McClure1 Victoria McClure Ms. Meaghan Rand English 1102.021 31 March 2014 Social Media: Influential on Teens !

n article recentl" re#orted that $4% of teenagers that #artici#ate in online acti&ities that are 'et(een the ages of 12 and 1) ha&e 'een in&ol&ed in one or *ore of +content,creating acti&ities on the internet- such as .ace'oo/0 T(itter0 and other related (e'sites0 *a/ing a note(orth" increase fro* "ears #rior in 2004 (hen it (as noted at 1)% 213. It is e&ident fro* studies done in the #ast u# until no( and fro* *" #ersonal e4#erience that social *edia and internet use is a gro(ing trend a*ong teenagers toda". I ha&e noticed in school0 at ho*e0 and 5ust in the general #u'lic that social *edia has 'eco*e a &ital #art of societ" (hether its uses range fro* infor*ational ones to that of ad&ertise*ents or for*ing relationshi#s6the #ossi'ilities are see*ingl" endless and the different utili7ations continue to gro(. !s the internet and different for*s of social *edia continue to gro( in #racticalit" and accessi'ilit"0 so does its influence on adolescence in societ". The earl" &ersions of the internet (ere introduced around 18$8 'ut (ere *ainl" a&aila'le to uni&ersities0 scientists0 and go&ern*ent officials. 9" 18)10 the nu*'er of sites gre( to $1. Then0 in :anuar" of 18880 the nu*'er of hosts gre( to 43 *illion and the nu*'ers still continue to cli*' toda" 2)3. ;ne of the first social *edia sites created (as Tri#od created in 1882 and it (as o#en co**unit" a&aila'le to college students and "oung adults to share thoughts and ideas 2<3. =o( there are hundreds of social

McClure2 net(or/ing sites such as .ace'oo/0 T(itter0 Instagra*0 Tu*'lr0 and so *an" *ore that *a/e online co**unication and co**unit" &irtuall" i*#ossi'le to a&oid> this connection to friends and strangers all o&er #ro&ide such a (ide range of o##ortunit" for #eo#le0 es#eciall" "oung adults0 that (ere not a&aila'le #rior to the creation of the internet. ?ith the &ast a*ount of the #o#ulation in&ol&ed in social net(or/ing in its &arious for*s0 it is 'ound to ha&e so*e sense of an i*#act on societ". ;ne (a" that I ha&e found social *edia influential on teenagers is in the sense that it creates #eer #ressure a*ong the "oung #o#ulation. !ccording to an article #u'lished in the Journal of Adolescent Health0 social net(or/ing sites are an e4tre*el" #o#ular *ode of co**unication a*ong our "outh 223. It (as re#orted that .ace'oo/ alone had o&er one 'illion users at the end of 20130 and of those users0 81% ad*itted that the" log into their account at least once a da" 233> this concludes *e to 'elie&e that not onl" do teens rel" on social net(or/ing for co**unication0 'ut the" ha&e 'eco*e de#endent on it as al*ost a #ri*ar" *ode for sociali7ation rather than face,to,face contact. It has gotten to the #oint no(ada"s that "ou can@t e&en go out to dinner or a (al/ in the #ar/ (ithout seeing cell #hones and other *odes of technolog" glued to teens@ hands and onl" inches fro* their faces. ;ften ti*es I catch *"self loo/ing on *" .ace'oo/ ne(sfeed and catch certain #eo#le #osting u#dates e&er" half hour or so. I thin/ (hen adolescents are surrounded '" this constant indirect for* of co**unication on a da" to da" 'asis0 the" are *ore easil" succu*' to sociall" constructed nor*s and #eer #ressure> thus0 social *edia 'eco*es *ore of an outlet for "oung adults to act out of their e4#ected 'eha&iors and create this #ersona attached to certain conduct that our societ" has dee*ed as acce#ta'le.

McClure3 :ust as societ" has all these e4#ectations for "oung adults0 social *edia has created its o(n e4#ectations in a sense of #ersonal a##earance0 and a so*e(hat fa/e a##earance at that. Instagra* is a #o#ular site or cell #hone a## that is &er" (idel" used '" indi&iduals as (ell as cele'rities and &arious ad&ertising co*#anies. It has e&en 'een re#orted that at the end of 20130 there (ere o&er 130 *illion *onthl" users and o&er 1$ 'illion #hotos #osted> each da" the site recei&es o&er a 'illion +li/es-6 that@s al*ost 1101)400)1 li/es #er second 2103A ;n this a##0 #eo#le are a'le to ta/e #ictures and u#load the* al*ost instantl" to this *assi&e strea* of #hotos seen '" all of "our +follo(ers.- !lthough0 the users do not si*#l" 5ust u#load a #hoto for all to see0 it goes through a #rocess of cro##ing0 a##l"ing a filter0 tagging0 and hashtagging. This #rocess allo(s the #erson u#loading a #icture to their #rofile to distort and edit the #hoto in a (a" that is *ade easil" accessi'le and a##ealing so that it (ill get the* *ore +li/es- or for lac/ of 'etter (ords0 societ"@s a##ro&al. Societ" has generated this #erce#tion of ho( #eo#le are su##osed to loo/ and (hat the" are su##osed to (ear. ;n this site0 users are a'le to create this i*age of the*sel&es that doesn@t al(a"s necessaril" #ortra" their true identit"0 'ut *a"'e (ho the" desire to 'e and allo( the* to #resent the*sel&es as (ho the (orld thin/s the" should 'e. !s in hu*an nature (e stri&e to 'e si*ilar to our idols0 often cele'rities0 and in doing so (e feel a #ressure to hold oursel&es at a higher standard in the e"es of the #u'lic and gain their a##ro&al as a (hole. Man" cele'rities are often #resented in different for*s of social *edia doing things found +#o#ular- in societ" that *a" 'e against our o(n 'eha&iors. If teens@ fa&orite cele'rities are seen drin/ing and #art"ing0 regardless of their age0 their *oti&es

McClure4 (ill naturall" 'e influenced to #artici#ate in those sa*e acti&ities that their idols are #resenting to the #u'lic. In a si*ilar (a"0 this is reflected through the (a" teenagers act in res#onse to *aterial on social net(or/ing sites. ! stud" conducted in the Journal of Adolescent Health e4a*ined the use of social net(or/ing sites a*ong friends and the" *easured to (hich degree the test su'5ects (ere at ris/ to unsafe 'eha&iors0 such as underage alcohol consu*#tion and s*o/ing0 and ho( it relates 'ac/ to contact on these sites. The" e&en found that there (as a significant association related to teenagers@ ris/" 'eha&ior (hen those in the stud" (ere e4#osed to friends@ online #ictures and statuses relating to drin/ing0 #art"ing0 and s*o/ing. !dolescents in the stud" (ho had friends (hose #rofiles on these sites consisted of #osts #ertaining to things related to drin/ing (ere at a higher ris/ for drin/ing than #artici#ants (ho had friends in the stud" that didn@t #ost *aterial related to alcohol. S*o/ing and underage alcohol consu*#tion a*ong adolescents are still #ro*inent ris/ 'eha&iors in the Bnited States 223. Man" #eo#le fro* *" e4#erience ha&e 'een influenced to #artici#ate in different acti&ities such as underage drin/ing and #art"ing 5ust 'ecause the" see other #eo#le on these sites #osting a'out engaging in these acti&ities too> the" *a" feel as if the" are *issing out on so*ething that a##arentl" e&er"one else is doing. It al*ost acts as a 'and(agon a##roach #ressuring other teens to 5oin in and ta/e #art in acti&ities that other adolescents are a #art of. !lthough there (as not a higher association in the ris/ for drin/ing 'et(een those (ho had friends that didn@t #ost things related to alcohol0 the" (ere in fact at a higher ris/ for e4#osure to dice" online #ictures that #ro*oted se4ual solicitation223. It (as found that one in se&en teens ha&e 'een &icti*s of un(anted se4ual #ro&ocations (hile

McClure1 on social net(or/ing sites due to #ro&ocati&e #ictures 243. E4#osure to the e4#licit content had a direct i*#act on the ris/ le&el of 'eha&iors in the teens tested and it sho(ed a significant correlation 'et(een their le&els of ris/ and those related to the unsafe 'eha&iors of their online friends 223. ! lot of ti*es0 teens notice that other users #osting *aterial that is #ro&ocati&e get a lot of attention and the" stri&e to acCuire that attention as (ell. The e&idence sho(ed that their online friends@ 'eha&iors should definitel" 'e considered as a source of influence to other indi&iduals online 223. ! #erfect e4a*#le of this is the sho( on MTV titled +Catfish.- ;n this sho(0 #eo#le0 *ainl" teens0 create #rofiles on social net(or/ing sites and *eet others online and de&elo# relationshi#s all across the states (ith #eo#le the" had ne&er *et in #erson. !n article #osted in Psychology Today #uts it li/e this: +The near anon"*it" of online interactions *a/es *an" things i*#ossi'le in the real (orld0 #ossi'le in the &irtual one 2113.Bnfortunatel"0 the #erson at the other end of the s#ectru* isn@t al(a"s (ho the" #ortra"ed the*sel&es to 'e. Bsuall" the other #erson created a fa/e #rofile in order to recei&e attention due to lac/ of self confidence and de#ression. The article also e4#lains that the #artici#ants *a" not ha&e actuall" fallen in lo&e0 'ut the" ha&e gro(n to en5o" the feeling of 'eing lo&ed 2113. This 5ust goes to sho( that social *edia definitel" has so*e sort of significant i*#act on #eo#le that (ould force the* to create these false identities 'ecause the" feel the need to 'e so*eone else in order to gain acce#tance fro* others. To *e0 all of this #ro*inentl" sho(s that teens should 'e educated of 'oth the #ositi&e negati&e effects of social *edia and ho( #eer #ressure is an underl"ing factor.

McClure$ !lso0 I 'elie&e that educating "oung adults on internet safet" and careful use of social net(or/ing sites is essential to #rotecting each of the acti&e users on these sites.