Snapchat Affects Young Adults

By Sonia Cortez
Can you imagine a world without Social Media?
Take a moment and imagine your life without
social media. What do you see?
Without Social media, life would inevitably be
different. Human interaction would be more
direct, people would go out more and build
stronger friendships. While these realities may
seem positive and beneficial, there are certainly
other sides of the equation that should be
considered.
Although many people link social media to building self-confidence in young adults, many
people fail to realize that social media can cause a profound and negative impact on their
authentic lives. Social media such as Snapchat is a world wide application that is affecting tons
of young adults and they should be aware that apps like those are fun, but at the same time can
harm you. People should work to develop a culture where everyone looks out for everyone else
and if something of concern arises, someone will step up and take appropriate action. Snapchat
should be advised to manage any crisis, long before negative news reaches traditional outlets,
and be making its way through the social network. Bottom line is that social media such as
Snapchat is the way hundreds of millions of people communicate today and doing something
about it gives you the information you need to proactively guide the conversation and quickly
respond to crisis.
On a regular basis, users may
pull up the app just to pass
time, but what they may be on
the verge of social media
taking over their life. Snapchat
has affected young adults
because they go online almost
every day. According to the
graph on the left, nearly twothirds of American adults use
social media, which it includes
Snapchat. Age is vigorously
correlated with social media
usage (Andrew Perrin (2016).
When these young adults
spend an inordinate amount of
time managing their virtual

identities, it can have a profound and negative impact on their authentic lives. While social
media, such as Snapchat has made connecting and communicating with anyone at any time as
easy as pie, it also has altered teens social skills and behaviors. Cognitive development is still
maturing during the teen years and the introduction of these types of online outlets can act as a
platform for teenagers to speak their minds without facing peers directly, said Amy Grosso,
PhD, a counselor with CareNet, part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. This can result in
negative consequences, such as bullying, narcissism, depression, distractibility and anxiety. The
demands of young adults being constantly connected are never ending, and if we dont stop to
smell the roses and start to live in the moment, we might all need to stage an intervention and
check our loved ones (or ourselves).
Snapchat should be advised to manage any crisis, long before negative news reaches traditional
outlets, it will be making its way through the social network. Bottom line is that social media
such as this one, is the way hundreds of millions of people communicate today and doing
something about it gives you the information you need to proactively guide the conversation and
quickly respond to crisis. Some ways to monitor social media such as Snapchat by using a
monitoring software called SnapTrends. According to the article SnapTrends, by Ghazzawi
(2013), SnapTrends is a data gathering tool for social media collection, monitoring, and
analysis. With this software, parents will not only be aware of what they are doing and watching
but they will take the preventative measures of future things. Monitoring the social media
activities means listening to what people are saying to a person, about them, and in their area of
interest. Measuring them means counting, calculating, and quantifying those activities into useful
metrics that will inform peoples actions. Discretion should be used by guardians and young
teens, considering the benefits and the hazard of exposure to such material. Therefore, people
should take preventive measures of what they do with the use of Snapchat and other uses of
social media.

References
Grosso, A. (n.d.). Reduce Teens' Social Media Risks. Retrieved July 18, 2016, from
http://www.wakehealth.edu/Health-Central/NMR/Reduce-Risks-of-Social-Media/
How can I reduce the time I spend on technology and social media? - Substance Abuse and
Addiction.
(n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2016, from
https://www.sharecare.com/health/substance-abuse-addiction-recovery/how-reduce-timetechnology-social
Perrin, A. (2015). Social media usage: 2005-2015. The Pew Research Center,
Retrieved March 15, 2016, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/socialnetworking-usage-2005-2015/