Whetsell 1

Torsten Whetsell
Mrs. Odle
English II Pre-AP 4th hour
December 4, 2014
The Social Virus of the Digital World
Ever since the Internet became public it has had a growing place in our society.
Everywhere there are kids on phones and laptops, playing games and connecting with each other.
Websites such as YouTube and Facebook are becoming gargantuan, some even becoming
multibillion dollar companies. These websites allow people to connect with each other on a daily
basis; they create the potential for people to have long-distance contacts with friends and loved
ones who live far away. Do these benefits outweigh the consequences though? There are
numerous negative psychological effects social networking has on the human mind.
The average human teenager needs around 8 to 9 hours of sleep. One of the most
negative effects of social networking is the lasting effects sleep deprivation can have on teens.
Problems that merit awareness include concurrent sleep deprivation (Source B). Sleep
deprivation causes slower cognitive function and lower learning capacity. Concurrent deprivation
can permanently cause moodiness and lower mental abilities and even start to impact basic motor
functions. Source E provides a clear example of the average teen. Besides the obvious
cyberbullying message, the kid is shown to be up late at night; all the stars are up and the only
real light is coming from the computer. The subject probably stays up like this most nights.
Assuming most teens get up for school at 6:00 AM they would need to be asleep by 9:00PM to

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obtain the necessary sleep. The sky in this picture is much darker implying a significantly later
time. This teen, due to social networking, does not get enough sleep which could eventually lead
to permanent damage. Although sleep deprivation is an important problem, another issue that
merits awareness is internet addiction.
When asked what the first thing they do in the mornings, most teenagers will respond that
they check their phone, most likely for Facebook or other social networking sites. The younger
generation today is nigh inseparable from their technology. Over two-thirds of all teens check
theirs at least once a day (Source C). Even more drastic recently numbers have increased so
much that, 22% of teenagers log onto their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day
(Source B). Social media takes up so much of peoples lives that it has recently become hard to
get things done. School work becomes less interesting, important matters less pressing, all that
means anything is checking the phone. Internet addiction can cause people to become reclusive
and retreat from physical society in favor of a digital one. This is potentially ruinous to teens
current and future social health.
Besides having negative effects social media can have some positive effects; Blogging
sites such as Tumblr allow teens to express who they are and what they want to do. These
websites offer todays youth a portal for entertainment and communication (Source B). When
used in moderation these sites offer a fun and relaxing way to pass the time. Other sites such as
Instagram can surprisingly help to build self-confidence according to a recent interview with
Eileen Masio (Source A). 65% of adolescents have gain positive comments on pictures of
themselves which help strengthen their confidence level and made them feel good about
themselves (Source D). However people are not always nice; some people wish only to hurt
others on the internet. The good does not always manage to outweigh the bad.

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Just as much as it can help, social media and social networking can completely tear a
person apart. While people get positive comments these comments arent always true. These
comments can build up a persons confidence and make them try to do something they cannot
actually do. This can lead to embarrassment or even depression and reclusion. Cyberbullying, as
depicted in source E, can cause quite profound psychosocial effects. These include depression,
anxiety, severe isolation, and, tragically, suicide (Source B). Teens feel empowered to bully
others through the internet due to a sense of anonymity. Anonymity on the internet though is
merely an illusion. Everything can be traced back to its original source, causing potentially future
ruining consequences on a person. This digital footprint can be, and has been, the downfall of
hundreds of otherwise studious, honest adolescents.
Social networking, besides having damaging psycho- and socio- logical impacts can also
destroy a teens future. Everything they build up to can be ruined because of one post or picture
on social media. The personal negative consequences of social networking overwhelmingly
drown out any potentially positive ones that could be gained. Whilst some sites such as
Facebook, YouTube and Tumblr were created with good intentions, they have become corrupted
by our societies. Social networking has destroyed these websites and become a virus infecting
the minds and relations of our nations people. The social virus of the digital world must be
stopped. No matter what the cost.