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Mackensie Shaw

Mrs.Burr

English 2010

04 April 2018

The Negative Effects of Social Media

Social media is a growing form of communication in today’s society. Applications of

social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr (etc) have been increasing in

popularity in the last decade. There are roughly 3.03 billion active users on social media

according to the most recent data available. These social media applications provide an easy

form of communication through pictures, videos, and messaging. Social media provides a way of

sharing and connecting others to our personal lives through the application. The social media

community has showed the positivity behind social media applications but few have reviewed

the negative effects that correlate with social media usage.

Researchers have began studying the negative effects behind the usage of social media

applications. The research has determined several different negative effects associated with

social media. These negative effects include depression, addiction, lack of socialization,

cyberbullying, and the invasion of privacy. Research now shows the direct connection between

social media and these negative effects.

The first negative impact of social media is depression. Researchers have found a

connection between the level of education and type of gender in high depression rates from

social media applications. According to The Association Between Social Media Use And
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Depression Among Young Adults, “Female sex and lower education level were also both

associated with being in the “high” depression group.” (Liu yi Lin et al. 6) There has been

studies that discovered women are more likely to get depression or stages of depression in their

life because of their hormonal imbalances, and the way they think compared to men. The study

explains that it affects younger women because they spend more time on the applications, and

post more often than other groups. The results found that some high depression rates were also

found depending on the amount of time spent on social media apps.The study showed the more

time spend on the applications the higher depression rate groups became more irritable and

frustrated when interrupted.

The next negative influence of social media is addiction. An article by Nicholas

Kardaras,​ ​GENERATION Z: ONLINE AND AT RISK?​ ​Kardaras begins with a story about a

thirteen year old girl named Heidi. She was given a ipad from her school to complete her school

work, and she used it often and would become temperamental when the ipad was taken away.

She had to be taken to a psychiatric emergency room because she would get so angry, and would

threaten to kill her parents (64-69). The situation can be seen as an extreme example but many

have seen the impact of social media addiction in their lives. On average kids spend nearly nine

hours on their cell phones a day according to recent studies. Research has shown the direct

connection between the brain’s addiction to drugs and the brain’s addiction to social media. An

article completed by CNN News discovered, “​In a recent study, researchers at the UCLA brain

mapping center used an fMRI scanner to image the brains of 32 teenagers as they used a bespoke

social media app resembling Instagram. By watching the activity inside different regions of the

brain as the teens used the app, the team found certain regions became activated by "likes", with
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the brain's reward center becoming especially active. (Susie East, par.8) The brain’s function is

increased in the same area as the brain function when drugs are taken. The effect sends a signal

of reward to the brain and causes the brain to desire more of that substance. When people use

social media apps the desire of reward will increase and the need for more likes will cause

addictive tendencies.

Another negative influence is the lack of socialization. Social media has connected

people from all across the world to be connected to one each other. We have the ability to post

what we do day to day, and stay in touch with others we do not have the ability to see in person.

Even though social media provides positive attributes it can lead to negative consequences. The

reason behind the negative consequences is because lives have become about what you share,

compared to personal interactions and experiences. The evidence of this phenomenal is

anywhere you look. As you observe, especially in teenage societies, everyone is looking at their

phones instead of conversing with one another. Children do not know how to have a verbal

conversation, and are missing the personal human connection everyone needs. Touch and facial

expression help bring meaning and development of personal connections with others. An article

completed by USA Today College interviewed a South Florida graduate Mark Clennon he stated,

“People tend to want to show others that they are having fun than actually having fun

themselves, there’s a greater desire to share with other people you barely know, than actually

hanging out with friends and making memories,” (par.9) Social media has created an atmosphere

of showing people the activities we engage in then freely enjoying the experiences we desire to

have. If personal connections and experiences are lost personal connections and life satisfaction

will be diminished.
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Another negative influence is cyberbullying. But let us first define what cyberbullying is

to further understand the effects. Cyberbullying is ​the use of electronic communication to bully a

person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. Through the use

of social media inappropriate photos have been sent, hate pages have been made, and hateful

comments and backlash have been used. The problem with social media it is hard to regulate the

appropriateness of the content that is uploaded to the internet because everyone is allowed to

share what they desire and the content cannot be controlled. Recently an article done by CBS

News, a girl named Brandy Vela committed suicide due to cyberbullying. Her father told the

news that Brandy had been receiving abusive text messages for months but the texts were

untraceable and the school board encouraged her to change her number. The bullies harassed

Vela about her weight and created dating websites of Brandy; the students posted her number

and pictures of her on the sites and wrote she was a prostitute. Her mother shared the school

board told her there was nothing that could have been done. Brandy’s dad hopes there will be

stricter policies against cyberbullying so his daughter’s death is not meaningless. (CBS News)

This event shows the negative effects of cyberbullying. With the use of technology and social

media sites there needs to be more control over the content being shared because cyberbullying

is causing abuse to users. According to an academic report Cyberbullying and its Consequences:

How Cyberbullying Is Contouring The Minds Of Victims And Bullies Alike, And The Law’s

Limited Available Redress, “Cyberbullying victims are at a high risk of depression, anxiety,

loneliness, cutting, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, negative emotions, and other forms of

self-harm” (Kimberly miller). Cyberbullying is a serious problem that is associated with social
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media and many are facing mental health challenges. As technology advances the cases of

cyberbullying will increase, and the control over cyberbullying needs to be increased.

The last negative influence of social media is the invasion of privacy. According to a

study done in 2014, 17.6 million U.S. citizens were victims to identity theft. (Gov.org). The use

of phones and social media has created an issue with individual’s privacy. Many have found their

accounts have been hacked, and their passwords and emails have been stolen. The problem with

the privacy on social media sites is many social media users are young, and do not understand

the risks of privacy on social media. Many users provide too much private information to users

they have never met or their account is not on private. Many instances people have been stalked

by users, and they are bombarded with chats, comments, and pictures. There has also been many

instances of kidnapping, and rape cases due to social media. Because online predators are

making fake accounts to lure young kids and getting them to trust them over the internet and then

convincing them to meet in person. A news article done by WWL reported an incident where a

13 year old girl was kidnapped by a 22 year old man she had met on social media. The article

says that the girl was picked up from her home by the 22 year old man against the parents

consent and was sexually assaulted. (1-2) There have been many reports about social media

sexual abuse due to online predators getting children to meet them in person and have been

raped. The majority of the assaulted victims are young girls who have been traumatized and

scarred from the sexual abuse. (As technology advances there needs to be a change in the

education behind social media privacy for young users, because children do not understand the

risks involved. For an example, and interview I conducted with a rising social media influencer

Addison Grace said she has had problems with online predators trying to find out her personal
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information and they often send her inappropriate messages. She said she would not know what

to do in a situation if she saw one of these men in real life, and the fear that comes from not

knowing who people are behind the screen.

In conclusion, the negative influences found through the use of social media are

depression, addiction, lack of socialization, cyberbullying, and the invasion of privacy. With the

advancement in technology and social media there needs to be a higher understanding with the

risks involved. Society needs to educate users on the negative effects that can be associated with

social media. Including more research done to show long term effects, and how it will affect

future generations as the problems increase.

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Works Cited

Balog, Alexandru, et al. "A Multidimensional Model for the Exploration of Negative

Effects of Social Networking Websites as Perceived by Students." ​Journal of Baltic Science

Education​, vol. 12, no. 3, Oct. 2013, pp. 378-388. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=88983042&site=ehost-live.

CBS/AP. “Cyberbullying Pushed Texas Teen to Commit Suicide, Family Says.” ​CBS

News​, CBS Interactive, 2 Dec. 2016,

www.cbsnews.com/news/cyberbullying-pushed-texas-teen-commit-suicide-family/.

East, Susie. “How Does Social Media Affect Your Brain.” ​CNN​, Cable News Network, 1

Aug. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/health/social-media-brain/index.html.

Fowlkes, Jasmine. “Viewpoint: Why Social Media Is Destroying Our Social Skills.” ​USA

Today​, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 18 July 2014,

college.usatoday.com/2012/10/11/opinion-why-social-media-is-destroying-our-social-skills/.

KARDARAS, NICHOLAS. "Generation Z: Online and at Risk?." ​Scientific American

Mind​, vol. 27, no. 5, Sep/Oct2016, pp. 64-69. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=117327935&site=ehost-live.
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Lin, Liu yi, et al. "Association between Social Media Use and Depression among U.S.

Young Adults." ​Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269)​, vol. 33, no. 4, Apr. 2016, pp. 323-331.

EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1002/da.22466.

“MISSING: 13-Year-Old Last Seen with Man She Met on Social Media.” ​WWL​, 13 July

2017,

www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/orleans/missing-13-year-old-last-seen-with-man-she-met-on-

social-media/456036848.

MILLER, KIMBERLY. "Cyberbullying and Its Consequences: How Cyberbullying Is

Contorting the Minds of Victims and Bullies Alike, and the Law's Limited Available Redress."

Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal​, vol. 26, no. 2, Spring2017, pp. 379-404.

EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123799182&site=ehost-live.

Sriwilai, Kanokporn and Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol. "Face It, Don't Facebook It:

Impacts of Social Media Addiction on Mindfulness, Coping Strategies and the Consequence on

Emotional Exhaustion." ​Stress & Health: Journal of the International Society for the

Investigation of Stress​, vol. 32, no. 4, Oct. 2016, pp. 427-434. EBSCO​host​,

doi:10.1002/smi.2637.
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Wayne MacKay, A. "Law as an Ally or Enemy in the War on Cyberbullying: Exploring

the Contested Terrain of Privacy and Other Legal Concepts in the Age of Technology and Social

Media." ​University of New Brunswick Law Journal​, vol. 66, Jan. 2015, pp. 3-51. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=114086417&site=ehost-live.
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