THE INTERACTION

AND POLITENESS OF

ADOLESCENTS IN THE

VIRTUAL CONTEXT
Leigh Leviste

Ricaly Tablo

Princess Vegilla

Jennessy Pedernal

Ernest Avila

Andrew Glico

Tristan Capispisan
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter presents the introduction of the research problem, importance of the study, frameworks

that guide the researchers, statement of the problem, operational definition of variables, and the

scope and delimitation of the study.

INTRODUCTION

The generation of today is very much different from before in terms of the advancement in the way

of living of the people. In today’s generation, most of the people have an easy access to the

technology and information and that allows them to make life easier and improve their way of living.

The presence of technology and its continuous advancement pave way to different changes in our

society. These changes brought by the technology are significant to the lives of people. Technology

plays a vital role in every people as it becomes part of their daily lives, especially when they

communicate with other people or interact with the existing environment. Susan Greenfield, an Oxford

University researcher stated in her article on Daily Mail UK (14th September 2010) named The Quest

For Identity In the 21st Century, “as growing numbers of people discover the potential of the World

Wide Web and as they become active parts of it and as technology more becomes even more

advanced, expanded, accessible and sophisticated, current forms of communication will transform,

taking advantage of the crowd sourcing phenomenon.”

Social media, being part of the advancement in technology, is one of the most known platforms in

communicating and interacting with other people. Social media is defined as a computer-based

communication tool that enables people to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming

information. Most of the people especially the adolescence choose to make use of the so called social

media in particular to communicating with other people rather that meeting with them personally. Pew

Research Center (2018) stated that 88 percent of youth, mostly in middle and high school age, have

access to computer at home. Having an access to computer differs by family income and education
level. However, 95 percent of teenagers from 13 to 17 years old own a smart phone and 87 percent of

teenagers exclusively boys, have access to video game consoles. Almost all of the adolescence can

easily access technology and do have firm relation and interaction in social though the use of

technologies.

Many people specifically the adolescence, use virtual context such as Facebook, Instagram,

Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat etc. to connect with different people around the world as well as

to liberally express and share their feelings, thoughts, ideas and views by posting, commenting and

sharing it. Teens are the most exposed in virtual context due to having enough leisure time and

having lesser responsibilities and duties than the older people. Since they are the most exposed, they

are the one who receives the negatives effects of using the social media. Being exposed to it can lead

to some risks of the way a teenager behave and think towards something.

These includes cyberbullying through posting inappropriate content or photos that can humiliate

them, pornography that can lead the teenagers to addiction that is harmful to the brain, body and

quality of life, less face time which means that adolescents socialize through the use of gadgets

instead talking to them personally, serious mental effects like depression, anxiety, sleeping problems

and eating disorders caused by too much time spent in scrolling through social media and making

comparison, this indicates that insecurities arise from the teenagers everything from physical

appearance up to successes in life or life events. According to Katie Hurley (LCSW or Licensed

Clinical Social Worker) that teenagers can use to find community, but their mental health is often

negatively affected by this culture of comparison.

University of Pittsburgh studied and found a correlation between times spent scrolling through

social media apps and negative body image feedback. There 2.2 times the risk of having problems in

eating and body image concerns for those who had spent more time on social media, compared to

the peers who spent less time on social media. In addition, there is also a minor study from the UCLA

Brain Mapping Center. Their study found that the teenagers from ages thirteen to eighteen years old

showed increased activity in the reward center of the brain when they received a high number of likes
on photos. Moreover, the impact and influence of teenagers to like photos, regardless of the content,

quality and its appearance, are more based on high numbers of likes. The bottom line is “it feels so

good to be ‘liked’,” and people mentality is big on social media.

Virtual Context provides adolescents with the opportunity to strengthen existing friendship and

relationship and to form new one. Another is that the doings of everybody is much easier than before

because of having an easy access of information and knowledge. Also, virtual context entertains the

youth through sharing interest; explore identities and discovering what is new around them. These

advantages are not notice enough to overcome all the troubles and complications inside the internet.

“Social media is today’s most transparent, engaging, and interactive form of public relations. It

combines the true grit of real time content with the beauty of authentic peer-to-peer communication”,

Lisa Buyer stated.

Various things are happening inside the internet and it is impossible to reject the fact that the

parents cannot comprehend what their child do in using all the social media. Politeness of

adolescents are changing as the technologies develop and as the internet grows wider and wider.

The presence of social media brought major changes in the way the people communicate and behave

inside the internet. According Straubhaar (2014), the presence of digital technology and the Internet

has led to three important changes in people's lives are lifestyle change, jobs and careers, as well as

changes in social issues.

Etiquette is the protocol of polite behavior in society or within a group of people, or simple being

thoughtful of others. Good and right manners on social media are being neglected since everybody

thinks that people are freely to post anything. Ross Mckillop (2004) defines the Internet Etiquette or

Netiquette as an accepted behavior and practices regarding interactive online activity such as

discussion forums, chat rooms, and e-mail.