Running Head: A GENERATION UNDER THE INFLUENCE

A GENERATION UNDER THE INFLUENCE Joshua C. Morrison Rowan Cabarrus Community College

A GENERATION UNDER THE INFLUENCE A DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE

New technologies are always surfacing as time goes on. Over the past decades, there have been many great technological achievements which have built upon one another. This snowballing effect has really picked up over the past years through what has been named the Digital Revolution. The Digital Revolution is the change currently happening as many societies move away from mechanical technologies to digital technology. One of the main vehicles for this revolution is the internet where people can communicate with one another in numerous ways and in almost any place in the world. As this kind of transition occurs a society will experience both positive and negative effects. Social media has been one of the offsprings of this digital revolution. Social media are essentially sites or websites that can be accessed through the internet. From a personal computer or even a smartphone someone can write a personal profile about themselves to share with their real life friends and interact with them as they post more information. The creation of social media has completely changed the way society functions. It has gathered everyone (who is on social media) into one big room, one grand, virtual room, and you can communicate with anyone in that room at any time. The largest social media site in the world today, co-created by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, is Facebook. There are over 1 billion users signing onto Facebook every month (statisticbrain.com). That would be roughly one sixth of the population of the world all interacting on the same website, or, in the same room. With another virtual world having been developed, there are certain positive and negative effects that people embrace and also fall into. A study was conducted by Dr. Larry Rosen, a professor of psychology at California State University on a large group of adolescents

A GENERATION UNDER THE INFLUENCE concerning social medias effect on them. In this study it was discovered that excessive use of Facebook, or overdosing on Facebook, may lead to psychological disorders in teens (Rosen, 2011). During the research it was noticed that, specifically among young adults, Facebook overuse was associated with Histrionic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and many more (Taylor, 2013). Among young girls, it is found, that the more they use communication media (texting and instant messaging) to discuss personal problems, namely romantic issues, they often suffer from co-ruminate, which is having conflict with your problems for too long and not resolving them. This can cause anxiety and depressive symptoms. Many, if not all, of disorders that are developed from social media are brought on by the excessive use of or the addiction to it. There is a great deal of debate in the mental health field over whether someone can be addicted to social media in the same manner that someone can be addicted to drugs, sex, or alcohol. A study was conducted by ICMPA (International Center for Media and the Public

Agenda) at the University of Maryland concerning 200 college students. The experiments name was A Day Without Media. In the study the researchers asked the students to refrain from using any media for 24 hours. After the 24 hours had passed, they were asked to blog about their experiences from the day without media. Many of the students confessed to being addicted to social media. One student even admitting I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening. The students reported feeling characteristics of addiction, strong changes in mood, and the feeling of isolation or loneliness (Moeller, 2010).

A GENERATION UNDER THE INFLUENCE From what has been covered, it could appear that all of social media is an evil creation used to tear down and defeat its users. How can anything good come from this? Fortunately, not all that comes from social media is self-destructive. Dr. Rosen tested and found a new type of

empathy, Virtual Empathy. Rosen looked at 1200 social networking users and tested there virtual empathy. He found that the more time someone spent on social media and instant messaging the higher amount of virtual, as well as real-world, empathy the individual had. More of both forms of empathy mean social support, always a good thing for children (Taylor, 2013). With the birth of a new product comes the birth of a new generation that will be influenced and effected by this product. They will not remember the time before texting and tweeting. Our culture is now waist deep into this Digital Revolution. The goal now should be to learn from past mistakes and failures and to guard and protect the positives.

A GENERATION UNDER THE INFLUENCE References Moeller, S.D. (2010). A Day Without Media. Retrieved from withoutmedia.wordpress.com

Rosen, L.D. (2011). Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids, American Psychological Association. Retrieved from www.fenichel.com/pokeme.shtml Taylor, J. (2013). The Bad, the Ugly, and the Good of Childrens Use of Social Media, Huffington Post. Retrieved from www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim-taylor/the-bad-the-ugly-andthe_b_3346768.html