The Upside of Selfies: Social

Media Isnt All Bad for Kids

An Evaluation
Robert Jex

LDS Business College English 101 Allison Pond

The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids
The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids,
an Evaluation

Think of the last time you logged on to your Facebook account. You
were probably bored, trying to kill time, waiting for something, or maybe
avoiding something? You probably scrolled through your news feed glancing
at pictures, noticing status updates from particular people, and ignoring
others. We all have that friend who constantly posts derogatory comments
about themselves, their hair, their feet, their eye color, their weight, etc.
sometimes posting a selfie to illustrate their point. If youre like me you
probably had the thought, good heavens, what a miserable life! Then
clicked to open the comments box, purely out of curiosity just to see how
people responded to such a cry for attention. Youre not really sure why you
did that, because its the same every time. Comments such as ____, youre
so beautiful, or, Ive never met anybody who has less weight to lose than
you, or other positive reassuring responses flood your screen. These
shallow, empty comments provide a false hope for someone struggling with
their own self image and before long the individual becomes somewhat
addicted to receiving these flattering posts. A short time later after the
emotional high has worn off, the pattern repeats itself. This idea of
reassurance and confidence building is one of the examples used by
Wallace to promote the acceptance of social media, saying, Social media is
not always the scary enemy some of us might think it is for our teens
(Wallace, 2013, p. 1).

The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids
This article contains a couple mains flaws. First, is that Wallace
provides only a narrow, one sided response to her own thesis. Second, that
there are obvious weaknesses with her references. I will support each of
these claims.
Poor Response to Thesis
Wallaces (2013) thesis is found in her 4th paragraph. She states, social
media is not always the scary enemy some of us might think it is for our tweens and
teens (p. 1). Such a claim would require that both sides of the issue be given
enough attention to draw a certain conclusion, however, Wallace focuss purely on
the positive side of social media use, all but ignoring the negatives. I generally
favor the optimist, but with an issue such as this, with so much potential for harm
one simply cannot turn a blind eye to the negative effects.
Megan Webster (2008), in a research synthesis entitled Technology,
Relationships, and Problems, reveals astounding statistics saying that
approximately 20% of all internet users report engaging in some sexual activity
online (p. 2). That number would imply that if you have 5 children, statistically one
of them would be engaging in sexual activity online, and it would be safe to assume
that these occurrences stem from the use of social media outlets. I contend that
social media is in fact the scary enemy that some of us think it is.
Following are several arguments Wallace employs which would have been
more solid had there been a counterargument.

Wallace opens by stating that she is aware of the negative effects of

social media on our teens, but quickly brushes that fact under the rug as she
proceeds to convince the reader that there is enough good resulting from the
use of social media to justify the bad. She is quick to jump into an example

The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids
from a mom in New York who talks about the positive feedback that her
daughters get when they post selfies. Although this example supports
Wallaces thesis, it can quickly be refuted by an argument that such constant
feedback can create the exact situation I described earlier.
While at face value, it is understandable that one would view constant
flattering posts as a positive uplifting thing, research has revealed that there
is a direct correlation between the use of social networking in reassurance
seeking, and low self esteem. It is also suggested that the ones who are
most in need of the social benefits of a networking outlet such as Face book
will be most unable to attain those benefits, because they do not possess the
social skills necessary to do so; And so this becomes a perpetual process
(Clerkin, Smith, & Hames, 2013). It is easy for a person to turn to their social
networking sites instead of human interaction in search of fulfillment of some
kind, whether consciously, or sub consciously. They become reliant on the
internet as their main social outlet, forsaking their potential to learn and
master the basic skills of face to face human interaction, and become
socially damned.
The tragic effects and existence of cyber bullying are hardly
acknowledged before again being pushed out of the way to highlight more
examples of constructive uses of social media sites.

Poor Use of Sources

The main target of this section is Wallaces (2013) source used under
her second heading, Report: Teens say social media more positive than
negative (p. 1). This section employs the results of a study conducted by a
4

The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids
child advocacy group Common Sense Media. It reports that teens view
their social media use as more positive than negative. Wallaces use of this
source exposes the one sided agenda of her article. Of course teens are
going to respond in favor of social media. For most, its been a part of their
life from the beginning! This study would be like taking a survey among
small children who love candy and posing the question, does candy make
you happy? A more accurate study would have had the parents of these
teens respond to the same questions about their children.
In the statistics of the study it was reported that 28% of teens reported
that social networking made them feel more outgoing, and 29% said it made
them feel less shy. The use of these 2 words, shy and outgoing is
misleading. These are two personality traits which can only be effectively
measured when viewed in light of real human interaction.
Wallace describes how social media offers teens an outlet to
make their voices heard, to rally around each other and promote getting
involved in various groups. This is a strong addition to her article. Although
the teens who actually use social networking for this purpose are surely the
minority, it is a legitimate point, and much good has been brought about
through the networking capabilities of teens nowadays. Social networking
sites have enabled 9 year old Scottish student, Martha Payne, to create a
blog she calls Never Seconds. She used this blog to expose the state of
her schools lunch program, which prompted international attention and
resulted in not only changes to her school, but the formation of Friends of

The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids
Never Seconds charity to feed children globally
(www.socialmedia.procon.org).
Wallace concludes with somewhat of a compromise, encouraging
parents to get involved in social media, so that they can understand it and
know how to set appropriate boundaries for their kids. This is a great
conclusion, acknowledging both sides of the issue, and offering a resolution.
Consider the example of Kate Anderson (2013), a mother of two teenage
daughters in Oxford, Mississippi. Upon discovering that one of her daughters
friends was in duress over the fact that her boyfriend wanted a break from
their relationship, Katie sat down with her and discovered that the couples
constant text messaging back and forth was the cause of all their problems.
Katie counseled her to limit their constant, artificial communication. The girl
did so, and reported that their relationship quickly rebounded and things
were going great (Anderson, 2013 pp. 1-2).
While Wallace did a good job of emphasizing the positive aspects of
social media, statistics and research shows that one can never be too
careful. With a topic such as this which has so much potential for harm we
cant afford to ignore the negatives, even for a moment. Although there may
be a few small upsides to selfies, it is apparent that the down sides can be
far more destructive than the upsides can be constructive.

The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt All Bad for Kids

References
Hertlein, K., & Webster, M. (2008). Technology, relationships, and problems: A
research synthesis. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 34(4), 445-460.

Wallace, K. (2013, November 22). The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isnt
All Bad for Kids. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/21/living/socialmedia-positives-teens-parents/
Anderson, K. (2013, October 10). Teen Texting: The Ruin of Romance. Retrieved
from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katie-d-anderson/teen-texting-the-ruin-ofromance_b_3763576.html
Clerkin, E., Smith, A., & Hames, J. (2013). The interpersonal effects of Facebook
reassurance seeking. Journal of Affective Disorders, 525-530.
Are social networking sites good for our society?. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://socialnetworking.procon.org/