dropping from 49 percent in 2012) and teens are more likely to say they are distracted by social media when they are with other people (54 percent, up from 44)” (18). The way teens communicate is changing. Social media has put up barriers between face-to-face interactions but has allowed teens to make new connections all over the world. Social media has affected the way teens interact in complicated ways.
Some argue that the dangers of social media have been overexaggerated. Despite the appeal of this argument, the negative effects of social media cannot be ignored entirely. Using social media too much has been connected to a lack of emotional and physical well-being as well as weaker social connectedness. Success in school has also been impacted by screen time. “Academic performance is directly related to sleep time and inversely related to overall sedentary SMU [screen media usage] among the students who participated in this study” (Peiró-Velert et al 5). The study found that the more time students spent on their screens, the less time they had to sleep, which resulted in lower academic achievement. It’s obvious that social media’s impact is complicated, and people should be mindful of how they use it.
By using social media responsibly, teens can minimize its impact on health, connections with others, and success in school. Being aware of how they use social media can help minimize the impact on teens’ well-being. Teens feel more distracted by social media, so by setting time limits on screen time, young adults will become socially connected. Social media also affects academic performance indirectly, making success in school harder. Given the high number of teens using social media, young adults need to be informed on how to use it.
Works Cited Page
Harold, Benjamin. “Teen Social Media Use Is Skyrocketing. But Don’t Panic, New Research Says.” Education Week, 10 September 2018, Accessed 26 February 2020.
James, Carrie, Katie Davis, Linda Charmaraman, Sara Konrath, Petr Slovak, Emily, Weinstein, and Lana Yarosh. “Digital Life and Youth Well-being, Social Connectedness, Empathy, and Narcissism.” Pediatrics, vol. 140, no. S2, November 2017, pp. 71-75. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-1758F. Accessed 21 January 2020.
K. Y. “Social Media and Teens.” School Library Journal, vol.64, no. 10, October 2018, pp. 18-18. Academic Search Premier. Accessed 21 January 2020.
Peiró-Velert, Carmen, Alexandra Valencia-Peris, Luis M. González, Xavier García- Massó, Pilar Serra-Año, José Devís-Devís. “Screen Media Usage, Sleep Time and Academic Performance in Adolescents: Clustering a Self-Organizing Maps Analysis.” Plos One, vol. 9, no. 6, June 2014, pp.1-9. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099478. Accessed 10 February 2020.
Research Paper Reflection
Please answer all questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
- We read multiple articles that related to our essay. We also have a rebuttal to prove why our argument was right.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
- We had to prove why our side of the argument was right with facts that we found out of reliable resources, and we had to write a rebuttal on how the other side was wrong.
3. Explain one thing you learned about reading research or taking notes on research that you can apply to your next research paper.
- You have to make sure that the research you're using is reliable, and make sure that your notes are organized so that you can find your information easier.
Please answer all questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.
1. Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
- We read multiple articles that related to our essay. We also have a rebuttal to prove why our argument was right.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
- We had to prove why our side of the argument was right with facts that we found out of reliable resources, and we had to write a rebuttal on how the other side was wrong.
3. Explain one thing you learned about reading research or taking notes on research that you can apply to your next research paper.
- You have to make sure that the research you're using is reliable, and make sure that your notes are organized so that you can find your information easier.