IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CHILDREN

Submitted to Submitted by

Mr. Satinder Kumar Pranshu Sharma

17421019
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
PREFACE
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….
IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION

Using social media Web sites is among the most common activity of today’s children and
adolescents. Any Web site that allows social interactions considered a social media site,
including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and
virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube;
and blogs. Such sites offer today’s youth a portal for entertainment and communication and have
grown exponentially in recent years. For this reason, it is important that parents become aware of
the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for children
and adolescents

Social media is quickly evolving in front of our eyes and it is almost impossible to reject and
hide from this new form of media. Not only is it an important part of socialization within peer
groups but now it is used to market and motivate people to become a part of a larger community.
It is undeniably changing the way one communicates and how one finds and shares information.
Most websites offer communication through the use of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube,
LinkedIn and many various blog formats. With new apps on smart phones and photography and
video made digital, media can be created, edited and shared quickly and once it is in this new
digital cloud it is not yours anymore. Through these new advances in technology one can share
things about themselves to the world to view, and prior to social media one would have to
communicate and share physically. These social media site offer adolescence new ways to
access communication and entertainment and the long-term effects are still unknown. For this
reason, it is imperative for parents to be more aware of this new media and what it offers both
good and bad for our children.

Teenagers are among the most prolific users of social network sites (SNS). Emerging studies
find that youth spend a considerable portion of their daily life interacting through social media.
Subsequently, questions and controversies emerge about the effects SNS have on adolescent
development. This review outlines the theoretical frameworks researchers have used to
understand adolescents and SNS. It brings together work from disparate fields that examine the
relationship between SNS and social capital, privacy, youth safety, psychological well-being,
and educational achievement. These research strands speak to high-profile concerns and
controversies that surround youth participation in these online communities, and offer ripe areas
for future research.
Online social media have gained astounding worldwide growth and popularity which has led to
attracting attention from variety of researchers globally. Although with time all generations have
come to embrace the changes social network has brought about, teenagers and young adults are
the most fanatic users of these sites. According to various research studies in the field of online
social networks, it has been revealed that these sites are impacting the lives of the youth greatly.
When using these sites such as Twitter, Facebook or MySpace, there are both positive and
negative effects on the youth.

The influence of social media on adolescents and teenagers is of particular importance, not only
because this particular group of children is developmentally vulnerable but also because they are
among the heaviest users of social networking

What is Social Media?

Social media, basically defined as grouping of internet based an application that builds on the
ideological and scientific foundations for transforming communication, in to an effective and
interactive conversation between different societies and individuals. Social media is one of the
easiest means and includes media and social networking sites like face book, twitter, Google+
etc. This is creating lot of boom in the current generation as it is one of the exceptional resources
in conveying the information. Using social media will help in improving contacts and thus
increases business. Social media may comprise of different forms like magazines, social club,
Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, micro blogging, wikis, podcasts, photographs or pictures,
video, rating and social bookmarking.
But now the trend of getting information has totally changed as most of them are using internet
to acquire information and to meet people. Social media is different from the usual traditional
media which include newspapers, television, radio and films etc. This social media is less
expensive when compared to the traditional media and is also easily accessible. This is not only
used for communicating and interacting with people worldwide but is also one of the best ways
to advance in business. Almost 70% of the business is done online because this will reach to the
customers/audiences soon, all over the world. This is also one of the biggest pools of
information.

Social networking is the grouping of individual into specific groups. It could be a group
of college student, teenagers, a religious, or political groups, coming together to exchange
information of their interest, mostly online. The online networking is called social sites. The
most known of all are face book, MySpace, Yahoo! 360, and twitter. These websites are easy to
access, and in most cases are free of charges. Users of social networking share common interests,
and they feel like a close family. Since the introductions of internet to the general public, a
number of social sites launched. The earlier social site had been sixdegree.com, launched in
1997. The site was intended to facilitate online dating, and the first time were able to allow users
to surf the network, and at the same time to create profiles, and post it online. After
sixdegree.com, other social sites were launched, and served for a while, and failed to become a
sustainable business entity. Since then Ryze.com (2002), match.com, were launched and used by
many users. With the advancement, and sophistication of technology, and the high demand for
use by the public, new and more sophisticated social sites emerged. My space, face book, and
twitters are some of the most prominent of all. Despite all the important contribution of social
networking sites, there is a legitimate concern of its disadvantage. Using social networking site
has advantages and disadvantage. It is the best interest of the user to know which site to use,
when and how to use them. Some of the advantages of using social networking are it is like the
virtual meeting places where people can just meet and discuss with different issue of common
interest. Some people use these sites to meet new friends, establish relationships, and even
marry, and have children. Others use this websites, to find and meet old high school friends, and
reestablish friendships. Using social net working makes easier and faster to get the most up to
date and latest news around the world instantly. Universities and colleges are becoming members
of the social networking. Which make easier for students to find information easily, and freely.
Companies started using social networking, to recruit employees by examining the users profile,
and background. Since social networking sites are operating worldwide; it breaks some of the
cultural barriers around the different part of the world. A college student from united state, who
have friend from Ethiopia, will have at least some exposure of the culture of the other side of the
world. The other advantage of this networking site is, it creates a sense of family, users of this
social websites are highly dedicated to one another, and spend a lot of time chatting each other,
which emotionally helps those who are lonely and desperate to think positive, and feel sense of
hope. Police and law enforcement agencies use this social networking site to hunt criminals, and
illegal activities. So, social networking also is used by different government agencies as a source
of information. Business and corporations use social networking to promote their products, and
enhance sales. This is a good thing to create job, and economic growth. Different interest groups,
like political parties, environmental organizations, even presidential campaign, and others, use
social networking sites to reach out their supporters. People from different part of the world, are
able to meet with their families, and loved ones easily and without any cost. Social networking
transforms communication, and brings the world together.
Although social networking site has its advantages, there are also disadvantages as well; personal
identity theft is the main concern. In order to use social networking, users must provide personal
information first before they are allowed accessing the sites. Recent news and information
proved that some social networking sites compromised users’ personal information. Advertisers
evade users’ privacy. Criminals, and sex offenders usually visit this sites to hunt there next
victims’. Young people, who post embarrassing photos or information, will have hard time to
find a job. Social networking makes cyber bullying much easier, and faster, which in some
instance lead to the death of teens. People spend more time on social networking sites which
created a poor performance by young kids at school. But, the most frightening of this social
networking, is the most addictive nature of the sites. Users spend a lot of their time surfing this
sites. This will hinder the ability of young people to develop real social life, face to face meeting
of people, which is very important in developing conversation and speech. Social networking
sites users are so addicted to their web site friends, and almost cut off from the real world life.
This has adverse effect on society. First of all, many of the online friends do not provide their
real identity, so they are not real friends. When young people discover the real identity of their
online friends, they will be disappointed, and even depressed. Secondly, the amount of time users
spends online with fake friendship is hurting them. Their time is consumed by surfing websites,
and they lag or fail in other aspect of their life. Third, the over addictiveness nature of this sites,
detached the users from face to face interaction with family, and friends in the real world. The
new generation is highly obsessed with these new sites, they are reading less, and their
communication, and imaginative skill is highly constrained.
Social networking is an important and positive change in our society. It becomes an important
aspect of our day to day activities. It is obvious that they contribute a lot, and still contributing.
But, there is also disadvantage of using these sites. It is our responsibility to manage which site
to use, and how to use them with extra precaution.
What are the types of Social Media?
Social media can be categorized in to six types and they are: Joint projects like Wikipedia, blogs
like Twitter, content communities like YouTube, social networking sites like Face book,
effective game worlds like World of War craft and virtual social worlds like second life. Other
than this social media technologies may include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings,
email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowd sourcing and voice over IP and many more.
Whole of social media is managed using the seven functional building blocks and they are:
Identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. Main purpose of
using these building blocks is to get better idea on the essential needs of the social media viewers
and these building blocks may differ with the type of social media. For example users of
LinkedIn mainly focus on identity, reputation and contacts whereas YouTube building blocks are
sharing, conversation, groups and reputation.
SOCIAL MEDIA USE BY TWEENS AND TEENS
Engaging in various forms of social media is a routine activity that research has shown to benefit
children and adolescents by enhancing communication, social connection, and even technical
skills.
1 Social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace offer multiple daily opportunities for
connecting with friends, classmates, and people with shared interests. During the last 5 years, the
number of preadolescents and adolescents using such sites has increased dramatically. According
to a recent poll, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a
day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day.

2 Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media,
54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging.

3 Thus, a large part of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while on
the Internet and on cell phones. Because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and
susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and
experiment with social media. Recent research indicates that there are frequent online
expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying and clique-forming
4 that have introduced problems such as cyberbullying
5 privacy issues
6 Other problems that merit awareness include Internet addiction and concurrent sleep
deprivation.
7 Many parents today use technology incredibly well and feel comfortable and capable with the
programs and online venues that their chil dren and adolescents are using. Nevertheless, some
parents may find it difficult to relate to their digitally savvy youngsters online for several
reasons. Such parents may lack a basic understanding of these new forms of socialization,
which are integral to their children’s lives.
8 They frequently do not have the technical abilities or time needed to keep pace with their
children in the ever-changing Internet landscape.
9 In addition, these parents often lack a basic understanding that kids’ online lives are an
extension of their offline lives. The end result is often a knowledge and technical skill gap
between parents and youth, which creates a disconnect in how these parents and youth
participate in the online world together. According to a report by Common Sense Media, 75
percent of teenagers in America currently have profiles on social networking sites, of which 68
percent use Facebook as their main social networking tool.
In 2015, it is now easier to access the internet than ever before. This easily leads to the misuse of
the technology that we are provided with but not everybody misusing it. Studies show that the
age group of 12-21 access social media more than any other. Being that I fall into this age group
I know that social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat is used to keep up with the
latest trends, our favorite artists and an easy way to stay up to date with what our peers are doing.
The statistics all tell the same story: Social media are gaining in popularity every day.
 The average time spent on social networks per day: 1.72 hours (in 2015).
 The average number of hours a teenager spends online per week: 27 (2015).

What are the advantages of Social Media?

One of the main advantages of social media is that it reaches millions of people in just a couple
of minutes. One thing that is needed for any social media network is associates, as they are the
commodity and they create value, not only to the site but also to the society. Some of the benefits
are listed below:
► Reach: It is proved that this social media can reach huge audience across the globe. Industrial
media uses a nationalized framework for grouping, manufacturing and broadcasting, whereas
social media is more decentralized, less hierarchical and renowned by multiple tips of
manufacture and service.
► Accessibility: Accessibility for industrial media is governed by government or it may be
privately owned. Social media tools will be available to the public at a very low cost or
sometimes at free of cost.
► Usability: Social media when compared to the industrial media does not need expertise skills
and training, but it only needs the reinterpretation of existing skills. It is very easy to operate and
access social media for a person with minimum knowledge of computer operating and one can
easily avail the vast services provided by social media. Social media is known for its ease of use.
► Immediacy: Social media is capable of conveying information in just a span of seconds.
People or audience can get quick updates on the latest news with just a single click.
► Permanence: Social media can always be altered with comments or suggestions which are
provided by the industry experts or the audience. Social media will undergo rigorous change to
cope up with the latest technology that is exploring in today’s generation.
Apart from the above mentioned benefits, other benefits are mentioned below:
► A flexible media: Social networking sites like facebook, twitter, google+ help users to find
and connect with friends worldwide, easily with a quick process. These will also be helpful in
promoting business by increasing contacts. Using these sites is very easy because they are
designed in a way to reach the targeted audience and new features and functions are constantly
developed so as to make the site more flexible in satisfying user needs. Many famous
personalities for example celebrities, business men and famous personalities create their own
blogs to promote their business or to express their views. This will make their work easier in
reaching huge audience in a very less time.
► Network building at free of cost: When compared to journals and reports, social media will
easily connect to the users. This will take less time in reaching the audience whereas the journals,
reports will take lot of time as it is a tedious process. Social media also helps in promoting
scientific researches which will be very helpful to mankind. Every service rendered by these
social networking sites is provided at free of cost for its users.

BENEFITS OF CHILDREN AND

ADOLESCENTS USING SOCIAL
MEDIA
Socialization and Communication
Social media sites allow teens to accomplish online many of the tasks that are important to them
offline: staying connected with friends and family, making new friends, sharing pictures,
and exchanging ideas. Social media participation also can offer adolescents deeper benefits that
extend into their view of self, community, and the world
1. opportunities for community engagement through raising money for charity and volunteering
for local events, including political and philanthropic events
2. enhancement of individual and collective creativity through development and sharing of
artistic and musical endeavors
3. growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and gaming sites;
4. expansion of one’s online connections through shared interests to include others from more
diverse backgrounds (such communication is an important step for all adolescents
and affords the opportunity for respect, tolerance, and increased discourse about personal and
global issues)
5. fostering of one’s individual identity and unique social skills.
Enhanced Learning Opportunities
School students are using social media to connect with one another on homework and group
projects.
11 For example, Facebook and similar social media programs allow students to gather outside of
class to collaborate and exchange ideas about assignments. Some schools successfully use blogs
as teaching tools,
12 which has the benefit of reinforcing skills in English, written expression, and creativity.
Accessing Health Information
Adolescents are finding that they can access online information about their health concerns
easily and anonymously. Excellent health resources are increasingly available to youth on a
variety of topics of interest to this population, stress reduction, and signs of depression.
Adolescents with chronic illnesses can access Web sites through which they can develop
supportive networks of people with similar conditions.
13 The mobile technologies that teens use daily, namely cell phones, instant messaging, and text
messaging, have already produced multiple improvements in their health care, such as increased
medication adherence, better disease understanding, and fewer missed appointments.
14 Given that the new social media venues all have mobile applications, teenagers will have
enhanced opportunities to learn about their health issues and communicate with their doctors.
However, because of their young age, adolescents can encounter inaccuracies during these
searches and require parental involvement to be sure they are using reliable online resources,
interpreting the information correctly, and not becoming overwhelmed by the information they
are reading. Encouraging parents to ask about their children’s and adolescents’ online searches
can help facilitate not only discovery of this information but discussion on these topics.

It is inevitable to ignore the fact that nowadays social network plays an essential role in
teenagers’ lives. Most youths are spending at least an hour in these popular social media sites.
Generally, 1 out of 7 minutes which are spent online by most of those who can access internet is
spent on Facebook. One may ask how spending all that time on the social media sites may have a
positive impact on them. Well, social media helps the youth and any other user updated with
what is happening around the world, help the teenagers stay connected and interact with each
other even if they are many miles apart. This strengthens their relationship even if they finished
school and moved to different locations they stay connected and update one another.

In addition, social media sites have provided a platform whereby the youth can create groups and
pages based on their common discipline and end up building connections and opportunities for
their respective careers by updating various topics to discuss. Youth who have been interviewed
they say that social media has become their lifestyle and it makes their lives easier and efficient.

What is the impact of Social Media on youth?

Social media has become a part of everyone’s life that it can’t be ignored. Social media has both
positive and negative impact not only on youth but also on elders and children. Let us see some
of the positive impacts of social media:
● Positive impacts:
♦ Friends: Making friends has become easier with these social networking sites like facebook,
google+ and twitter etc. in olden days it was a bit tough to make friends unless and until one has
personal interest of going out and making friends. Later after in the decades of 70’s and 80’s
mobile phones helped in connecting and improving conversation with people. And now the
exploration of social networking sites sprang up and it has changed the whole idea of making
friends once more and forever. We can make unlimited friends worldwide and chat with them
without any time limit and even at free of cost. Now a day’s even we can have a video chat
which is also available for free of cost. This can be considered as one of the best advantages of
having social networking sites. We can connect with friends whom we missed out in out
childhood.
♦ Empathy: By connecting with friends through social networking sites we share all of our good
and bad experiences with friends. This will improve the relationship between friends and thus
creating good bonding. Thus by sharing both good and bad experiences with friends, we will be
able to empathize with each other. Sharing one’s experiences with friends will also give mental
relaxation.
♦ Rapid communication: Everybody is becoming so busy with their lives that they don’t even
have time to communicate with their family members. Our time is getting thinner and thinner
with busy work schedule and family commitments. Social networking sites give us a chance to
communicate in a speedy and effective manner. Writing in face book, Google+ and twitter will
reach as many people as we want just in a span of seconds and with no cost. These sites will
allow us to live a life which is unhindered with a small talk.
♦ Be in touch with the world: Not only communicating with friends within the circle but we
can also make friends worldwide easily. We can build a network of friends and we can share our
ideas, photos and videos through these sites. Through this we can have updated news of friends
and family members. We can emphasize our location by using location based services like
foursquare and gowalla.
♦ Building relationship and finding a common ground in an open society: We can make a
strong relationship with friends and relatives through these sites. This can help foster friendship
and more besides strengthen us. Because friend is the only person with whom we can share
everything related to our life. Connecting with groups will help in improving one’s own
business, thus creating profits. Professional sites like LinkedIn will have many groups based on
different criteria. Through LinkedIn people get jobs and some promote their business.
● Negative impacts:
Social media, now a day’s is leaving a negative impact rather being positive. Most of the youth
spend lot of time on the internet to visit and check their single or multiple accounts. This will
affect students, youth and productivity of work because of the extreme use of technology. The
risks of using social media may also include mental health, cyber bulling, texting and revelation
to problematical and unlawful content and privacy violations.
♦ Cyber bulling: Usage of social media may create a chance for emotional distress in getting
frightening, irritating and degrading communication from another teenager which is called cyber
bulling. It’s been proved that cyber bulling will build advanced levels of depression and anxiety
for victims and also resulted in youth suicide. Most of the females become victims of this cyber
bulling.
♦ Texting: Texting is used to harass people. Using cell phones and social networking sites for
instant messaging to threaten, and hassle relationship partners is increasing day by day. One in
three teens in relationships has been text messaged up to 30times an hour by a partner to know
where they are, what they are doing, or who they are with.
♦ Privacy: Most of the teenagers are not aware of the website policies when setting their profiles
and they may not be even aware of disclosing the information to the third parties like the
 advertisers. Most of the teenagers like to post their information publicly which will affect them
when the hackers or people with cruel intension may use their information for wrong purposes.

1. Keeps connections between friends when they’re not always able to see each other when they
want to.
2. Social media also keeps you up to date with things that are going on around the world rather than
just in your area.
3. It gives youth a place to express themselves in a way that a public place wouldn’t allow us to.
4. It helps to develop social skills, a lot of friendships can stem from a social website.
5. It’s a fun way to interact with your peers, other than seeing them in person.

82

Study Shows:

The average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do

sleeping.
The statistics all tell the same story: Social media are gaining in popularity every day.
 The average time spent on social networks per day: 1.72 hours (in 2015).
 The average number of hours a teenager spends online per week: 27 (2015).
Social media have become prominent parts of life for many young people today. Most people
engage with social media without stopping to think what the effects are on our lives, whether
positive or negative. Are we as a society becoming more concerned with Facebook "friends" than
we are with the people we interact with face-to-face in our daily lives? What will the longterm
effects of today's social media use be?
There are many positive aspects, but there are equally as many dangers that come with the use of
sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +, Tumblr, Instagram, gaming sites,
and blogs. In order to make the right choices, we must dig in and research this topic thoroughly.

How Much Time Per Day Do You Spend On Social Media?

(Including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Gaming Sites, Blogs, etc.)
 I don't engage at all on social media.
 Less than an hour per day.
 1-2 hours.
 3-4 hours.
 More than 4 hours per day.
See results
Pros

How Social Media Benefit Youth

What are the positive aspects of engaging in social media?

The positives of social media:
Education:
 Teachers are able to easily collaborate and communicate with students and one another.
 Students have easy, free access to resources online to help them learn.
 Grades improve and absenteeism is reduced.
 59% of student users report that they use social networking to discuss educational topics
and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments.
Politics:
 Voter participation is increased. Facebook users said they are more likely to vote if they see
that their online friends did. During the elections of 2010, users who visited Facebook more
than once a day were 2.5 times more likely to attend a political rally or meeting and 43%
more likely to say they will vote.
 Social media facilitates political change: Online networks give social movements a quick,
cheap method of disseminating information and mobilizing people.
Awareness/Being Informed:
 27.8% of Americans get their news online. (28.8% get it from newspapers and 18.8% from
radio.)
 Information spreads faster online than any other media. More than 50% learn about
breaking news on social media.
 Social networking provides academic research to everyone with online access, allowing
people access to previously unavailable resources.
 Social media sites inform and empower individuals to change themselves and their
communities.
Social Benefits:
 Social media allow people to communicate with friends and this increased online
communication strengthens those relationships. 52% of online teens say social media have
helped their friendships. 88% say being online helps them stay in touch with friends they
don't see regularly.
 People make new friends. 57% online teens report making new friends online.
Job Opportunities:
 Great for professionals for marketing, connecting, and finding business opportunities.
 Employers find employees and unemployed find work. 89% of job recruiters have hired via
LinkedIn, 26% via Facebook, and 15% via Twitter.
 Social media sites have created thousands of jobs and new avenues of income
 It is inevitable to ignore the fact that nowadays social network plays an essential role in
teenagers’ lives. Most youths are spending at least an hour in these popular social media
sites. Generally, 1 out of 7 minutes which are spent online by most of those who can
access internet is spent on Facebook according to Shea Bennett. One may ask how
spending all that time on the social media sites may have a positive impact on them.
Well, social media helps the youth and any other user updated with what is happening
around the world, help the teenagers stay connected and interact with each other even if
they are many miles apart. This strengthens their relationship even if they finished school
and moved to different locations they stay connected and update one another.
 In addition, social media sites have provided a platform whereby the youth can create
groups and pages based on their common discipline and end up building connections and
opportunities for their respective careers by updating various topics to discuss. Youth
who have been interviewed they say that social media has become their lifestyle and it
makes their lives easier and efficient.
 Kids can gain social confidence from interacting with other people online, which may
help them feel more secure in new situations, such as going to college, joining a sports
team, and meeting new friends.
 Because social networking like everything else online is constantly evolving, kids can
become more familiar with new and emerging technologies, as well as increase their
media literacy through exposure to many different types of online media that are shared
by their friends.
 Many kids find support in online communities; this is especially true for kids who have
unique interests or feel isolated. Encourage your child to find other kids who are
interested in the same thing or may be dealing with similar issues.
 Online communities can be very diverse and expose your child to many new viewpoints,
ideas, and opinions that she may not be familiar with.
 Kids tend to use social networking to augment—not replace—their real-world
relationships, helping them learn to communicate in many different ways. Social
networking is becoming an increasingly important method of communicating in schools
and the workplace, so it’s good for your child to be prepared to communicate through
sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.
 

What are the risks associated with Social Media?

The below risks are associated with Social Media:
● People who are spending more time on using these sites to gain information score less, when
compared to youth who read books.
● The e-learning concept is booming and most of them prefer to this e-learning rather reading
books which costs them more.
● Sitting before a TV or computer for longer time will create health problems and many cases
have been reported in this regard.
● Using social networking sites to make friends is not always good because most of them make
friendship with a bad intension. This may damage their reputation by adding unknown friends to
their list.
● Extreme use of technology makes us more disruptive in life. Most of them get addicted to this,
knowing its negative impacts. This may lead to low performance and loss of productivity in
workplace as people tend to slink on their accounts.
● And on the other side some people tend to express themselves in a good form which they are
not.
● People with cruel intensions target the audience who are irresponsible.
● Information published through this social media may not always be informative and trusted.
Most of the times it misleads people with bad ideas and news.
● Most of them use internet or social media for wrong purpose which will affect the entire youth
and also kids.
● People who spend long time over the internet show the signs of depression like change in
sleeping and food habits, experience swing in moods and change in daily routine.

Indirect communication

Teens are masters at keeping themselves occupied in the hours after school until way past
bedtime. When they’re not doing their homework (and when they are) they’re online and on their
phones, texting, sharing, trolling, scrolling, you name it. Of course before everyone had an
Instagram account teens kept themselves busy, too, but they were more likely to do their chatting
on the phone, or in person when hanging out at the mall. It may have looked like a lot of aimless
hanging around, but what they were doing was experimenting, trying out skills, and succeeding
and failing in tons of tiny real-time interactions that kids today are missing out on. For one thing,
modern teens are learning to do most of their communication while looking at a screen, not
another person.

“As a species we are very highly attuned to reading social cues,” says Dr. Catherine Steiner-
Adair, a clinical psychologist and author of The Big Disconnect. “There’s no question kids are
missing out on very critical social skills. In a way, texting and online communicating—it’s not
like it creates a nonverbal learning disability, but it puts everybody in a nonverbal disabled
context, where body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions
are rendered invisible.”
Lowering the risks

Certainly speaking indirectly creates a barrier to clear communication, but that’s not all.
Learning how to make friends is a major part of growing up, and friendship requires a certain
amount of risk-taking. This is true for making a new friend, but it’s also true for maintaining
friendships. When there are problems that need to be faced—big ones or small ones—it takes
courage to be honest about your feelings and then hear what the other person has to say.
Learning to effectively cross these bridges is part of what makes friendship fun and exciting, and
also scary. “Part of healthy self-esteem is knowing how to say what you think and feel even
when you’re in disagreement with other people or it feels emotionally risky,” notes Dr. Steiner-
Adair.

But when friendship is conducted online and through texts, kids are doing this in a context
stripped of many of the most personal—and sometimes intimidating—aspects of communication.
It’s easier to keep your guard up when you’re texting, so less is at stake. You aren’t hearing or
seeing the effect that your words are having on the other person. Because the conversation isn’t
happening in real time, each party can take more time to consider a response. No wonder kids
say calling someone on the phone is “too intense”—it requires more direct communication, and
if you aren’t used to that it may well feel scary.

If kids aren’t getting enough practice relating to people and getting their needs met in person and
in real time, many of them will grow up to be adults who are anxious about our species’ primary
means of communication—talking. And of course social negotiations only get riskier as people
get older and begin navigating romantic relationships and employment.

Cyberbullying and the imposter syndrome

The other big danger that comes from kids communicating more indirectly is that it has gotten
easier to be cruel. “Kids text all sorts of things that you would never in a million years
contemplate saying to anyone’s face,” says Dr. Donna Wick, a clinical and developmental
psychologist who runs Mind to Mind Parent. She notes that this seems to be especially true of
girls, who typically don’t like to disagree with each other in “real life.”

What are the negative aspects of engaging in social media?

The negatives of social media:
A Detriment to Work and/or School:
 Enables cheating on school assignments.
 While grades did improve for light users, the grades of students who are heavy users of
social media tend to suffer. One study shows that student users have an average GPA of
3.06 while non-users have an average GPA of 3.82.
 For every 93 minutes over the average 106 minutes spent on Facebook daily, college
students’ grades dropped .12 points.
  Another study showed that students who went online while studying scored 20% lower on
tests.
 Possible negative effects on college admission: 35% of admissions officers scan prospective
students' social media and report discovering information that affects their admissions
decision.
 Social networking sites harm employees' productivity. 51% of users aged 25-34 checked
social media at work.
 Using social media can harm employment and prospects. Job recruiters check a prospective
employee's social media accounts, and things like profanity, poor spelling or grammar,
racism, sexism, poor health, references to alcohol or drugs, and sexual and religious content
can all count against you.
Lack of Privacy:
 People, especially the young, are often too open and public with personal information when
online. Most don't read privacy policies and may be unaware that their information may be
used by third parties, like advertisers, insurance companies, and the IRS. 21% of teens
believe it is safe and harmless to post personal information, including photos.
 Exposure to corporate and governmental intrusions. The US Justice Department intercepts
thousands of pieces of information from email and social networking activity per year.
 The IRS trains agents to scan social media for information that can help them resolve
taxpayer cases.
 Insurance companies use information gleaned from social media, as well. If you have
"liked" a medical-related page or a post about a health condition, that information is
sometimes used by insurance companies to determine eligibility and raise rates.
 Online advertising policies are an invasion of privacy. If you "like" a brand, you’re giving
that company access to your personal information.
Users Vulnerable to Crime:
 Social networking sites allow hate groups to recruit and distribute propaganda online.
 Unauthorized sharing and copyright infringement threatens intellectual property and causes
loss of income.
 Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, phishing scams, and viruses are common
online. 68% of users share their real birth date, 63% share the name of their high school,
18% share their phone number, 12% share a pet's name: This information might be used in
identity theft.
 Criminals use social media to commit crimes. Robbers know when you're away from your
home on vacation and stalkers get information about your whereabouts via social media.
 Sexual predators find, stalk, and assault victims through social media.
 Sexting (texting sexual content) can be a big problem. When teens post sexy photos or
comments online, it can lead to criminal charges and child pornography. 88% of "private"
 sexual images posted to social media are stolen and publicly posted on porn sites without
the subject's knowledge.
 Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, and viruses and exposure to phishing scams
are common via social media.
Social Detriments:
 Cyber-bullying (the use of electronic communication to bully someone, usually by sending
intimidating or threatening messages) is commonplace online, causes emotional trauma, and
sometimes even leads to suicide. 49.5% of students reported victimization by bullying
online and 33.7% admitted to online bullying. A 2012 study found that at least 800,000
minors had been harassed on Facebook. Middle school children who experienced
cyberbullying were almost twice as likely to try to kill themselves.
 According to one report, 15% of adult users said that something that happened online
caused a friendship to end. 12% of adult users said something that happened online caused a
face-to-face argument, and for 3% of adults it turned into a physical confrontation.
 Extensive online engagement is correlated with personality and brain disorders like poor
social skills, ADHD, narcissistic tendencies, a need for instant gratification, and addictive
behaviors and other emotional distress like depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
 Less time for face-to-face interaction with loved ones. 47% of 18-34-year-old users reported
using social media or texting during meals. 10% of people younger than 25 reported
checking their phones and social media during sex.
 Children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders and more prone
to feeling isolated and disconnected (especially youth with disabilities).
Misinformation:
 Enables the spread of false rumors and unreliable information: 49.1% of users have read
false news on social media.
 Encourages amateur medical advice and self-diagnosis of health problems, which can be
dangerous and life-threatening.
Advertising:
 Studies have shown that sites such as Facebook influence you, via advertisements, to spend
more money.
 Advertisers gain all kinds of personal information about you via your social media,
information they use to persuade you to buy their product.
A Waste of Time:
 When alerted to a new post or tweet, it takes about 20 to 25 minutes for the average user to
return to their original task. 30% of the time it takes two hours for the user to return to their
original task.
Here are five ways I have seen technology have a negative influence on youth:
1. The social websites become their first priority, rather than the things that should come first such
as school, family and sports.
2. People portray themselves as someone they’re not.
3. Young people can begin to cyberbully another peer; this can lead to many things such as
depression and suicidal thoughts.
4. Some youth are easily influenced so they may feel the need to change their physical appearance
by comparing themselves to the next person they see in the media.
5. Social media is a very powerful temptation, so it can also become addicting and begin to start
sidetracking the youth.
6.

While on one hand social network sites seems to bring people together and connected on the
other hand it creates social isolation. As the youth tend to spend many hours on these sites, they
rarely have face-to-face interaction. According various studies, scientists’ evaluation determined
that social isolation can lead to a host of emotional, psychological, physical and mental problems
which include anxiety, depression and somatic complaints among many others.

Other negative effects of social networking various people suggested included encouraging poor
spelling and grammar, exposing underage to online predators, allowing spread of misinformation
that is perceived as fact, decreasing productivity as those who are supposed to be working spend
time in the sites to chat, provide a perfect platform for cyber bullying and providing details that
increase risks of identity theft.

What are the recommendations for better use of Social Media?

The below recommendations can be helpful for better use of Social Media:
► For parents and caretakers: Parents and the caretakers have to alert themselves regarding
social media and the means which their teens may use. And they should be aware of the risks to
understand and navigate technology.
Family discussions are also one of the recommendations which will help teenagers in avoiding
using internet. Parents should be concerned about the online protection and sharing of individual
information and photos of their teens, as less sharing of personal information will prevent the
risk. Most of the information should be kept private so as to avoid spammers.
► For community: Better resources should be owed to schools, libraries and community
organizations, to help them in taking on risk management strategies and to offer education about
online security matter. Resources are required for social services and mental health professionals,
who job with minors and their families in extending their skill, to online spaces and also work
with other members of the society, for identifying at-risk youth and interfere prior to risky
performance results in unenthusiastic endings.
► Technological solutions: Internet providers like Google and Yahoo, and social networking
sites, like Face book and YouTube, must continue in working with parents and policymakers for
creating alertness and chances for privacy defense of youth and to expand technologies which
will help teenagers in getting secured.
► Health providers: Medicinal and psychological health suppliers should comprise regular
broadcasting to evaluate the risk for depression which considers teenagers social media use. For
instance, assessing the time spent in using media as well as online activities or inquisitive about
online contacts .Tools must be developed for helping providers engage in these conversations.
► Research Evaluation: continuous research is required on the achievement of social media
based involvements, especially those focusing on metropolitan and countryside teenagers from
lower middle class families and those with deprived home locations.
In conclusion, social media can have both a beneficial and negative impact on the youth of my
generation. It can help youth prosper in so many different ways. As well as hold them down in
various ways. The impact that social media has on us is up for us to decide!
Paradoxically, social media sites can make us not only more capable but also more inept. We
sometimes share too much with too many, and we have to be conscious of that. Overall, we have
to be careful and caution when approaching these things.
In this day and age, we are pressured 10 different ways as far as our beliefs and opinions are
concerned. Are having our own thoughts or are we so influenced by external phenomenon that
we believe everything we see online?
In many cases it is clear that social media have become not only part of people’s lives but the
things their lives revolve around. We see people checking smartphones every two minutes,
looking for the latest tweet or status update. It’s important yet difficult to retain the attitude that
these sites may be useful, but that's all they are—tools, not lifestyles.

Kids often gravely underestimate the toll that their digital conduct can take on their reputations.
A simple review of the day’s news will demonstrate how difficult it is for adults to master the art
of reputation management. Imagine how much more difficult it is for adolescents! We need to
impress upon our children that “the digital decisions they make today will stay with them, and
the rest of cyberspace, forever. We need to impress upon our children that just as their
reputations can suffer when they share a vulgar picture, it can be enhanced when they post a
picture or comment that reflects their intelligence and interests. The point that has to be driven
home is that social media are tools. They can be used for both positive and negative, and the user
has the power to determine what type of impact they are going to create.

Information technology has taken the world by storm. However, its potential is often debated.
There are many pros and cons of using social networking websites, such as the Facebook for
business purposes. However, the successfulness is still depending on how a company able to
exploit them. Social media is the modern tool for marketers who try every means to get their
message out to their target markets. The medium has many advantages and disadvantages, and
companies struggle to find the right way to use it. The average business owner does not fully
understand the risks, and the field is still so new that it is difficult to evaluate the qualifications
of social media “experts” who offer their service.

CASE STUDY 1

TITLE OF CASE STUDY

Outline of the case

Key fundamental principles

Considerations

Possible course of action

According to Internet Live Stats : Afghanistan is the number 100th country amongst 198
countries with internet users of 1,856,781 and the user growth per year is 172,462 in fact
Afghanistan’s Internet User Growth rate is 10% which is higher than USA, UK, China , France,
Canada and many more countries, while we are at number 3rd country after Burkina Faso &
South Sudan in the list of 10 Countries With the Worst Literacy Rates in the World in a report
published on www.care2.com by Christina Chew. Now we can understand from our poor literacy
rate that most of the internet users or using internet for social media not for study, research,
business or trade purposes hence we have more users addicted to social media in Afghanistan.
There are people who can’t even write their own name and they are only able to recognize
himself and people by their pictures have full access to internet and constantly check their
Smartphone’s for status updates.
As social media has influenced our population there is a need to know for the good and bad
impacts of the social media on our next generation and make a proper plan in both cases if the
usage of social media is good or bad. In my first sentence I tried to make it very clear that the
overdose of even medicine can kill us.
The prime bad effect of social media is addiction … Constantly checking Facebook, Instagram,
VK, Tumblr, Flikr, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vine or other social media updates. This addiction could
negatively affect other valued activities like concentrating on studies, taking active part in sports,
real life communication and ignoring ground realities.
There are very serious examples likewise Danny Bowman, a 19 year old selfie addict in the UK,
spent 10 hours every day taking over 200 pictures of himself. For six months, he obsessively
tried to take the perfect picture. But when he couldn’t, Danny tried to kill himself. “I was
constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realized I couldn’t I wanted to die. I
lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life,” Danny said. He first posted his
photos on Facebook, where others’ reactions to his appearance affected him deeply. There are
many other examples of posing for pictures for social media has gone wrong and even resulted in
lives losses, some even have already killed themselves trying a gun selfie and cliff selfie. It
makes us deeply think that why were we not taking selfie when there was no social media ? it
may be an alarm that social media is directly affecting our thoughts and sometimes makes us do
so many risky things and actions to make others attracted towards our profile.
A University of Michigan study seem to indicate that in young adults, Facebook use leads to
decline in subjective well-being. The more young adults use Facebook, the worse they feel
moment-to-moment and the less they feel satisfied with their lives overall.
Afghan Rugby Coach , Sabir Slaimankhel “ If our players concentrate more on their
performances I am sure that they are unbeatable, but looking at the players they are concentrating
more on their social media profiles and sometimes during the matches pointing to their friends
with smart phones to take few of their pictures in action. The negative impact of social media
seems not limited only on education and study but in all sectors of life, as stated that sport
players are addicted to facebook and that is why they are keener to think and pose good for
pictures not for the victory of the team.
DoSometing.org, “one of the largest organizations for young people and social change”, lists
several bad effects of social media, which includes sleep disorder, depression, addiction, 24/7
stress, isolation, insecurity, and fear of missing out (FOMO). In fact if we go through some of
our Afghan MPs, Senators, Ministers, Politicians and police chiefs they seem to be addicted too ,
some of them are posting only their pictures with location only while looking at some of their
pictures they seems that they cannot shake hands till there is a camera standing by to take their
pictures, hence it is not an addiction for kids and teens but for our very mature and influential
personalities too and as they are leading our next generation so that they have to copy them and
as a result they waste more and more time in taking pictures. It will not be out of order to state
that some of our MPs & Senators have more pictures on their profiles as compare to Hollywood
and Bollywood celebrities.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2016/06/the-impact-of-social-media-on-ghanaian-youth-a-case-
study-of-the-nima-and-maamobi-communities-in-accra-ghana/