Final

Running Head: Intervention for the Effects of Social Media on Teenager’s Behavior 1
Proposed Interventions for the Negative Effects of Social Media
on the Behavior of Teenagers from Trinity University of Asia
for School Year 2018-2019
A Practical Research Paper
Presented to the Senior High School Department
Trinity University of Asia
In Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements in the Senior High School
STEM Track
Pardiñas, Cyrille
Badillo, Will Jamz
Danica Visda Maris
Rivera, Heather Anne
Colendrino, Jude Christian
Second Semester S.Y. 2018-2019

Intervention for the Effects of Social Media on Teenager’s Behavior 2
Abstract
Social media is a medium intended for a faster way of communication and allows social
interactions among people. It has changed how the world connects and had influence different
aspects of living. As more people engage on social media, more time are being used to interact
with friends and family. At present, it can be used as a helpful tool in changing a person’s life,
but at the same time cause conflicts which can negatively impact a person. As social media
becomes more popular, especially for the teenagers, social media becomes a risk for the
development of social media addiction. Given the said reason, this study was conducted in order
to determine not only the positive effects but also the negative effects of social media
specifically on the behavior of the teenagers. This study was designed as an action research
seeking for possible interventions for the rising problem regarding social media. It used a
purposive sampling technique in getting the respondents from the population of teenagers with
ages, 16-18 years old from Trinity University of Asia. Interview and interview schedules in a
semi-structure form were used to gather the data. As the results were analyzed, it was shown that
the reason behind teenagers’ fondness in using social media is because of the positive things it
provides, such as a way for them to stay in touch with their friends and family, enable them to
express freely, and feel appreciated and noticed by others. However, it was also proven that
teenagers already consider themselves addicted to social media and affects their behavior
negatively by experiencing insecurities, cyber-bullying, and dependence on social media. At this
point, this study aims to address such issues with proposed interventions which can help the
teenagers to control and develop discipline with the use of social media.
Chapter 1: The Introduction and Background of the Problem

Background of the Study
Rationale
At the time when social media are beginning to rise, people immediately started to attach
themselves on this platform. They discovered how powerful these social media applications are
when it comes to connecting each person with one another globally and freely. From this, it was
then observed that these greatly affect teenagers as regular users of social media. As time passed
by, social media did not only become a tool for sending messages and making friends online but
also serves as a daily documentary of people’s lives that teenagers got entertained with.
However, it was also observed that the time spent on social media is becoming longer than
having real-life encounters and conversations. Furthermore, social media is now becoming a tool
that can aid or destroy how one faces the real-life world.
Setting of the problem
The study will be conducted at Trinity University of Asia. It will include students from
the Senior High School as the participants since this department comprises of the group of
teenagers that are exposed to social media platforms. This school was chosen as the setting of the
study since Trinity University of Asia is one of the schools included in the streamline of the
advancement of technology and cyber space. It is also known to freely allow its students to
engage in social media while still keeping studies and real-life interactions as its top priorities.
Literature Foundation
Social media has become the dominant force in young people's lives in a sense that each
day seems to bring another shocking tale of private pictures getting into the wrong hands, or a
lament that young people feel compelled to share their each and every thought with the entire
world. Freitas (2017) argues in this book that fears in relation with, but not limited to, sexting,
narcissism, and cyberbullying, are drawing attention away from the real issues that young adults
are facing. Drawing on a large-scale survey and interviews with students on 13 college
campuses, Freitas found that young people really wanted to talk about happiness. They face
enormous pressure to look perfect online. The happiness spoken of does not just mean "happy"
in its simple term, rather, it means wanting to be blissful, ecstatic, and successful. It is a known
fact that social media sets almost unattainable standards and when such are not attained, teens
feel anxious about letting their true selves become public. Through conversations with young
people from diverse backgrounds, Freitas revealed how even the most well-adjusted individuals
also suffer from self-doubt when they compare their experiences with the vast collection of
experiences one could find through the internet. Although there are some websites that is seen as
a cause resulting to a depressing cesspool of racism and misogyny, the youth are still surprisingly
attached to their smartphones and apps. This is because the use of gadgets could also bring them
great pleasure. It is in this light that Freitas concluded that the inclination of the current
generation to technology, specifically the social media, is very much a love-hate relationship
since it both benefits and serves as a hindrance to their growth as individuals.
Depression is one of the most prevailing mental disorders in today’s population; thus,
many specialists, including Scott, tried to investigate whether social media causes depression and
anxiety to teens or not. He focused his book especially on the issue of depression in children,
teenagers, and young adults as well as how they are negatively affected by the excessive use of
social media. Teenage depression is very common these days according to Scott. In support of
this, it has been found out that almost one out of every four teenagers is facing depressive
symptoms. Therefore, given the diversity in the cultures and daily activities of teens, it could be
concluded that there could be multiple reasons for the said disorder. Unfortunately, although
social media is beneficial, it also contributes to the problems by the increase in some of the
common depressive symptoms among teenagers. Social media and depression in youth is a topic
that is still under investigation by many psychological institutions.
According to Scott (2017) adult depression is also one of the major problems these days.
Young adults are victims to this type of depression. As elaborated by Scott, young adults are
spending almost four hours on social media on average on a daily basis, which is an eye-opening
amount. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate as well how social media is linked with
depression in adults and young adults. It was not hidden by Scott that researches are still being
done to dig deeper into this matter. However, according to him, it should also be kept in mind
that there are many ways in which social media is helping people with depression such as
anonymous helping centers, free online consultations, quality content to uplift their souls and
more. Hence a balance in almost every aspect of life is very much needed for the humanity these
days and those aspects include the use of the ever improving social media.
Accoding to Ottis (2010) in recent years the term "cyber" has been used to describe
almost anything that has to do with networks and computers, basically technology in a broader
sense, especially in the field of security. Another emerging field of study is looking at conflicts
in cyberspace, including state-on-state cyber warfare, cyber terrorism, cyber militias etc.
However, there is no consensus on what "cyberspace" is, let alone the implications of the
conflicts in cyberspace. In order to clarify this situation, Lorents and Ottis offered the definition
of cyberspace to be "a time-dependent set of interconnected information systems and the human
users that interact with these systems." The father of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener, as well as
William Gibson, showed that time-dependence is an overlooked aspect of cyberspace and thus
makes it a case for inclusion in the proposed definition of Lorents and Ottis. These two also
looked at the implications that can be drawn from the time-dependence of cyberspace, especially
in regard to cyber conflicts, which are defined as "a confrontation between two or more parties,
where at least one party uses cyber-attacks against the other(s)." In their study, Lorents and
Ottis specifically reviewed the implications on the potential for rapid deployments of offensive
and defensive actions in cyberspace, the feasibility of mapping cyberspace, and the need for
constant patrolling and reconnaissance. With these taken into consideration, the term
"cyberspace" does not only pertain to the platforms wherein individuals could interact with
specific systems. It now also means that the cyberspace is also a potentially prevalent dwelling
place for crimes and further conflicts.
Seriousness of the problem
According to pew research center, 89% of teens surveyed in 2018 said that they were
either online “almost constantly” or “several times a day” with 11% telling they were online
once a day or less. 31% said that social media has a positive effect; 45% responded neither
positive nor negative and 24% responded social media negatively affects them. 27% of these
who said social media had negative effect cited bullying (www.pewinternet.org). With those
statistical data, it was evident that most teens in today’s generation are widely attached with
social media. For this reason, a study is needed to identify different areas that influence the
behavioral shift of teenagers with respect to their usage of social media. This study will seek to
discover the positive or negative dominant effect of social media among teens which can further
extend the effect in the future.

General objective
With the increasing rate of social media usage among teens and due to their long hours of
attachment with these platforms, this study was conducted. The purpose of this study is mainly to
seek and weigh in the advantages and disadvantages of social media among teens of this
generation. The study is mainly intended to provide actions and awareness regarding the area of
behavior as affected by social media platforms among teens.
General purpose
This study is mainly to help the teenagers acquire knowledge, control, and discipline in
using social media platforms. It seeks to provide awareness for teenagers to realize that the real
world for people to connect and spend time in is outside of the cyber space and not in front of
their gadgets. Lastly, it can help by preventing the increasing rate of teenagers’ exposure and
addiction of using social media platforms and stop the negative effect it brings.
Statement of the problem
The purpose of this narrative study is to discover the influence of social media on the
behavior of students in Trinity University of Asia (T.U.A.). At this stage in the research, the
influence of social media on behavior will be generally defined as a support for optimistic
perspective that online communication promotes, social support, and expanded social
interactions rather than isolation and depression (Kraut, Patterson, and Lundmark, 1998).
Specifically, this paper aims to answer the following questions:
1.) How would the students from T.U.A. describe the effects of social media
on their behavior?
2.) What is the profile of the students in T.U.A. in terms of the following:
a. Age
b. Length of use
c. Types of social media platforms used
3.) How do social media platforms influence the behavior of the students in
T.U.A.?
4.) What social media platform has the most effect or impact on students’
behavior?
5.) Based on the findings, what guidelines can be given to the students to help
them maximize the effects of social media on their behavior?

Research Paradigm
Input Process Output
 Profile of students  Gathering of data  Guidelines to
using social media in through: properly and
T.U.A a. Interview effectively use the
a. Age b. Observation social media
b. Gender
c. Personality Type  Analysis of findings  Intervention
d. Length of Use regarding the influence programs to reduce or
e. Type of Social of social media on the eliminate the rising
Media Used teenagers’ behavior problem regarding
f. Starting Year of social media
Social Media usage  Evaluation on the
influence of social media
 Efficient programs to
 Effects of social media on teenagers’ social
reduce social media
in terms of: media behavior in terms
usage and to promote
a. Behavioral of:
the strengthening of
Influence a. Objectives
behavior among
b. Trends and Norms b. Positive effects on
teenagers
c. Communication behavior
c. Negative effects on
behavior
 Behavior of students
d. Types of influence
that social media
 Social media addiction
contribute
e. Defining the role of
 Reasons behind the
social media
attention-grabbing
f. Identifying the main
phenomenon of social
problem that social
media platforms
media contributes
that influences the
behavior of teenagers
 Determining possible
solutions to solve the
rising problems regarding
the usage of social media
Significance of the Study
Numerous research studies were made regarding the effects of social media ever since it
became a part of people’s habits. For this research, the study will cover the influence of social
media on the level of the behavior of the teenagers. Since they are the most frequent users of
social media, it is proper to know how such platforms affect their daily interactions with other
people. Part of this study entails not only discovering the positive influences but also the
negative influences that need to be addressed. The study seeks to build a foundation on
teenagers, especially to value having real interactions over virtual interactions
The results of this study will be of great benefit to the following:
To the teenagers. This study will give them a validated information regarding how social
media affects their behavior. It will give them awareness regarding the importance of balancing
social media and real human interactions. This will also serve as a reminder for them on how
vulnerable teenagers are when it comes to social media addiction and acquiring negative
behavior from these platforms. This study will also help teenagers to strengthen their relationship
and communication with other people online and most especially in real life.
To other social media users. This will help them realize that the influence of social media
is not only for teenagers. Other social media users can also be affected by social media platforms
if they do not use it moderately. This will encourage them to help others when it comes to proper
usage of social media. Aside from that, society will improve when other social media users learn
how real life interactions are more important and safer than social media.
To the guidance counselors. This study will help them to better reach out and improve the
teenagers’ behavior. This study will guide them to make some programs and interventions to
help those teenagers who suffer from addiction and improper behavior with regards to social
media. This can also guide them to better understand the teenagers who are mostly influenced by
social media and to help them recover from it.
To the school administrators and teachers. This study will help them be aware on the
current situations of their students. This will encourage them to provide programs that will help
the students to lessen the usage of social media and to engage in real life interactions more. This
will also help them to understand why their students behave that way and help them to be more
focused on their studies as well.
To the parents. This study will give an awareness to all the parents regarding how their
children's behaviorial change with the influence of social media. The parents can be of huge help
to discipline the teenagers not to be addicted on social media and have more time to interact with
people in real life.
To the future researchers. This study can be a reference to the future researchers to
further improve or create better studies regarding social media. This will help them have a basis
to collect better findings and solutions for the future. They can also use this study to cite some
resources to support their future studies.
Scope and Delimitation of the Study
This study focuses mainly on the influence of social media on the behavior of teenagers.
This will include how a teenager's behavior is becoming dependent on social media; thus, having
an effect on real-life interactions. The teenagers who are included in the study are students from
Trinity University of Asia, specifically Grades 11 and 12 in the Basic Education Department.
In this study, age will be considered in order to observe how teenagers ranging from 16 to
18 years old differ from the behavior that they acquire. The age variable will also be needed in
order to observe how ages differ when it comes to the usage of social media platforms. This
study will also include the teenagers' personality traits in relation to its influence on how they
handle and use their social media accounts. Under this personality trait, teenagers will be
categorized as introvert or extrovert. It will identify how personality also influences the teenagers
to use their social media that shapes the way they behave socially.
Prior to the academic calendar of School Year 2018-2019 which started from August to
June, this study will be conducted only from January 2019 to April 2019. The participants will be
from Trinity University of Asia since it is where the research will be conducted and this school is
known to be advancing in technology. The main instruments to be used for gathering the data
will be validated interviews.
Definition of Terms
Addiction. This points out the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that
is psychologically or physically habit-forming.
Behavior. This refers to the way in which one acts or conducts oneself in a particular situation or
under particular condition.
Cyberbullying. It is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person.
Cyberspace. This refers to a virtual computer world, and more specifically, is an electronic
medium used to form a global computer network to facilitate online communication.

Diversity. This is a condition of having many different types of things or people being included
in something; a range of different things or people.
Intervention. It is an action taken to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order
to improve it or prevent it from getting worse.
Reconnaissance. This pertains to a preliminary survey to gain information.
Social Media. These are websites and other online means of communication that are used by
large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts using
a computer or mobile.
Social Well-being. It refers to the extent to which you feel a sense of belonging and social
inclusion, social stability and social peace.
Virtual. It is a state of being on or simulated on a computer or computer network.
Operant Conditioning. It is a learning process through which the strength of a behavior is
modified by reinforcement or punishment.
Self-Validation. This refers to the feeling of having recognized, confirmed, or established one's
own worthiness or legitimacy

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies

The rise of social media domination currently becomes a great indicator of a modern
technology era. With all the social media applications that offer an easier access to a wide variety
of entertainment and connection, all people of all ages are attracted to use it. This advancement
in technology had a great impact on the way people socialize and communicate. Among all the
group of people, a growing dimension of the teenage group can be undeniably observed at this
period of time. Social media becomes a place for teenagers to feel belongingness where they can
freely express themselves. A lot of teenagers feel that social media becomes a part of them since
these apps give them enjoyment and acceptance that are crucial at this stage of life. As social
media becomes a powerful tool to connect and share interests with other people, it also serves as
a great influence on the behavior of teenagers. Due to the fact that teenagers are spending more
time on social media, it has already shifted the way that these teenagers live their reality.
Studying about how social media affects the life of these teenagers can provide a better way of
managing and controlling these social media apps to avoid any damaging effect that social media
might bring to people. Numerous studies will present how social media affects the teenagers
positively and how it can affect them negatively.
The slow uprising of social media in the late 1990s and early 2000s changed the way
people communicated, and although organizations initially saw these tools as a marketing
opportunity, they were eventually changed to and used as a way to spread organizational
knowledge and expertise community-wide (Girard, Gordon, & Weir, 2014). Social media has
already started way back in 1990s and with the first social media platform called Friendster,
social media was not so popular by the time of 1990s until the new generation arrived and
suddenly took over the world. The genesis of this rich transformation is driven by collaboration
of numerous social media approaches, which really began in 2003 with the launch of Myspace
and the acquisition of Blogger by Google. Over the next decade, more social engagement tools
were added to the growing collection of collaborative platforms, many of which continue to
change and evolve today. Platforms like Facebook changed the way a person connect with
friends and family by providing a more accessible means of communication. Twitter spawned a
simplified communication connecting model similar to a diary where an individual could vent
out his thoughts and feelings. Linked In allowed people to capitalize on the power of business
networks. YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix changed how someone views visual media by providing
videos and series that were not accessible to a specific part of the globe back then. Blogger and
WordPress made all authors challenged by breaking the norms of the traditional media. It could
be seen that, independently, these companies created new ways to perform individual tasks
which aimed to help improve the lifestyle of men. Girard, Gordon, and Weir (2014) also said that
the rise of social media started when Facebook was released, and it automatically replaced
Friendster, forcing the company to shut down its platform. When Facebook grew evidently and
now takes over the world by showing how useful it is in terms of communication, it also ignited
other social media platforms to emerge. Such platforms include Twitter and Instagram which
could be profoundly seen nowadays as a huge hit.
According to Childnet International (2018), the reason why most social media services
use an age limit of 13 or over is because the United States of America imposed a law regarding
proper regulations for online activities. The COPPA law or Children’s Online Privacy Protection
Act states that any "organizations or people operating online services, including social media
services, are not allowed to collect the personal information of anyone under the age of 13
without parental permission."

In order to avoid the necessity of requiring parental permissions for any user under the
age of 13, social media services decided placing an age restriction of 13 years old and below for
users to access their respective services. They write this rule into their Terms and Conditions.
Users must agree to follow this certain term when they initially sign up. Some services require
users to declare their age during the process of creating account for these social media services.
With regards to this age restriction, it is strongly advisable that these young people
should follow and better wait until they reach the required age to join any social service. Such
rules that are restricting age relate to the relevance of protecting privacy and for safety reasons.
There is even an additional protection given for those who are 18 years old and below. However,
by supplying a fake age, young people loses the protection given because it will be against the
rule. These young people are also putting themselves at risk of being exposed to contents that are
intended only for older users and not suitably designed for them. Additionally, if a service finds
out a user is underage then they may delete the user’s account and any content which has been
shared.
As social media becomes popular with young people of all ages. Parents have an
important role to prepare their children to a world that they could encounter with social media
right before they allow them to join these services. Together with the child, both must identify
the key things that the child should know about staying safe online, critical thinking, and the
safety settings that are available to them.
Edwards (2015), focused on the benefits that can be acquired from social networking
sites (SNS) rather than the paradigm on risk management concerning the use of social media by
young people. In his research titled “An Investigation into the Use of Social Networking Sites by
Young People and the Perceived Benefits,” he aimed to find the reason why young people
muster on social networking sites. He also gathered data on the things they express on these sites
as well as how do these SNS improve or fit into their lives. The study presented the following
significant benefits corresponding to the use of SNS: enhanced learning opportunities, supportive
relationships, identity formation, and contribution towards the emotional, psychological, and
social well-being of young people.
In a review by Campbell and Ridout (2018), they mentioned that young people often seek
information and support with regards to their mental health through social networking sites
instead of using professional help due to reluctance. They said that one of the key factors of the
success of this mediation is moderation. They seek moderators who are friendly, supportive, and
caring. Moreover, they are also supported by peer moderators who act as their role models,
though not replacing expert moderators with clinical experience. They discussed as well that
users value the most the ability to connect with fellow young people whose age is similar to them
and have shared experiences, backgrounds, and mental health issues. Aside from these, it is also
reported that users felt safe, belonged, understood, supported, and socially connected. In
conclusion in his review, evidence suggest that intervention using SNS is highly usable,
engaging, and supportive for young people. However, future studies concerning the effectiveness
in reducing mental health disorder symptoms are needed.
Seeing violent media content often enough can make it more likely that someone will
behave in an aggressive or violent way, be less understanding of other peoples’ needs and
feelings or feel more afraid of their environment (Rowell, 2019). Teens are still naive, they are
constantly growing and learning, they eventually learn based on what they see and what they
hear (Inglis, Kennedy, & Knight, 2014). Personality traits of teens or young adults have been
shown to influence their social media use or online behavior. Their behavior may vary on their
environment and they will develop these behaviors as they become adults. Exposure to social
media not only gives knowledge but it can also develop various emotional sickness. According
to Caroll, Rossan, Mchugh and Wishieski (2018), “teens who use social media and similar
platforms excessively may also develop addictive behaviors especially when they have fewer
offline social ties and suffer from social anxiety. It is said that majority of teens suffer from these
kind of sickness for those who do not spend time outdoors because they find more fulfillment
indoors.”
According also to Caroll et al. adolescent internet use has been associated with decreased
well-being as well as the excessive use being tied to depression, anxiety, aggression, and social
isolation. Indeed, teen “addiction” to social media is a new extension of typical human
engagement.
According to Griffiths (2011) "a technological compulsion like ‘social media addiction’
comes with all the behavioral signals that we might usually associate with chemical addictions,
such as smoking or alcoholism. These include mood changes, social withdrawal, conflict and
relapse."
The important factor to observe is a how a person differentiates healthy usage and a
relationship with social media sites that is negatively affecting their life. Nevertheless, heavy
amount of time spent on social media does not mean these young people are mentally unwell.
The amount of time in using social media is just one factor among many other important things
that should be considered.
According to Griffiths and Kuss (2011) people considered as extroverts appear to use
social media sites to enhance their social engagement with other people, whereas introverts use
them for social compensation. Studies also show that more time spent on these sites involved
less involvement with real-life communities. Social media usage provides continuous rewards,
resulting for users to increase engagement with these sites in order relieve dysphoric mood states
which sometimes lead to psychological dependency.
The potential for the case of social media addiction depends on the content and context of
how people excessively use it and not merely on the amount of time a person uses it. However,
the concluded reasons behind such an addiction are still unclear. Some studies suggest that it
could have something to do with "FOMO" or the fear of missing out. Smartphone addiction
might also be a part of it, as well as nomophobia – the fear of not having one’s phone with him at
all times.
For some teenagers, they consider social media as their life; this is when where they
socialize more through their mobile devices and less with outdoor interactions. According to
Chakravarty (2019), many teens nowadays are socially awkward, and social media gives them
the chance to groom their social skills. It also gives them the chance to expand their social circle
and develop new friendship little by little. As for this generation, most teens nowadays prefer to
spend time in social media because they find it easier to make friends there. Just as the research
indicates that most teens are socially awkward, making friends in social media does not require
eye contact which makes it more convenient for them to socialize.
Knowles, Lee, and Ricardan (2014) stated, “While adolescents may be more experienced
with technology than their parents, they lack the maturity and insight to anticipate consequences
that have the potential to lead to negative outcomes. Social media only provides knowledge and
an idea on how to do things based on information, but they do not have the experience to execute
it real time, teens who spends more time outdoors will be more skilled when it comes to action
since they have been exposed to such environments and will have faster decision making when
the time comes than those who spends their quality time indoors.”
According to Jones (2018), it has been seen that people who spend a significantly large
amount of time on social media experience increased anxiety and decreased self-esteem. It has
also been seen that excessive use of social media may take a teenagers’ confidence away, hence
risking the teens’ social time in real life with their specific friends.
Jones (2018) added that social media is incredibly distracting. He claimed such since
there were cases seen showing how maybe a person finds himself doing something cool, instead
of enjoying the moment and being present; how he mostly thinks of how to get the perfect photo
and how to construct the perfect post with an epic caption; how one starts to see the world in
virtual, filtered form, rather than experiencing it live in real life; or worse, some people already
lost touch with their lives because they feel most alive when they are online. He said that “every
hour you spend on your phone is another hour of life you’re missing out on.” Social media is
taking so much of a teenager’s quality time to the outside world, he added. And instead of
cherishing a moment with their very own eyes, they use their cellular phones to record the
moment making it virtual. Instead of cherishing the actual moment, they post these into social
media trying to earn some likes and popularity from other people. This situation has been
frequent especially in the current generation where technology has taken over people’s lives and
they become less independent. Jones sternly argued that “If you don’t set boundaries and post
everything that happens to you willy-nilly, you forget that your entire life is not only public, but
also permanently recorded in visual images and text. Just remember that safety and reputation
are both important. And dial it back a bit. People nowadays confuse reality to virtual reality
where they literally don’t spend time outdoors putting their health at risks.”
Alejandrino (2018) stated in his study that the central phenomena of using social media
gets the attention of students and then diverts it towards non-educational and inappropriate
actions including extreme web surfing. A lot of concerns come across because of the enormous
increase of the engagement of teens on social media apps. Above all concerns, the learning factor
of students that extremely influences their academic behavior is being negatively influenced by
the diversion of time spent on social media. Students that spen too much time in social media and
makes less time for studying their lessons have impacted on communication, learning, research
and education in general.
According to Osharive (2015), social media have positive and negative effects on
teenagers primarily in high school level in the study conducted in University of Lagos in Nigeria.
Negative effects include lack of privacy, distracting students from their academic work, taking
most of their productive time and sometimes, they tend to develop an aggressive or violent
behavior towards family, peers, and their social circle. On the other hand, positive effects such as
forming online communities in order to plan for a project, have group discussions about class
material, or use of social networking sites as a way to keep in contact when a student who has
been absent needs to be updated on current academic information have benefits if used
appropriately. This only shows that technology is evolving at a very fast rate and its effect is very
apparent in the current generation. But as it is, technology like two sides of a coin, bring with it
both negative and positive sides.
According to Rideout (2012) research observers surprisingly learns that these "digital
natives,” who are teens that considered to have grown up with social media as part of their lives,
still prefer personal hang-outs with friends. Although checking social media might inevitably
happen while being together in person, it is still interesting that even today's teens see the value
of being able to look a friend in the eye and make her laugh. Social media may be more fast and
easy and often used nowadays, but as one teen wrote, "moments only happen in person."
It is also great to consider hints of "Facebook fatigue" among teenage group which can
happen when the time-consuming pressures of social media are beginning to take a bit of a toll,
even among young people. There are already numerous teenagers who sometimes wish they
could "unplug" or even go back to a time when there was no Facebook. Always being active can
be tiring, and it seems that even some teens are beginning to look for relief. Hearing from teens
first-hand about how they assess the impact of social media on their own social and emotional
well-being is important; their perspective, while not the only one, is critical.
According to Starcevic (2013) Social media addiction can be viewed as a form of internet
addiction wherein a person experiences a compulsive action to use social media in an excess
amount of time.
According to Andreassen & Pallesen (2014), individuals with social media addiction only
concern using social media that are driven from their uncontrollable desire and urge to log on.
Studies have shown that the symptoms of social media addiction can be manifested in
mood, cognition, physical and emotional reactions, and interpersonal and psychological
problems.
Many studies on social media usage and mental health have shown that the prolonged use
of social media such as Facebook is associated with adverse effect on mental health which may
lead to stress, anxiety, and depression and can further be associated with negative long-term
well-being (Shakya & Christakis, 2017).

Social media addiction can be closely related with problems. Understanding the causes,
consequences, and remedies of social media addiction is thus of paramount importance.
According to Xiong (2019), a cost-efficient intervention that included cognitive
reconstruction, reminder cards, and a week-long diary, effectively reduced the addiction to social
media and further improved mental health and academic efficiency.
Social Network Theory
As eloquently stated by Claywell (2017), “Social Network Theory is the study of how
people, organizations, or groups interact with others inside their network.” Claywell also stated
that understanding the said theory is easier when you examine the individual pieces in a
deductive manner starting with the largest element, referred to as networks, and then working
down to the smallest element, known as the actors. In addition, it is all about the relationship
between social media and its user since every user has a different perspective of social media,
whether it is for communication, entertainment, and even both.
In some ways, networks can be thought of as neighborhoods, this is because networks are
comprised of the actors as well as the relationships occurring between those actors (Claywell,
2017). These actors, referred to as nodes, can be individuals, organizations or companies.
Regardless of what they are, they are always the smallest single unit inside a network. An example
of a simple analogy connecting social networks and practical things is when you view the United
Nations as a social network; in doing so, the United States would then be seen as a node or actor
inside the said network. Another example of a social network is the Church and its entire member.
Although all of them are connected by the overall network, not all the individuals are connected
with the same degree of closeness. Claywell argued that it is these varying degrees of closeness,
or connectedness, which determine the value of that node to the network.
Social Interaction Theory
According to Eric (2018), the study of sociology revolves around the idea that we behave
in distinct ways when we are in groups. This is the reason why when a person is alone, he acts
differently than when he is with a group of people. Social groups have their own unique sets of
behaviors and attitudes; hence, the Social Interaction Theory, looks at an individual's patterns of
actions and reactions in response to other people. This way, the theory could emphasize on the
changes in the manner of communication and interaction between people be it outdoors or just
simply in social media depending on how they treat each.
The Social Interaction Theory, also covers how peoples' behaviors are determined by the
social pressures they encounter. This means that a person’s behavior is seen to be dependent on
the relationship of an individual with his surroundings. Eric gave an example of this suggesting
how a person who may normally be too shy to sing in public can change their behavior if their
entire social group actively participates in karaoke. He also said that you’ll be amazed when the
Social Interaction Theory occurs in this situation because the next thing you know; this shy
individual is standing on stage belting out their favorite Katy Perry song. The theory also shows
that peoples’ behavior may vary from different types of people they meet depending on how close
they are with one another; for example, is with a family, a friend, or a special someone. “Even
folks could easily determine the behavior of a respondent by just simply looking at them, just like
love, when an individual is in love and can’t seem to get close to the person whom he is in love to,
he would be more hesitant and be more self-conscious whether that person is around and this is
what social interaction theory is all about (Eric, 2017).”

Social Media Health Interaction Theory
A large number of theories and models are used in the existing social media research
covering the socio-psychological behavior of social media users and other stakeholders, such as
marketing people and customers (Glen & Ramos, 2017). The Social Media Health Interaction
Theory is a theory on how users utilize technology as well as on how the social media affects their
lifestyle. Glen and Ramos stated that if social media is used incorrectly, it can drastically affect
the users’ lifestyle, since it can be really addictive; thus, it can harm the users’ health when used
in an excessive manner. Moreover, they said that “too much use on social media can also harm the
brain causing the user to lose focus on his academic studies and performance and also ruining the
users sleeping schedule, the users emotional state however, can also be distorted causing the user
to have short temper and can get easily be irritated.”
In accordance to Glen and Ramos (2017), Huang (2014), said that adolescents who are
more likely pre-occupied by social media tend to be leisurely bored and self-absorbed individuals.
He also said that the use of social media can in fact harm the adolescents if used excessively but
for those adolescents who are currently burnt out due to endless school works, dispute among
friends, family problems, and also bullying – whether physical, mental, or cyber – they use social
media to cope up with the said problems to escape reality. This is when where various social media
platforms come in to help. The adolescents hang on to such because expressing themselves in
social media does not necessarily require an interaction between individuals; a very good of
example of this is Twitter since a person could voice out his feelings out of the blue in a
comfortable manner where they do not become anxious of people judging them through their
expressions.
As social media grows dynamically and shapes various aspect of each individual’s way
of living, people eventually begins to accept their dependency on it. It is evidently shown that
social media is not merely a tool for easier communication but has already become a medium
where people fits into their life in order to receive validation and fulfillment from the people
around them. As social media becomes a vast platform for people to stay connected, it resulted to
lure people to spend more time using it to connect with others and to fill-up their longing for
social development. Due to the frequent use of social media applications, there are rising effects
that research studies show. Some studies support how social media platforms can be helpful for
the behavior of teenagers. As teenagers develop maturity at this stage, social media becomes
their comfort place to freely express themselves and acquire a sense of belongingness. These
platforms allow young people to discover and form groups of people who shares the same
interests with them allowing these young people to give importance to relationships with other
people. However, as these teenagers spend more time on social media than doing their personal
priorities and endeavors, other researchers suggest that social media can inflict social media
addiction. Social media can be so powerful enough to allow these young people to behave
aggressively and disconnect from the reality. Researchers also worry about the devastating
distractions that social media brings that affects the academic priorities of these teenagers. It
does not only end there as social media can contribute to a decrease of teenagers’ well-being and
mental health. Some theories support that social media allows people to have thousands of
networks and connections to a different people which can influence an individual’s manner of
socialization. Other theories offer how social media affects individual’s health and behavioral
actions. A lot of studies are being conducted regarding social media to know the true effect it
gives to people of all ages. A better way to handle it at the present is to stay in moderation and
know how social media can powerfully shape a person’s life and behavior.
Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies

The rise of social media domination currently becomes a great indicator of a modern
technology era. With all the social media applications that offer an easier access to a wide variety
of entertainment and connection, all people of all ages are attracted to use it. This advancement
in technology had a great impact on the way people socialize and communicate. Among all the
group of people, a growing dimension of the teenage group can be undeniably observed at this
period of time. Social media becomes a place for teenagers to feel belongingness where they can
freely express themselves. A lot of teenagers feel that social media becomes a part of them since
these apps give them enjoyment and acceptance that are crucial at this stage of life. As social
media becomes a powerful tool to connect and share interests with other people, it also serves as
a great influence on the behavior of teenagers. Due to the fact that teenagers are spending more
time on social media, it has already shifted the way that these teenagers live their reality.
Studying about how social media affects the life of these teenagers can provide a better way of
managing and controlling these social media apps to avoid any damaging effect that social media
might bring to people. Numerous studies will present how social media affects the teenagers
positively and how it can affect them negatively.
The slow uprising of social media in the late 1990s and early 2000s changed the way
people communicated, and although organizations initially saw these tools as a marketing
opportunity, they were eventually changed to and used as a way to spread organizational
knowledge and expertise community-wide (Girard, Gordon, & Weir, 2014). Social media has
already started way back in 1990s and with the first social media platform called Friendster,
social media was not so popular by the time of 1990s until the new generation arrived and it
suddenly took over the world. The genesis of this rich transformation is driven by collaboration
of numerous social media approaches, which really began in 2003 with the launch of Myspace
and the acquisition of Blogger by Google. Over the next decade, more social engagement tools
were added to the growing collection of collaborative platforms, many of which continue to
change and evolve today. Platforms like Facebook changed the way we connect with friends and
family by providing a more accessible means of communication. Twitter spawned a simplified
communication connecting model similar to a diary where an individual could vent out his
thoughts and feeling. Linked In allowed us to capitalize on the power of business networks.
YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix changed how we view visual media by providing videos and series
that were not accessible to a specific part of the globe back then. Blogger and WordPress made
all authors challenged by breaking the norms of the traditional media. It could be seen that
independently, these companies created new ways to perform individual tasks which aimed to
help improve the lifestyle of men. Girard, Gordon, and Weir (2014) also said that the rise of
social media started when the Facebook was released and it automatically replaced Friendster
forcing the company to shut down its platform. When Facebook grew evidently and now takes
over the world by showing how useful it is to the world in terms of communication, it also
ignited other social media platforms to emerge. Such platforms include Twitter and Instagram
which could be profoundly seen nowadays as a huge hit.
According to Childnet International (2018) the reason why most social media services
use an age limit of 13 or over is because the United States of America imposed a law regarding
proper regulations for online activities. The COPPA law or Children’s Online Privacy Protection
Act states that any "organizations or people operating online services, including social media
services, are not allowed to collect the personal information of anyone under the age of 13
without parental permission."

In order to avoid the necessity of requiring parental permissions for any user under the
age of 13, the social media services instead, decided placing an age restriction of 13 years old
and below for users to access their respective services. They write this rule into their Terms and
Conditions. Users must agree to follow this certain term when they initially sign up. Some
services require users to declare their age during the process of creating account for these social
media services.
With regards to this age restriction, it is strongly advisable that these young people
should follow and better wait until they reach the required age to join any social service. Such
rules that are restricting age relate to the relevance of protecting privacy and for safety reasons.
There is even an additional protection given for those who are 18 years old and below. However,
by supplying a fake age young people loses the protection given because it will be against the
rule. These young people are also putting themselves at risk of being exposed to contents that are
intended only for older users and not suitably designed for them. Additionally, if a service finds
out a user is underage then they may delete the user’s account and any content which has been
shared.
As social media becomes popular with young people of all ages. Parents have an
important role to prepare their children to a world that they could encounter with social media
right before they allow them to join these services. Together with the child, both must identify
the key things that the child should know about staying safe online, critical thinking, and the
safety settings that are available to them.
Edwards (2015), focused on the benefits that can be acquired from social networking
sites rather than the paradigm on risk management concerning the use of social media by young
people. In his research titled “An Investigation into the Use of Social Networking Sites by
Young People and the Perceived Benefits,” he aimed to find the reason why young people
muster on social networking sites. He also gathered data on the things they express on these sites
as well as how do these SNS improve or fit into their lives. The study presented the following
significant benefits corresponding to the use of SNS: enhanced learning opportunities, supportive
relationships, identity formation, and contribution towards the emotional, psychological, and
social well-being of young people.
In a review by Campbell and Ridout (2018), they mentioned that young people often seek
information and support with regards to their mental health through social networking sites
instead of using professional help due to reluctance. They said that one of the key factors of the
success of this mediation is moderation. They seek moderators who are friendly, supportive, and
caring. Moreover, they are also supported by peer moderators who act as their role models,
though not replacing expert moderators with clinical experience. They discussed as well that
users value the most the ability to connect with fellow young people whose age is similar to them
and have shared experiences, backgrounds, and mental health issues. Aside from these, it is also
reported that users felt safe, belonged, understood, supported, and socially connected. In
conclusion, evidence suggest that intervention using SNS is highly usable, engaging, and
supportive for young people. However, future studies concerning the effectiveness in reducing
mental health disorder symptoms are needed.
Seeing violent media content often enough can make it more likely that someone will
behave in an aggressive or violent way, be less understanding of other peoples’ needs and
feelings or feel more afraid of their environment (Rowell, 2019). Teens are still naive, they are
constantly growing and learning, they eventually learn based on what they see and what they
hear (Inglis, Kennedy, & Knight, 2014). Personality traits of teens or young adults have been
shown to influence their social media use or online behavior. Their behavior may vary on their
environment and they will develop these behaviors as they become adults. Exposure to social
media not only gives knowledge but it can also develop various emotional sickness. According
to Caroll, Rossan, Mchugh and Wishieski (2018), “teens who use social media and similar
platforms excessively may also develop addictive behaviors especially when they have fewer
offline social ties and suffer from social anxiety. It is said that majority of teens suffer from these
kind of sickness for those who do not spend time outdoors because they find more fulfillment
indoors.”
According also to Caroll et al. adolescent internet use has been associated with decreased
well-being as well as the excessive use being tied to depression, anxiety, aggression, and social
isolation. Indeed, teen “addiction” to social media is a new extension of typical human
engagement.
According to Griffiths (2011) "a technological compulsion like ‘social media addiction’
comes with all the behavioral signals that we might usually associate with chemical addictions,
such as smoking or alcoholism. These include mood changes, social withdrawal, conflict and
relapse."
The important factor to observe is a how a person differentiates healthy usage and a
relationship with social media sites that is negatively affecting their life. Nevertheless, heavy
amount of time spent on social media does not mean these young people are mentally unwell.
The amount of time in using social media is just one factor among many other important things
that should be considered.

According to Griffiths and Kuss (2011) people considered as extroverts appear to use
social media sites to enhance their social engagement with other people, whereas introverts use
them for social compensation. Studies also shown that more time spent on these sites involved
less involvement with real-life communities. Social media usage provides continuous rewards,
resulting for users to increase engagement with these sites in order relieve dysphoric mood states
which sometimes lead to psychological dependency.
The potential for the case of social media addiction depends on the content and context of
how people excessively use it and not merely on the amount of time a person uses it. However,
the concluded the reasons behind such an addiction are still unclear. Some studies suggest that it
could have something to do with "FOMO", the fear of missing out. Smartphone addiction might
also be a part of it, as well as nomophobia – the fear of not having your phone with you at all
times.
For some teenagers, they consider social media as their life; this is when where they
socialize more through their mobile devices and less outdoors. According to Chakravarty (2019),
many teens nowadays are socially awkward and social media gives them the chance to groom
their social skills. It also gives them the chance to expand their social circle and develop new
friendship little by little. As for this generation, most teens nowadays prefer to spend time in
social media because they find it easier to make friends there just as the research indicates most
teens are socially awkward, making friends in social media does not require eye contact and in
addition, social media provides them enough information about their surroundings.
Knowles, Lee, and Ricardan (2014) stated, “While adolescents may be more experienced
with technology than their parents, they lack the maturity and insight to anticipate consequences
that have the potential to lead to negative outcomes. Social media only provides knowledge and
an idea on how to do things based on information, but they do not have the experience to execute
it real time, teens who spends more time outdoors will be more skilled when it comes to action
since they have been exposed to such environments and will have faster decision making when
the time comes than those who spends their quality time indoors.”
According to Jones (2018), it has been seen that people who spend a significantly large
amount of time on social media experience increased anxiety and decreased self-esteem. It has
also been seen that excessive use of social media may take a teenagers’ confidence away hence
risking the teens’ social time in real life with their specific friends.
Jones added that social media is incredibly distracting. He claimed as such since there
were cases seen showing how maybe a person find themselves doing something cool, instead of
enjoying the moment and being present; how maybe a person mostly thinks of how to get the
perfect photo and how to construct the perfect post with an epic caption; how maybe one starts to
see the world in virtual, filtered form, rather than experiencing it live in real life; or worse some
people already lost touch with their lives because they feel most alive when they are online. He
said that “every hour you spend on your phone is another hour of life you’re missing out on.”
Social media is taking so much of a teenager’s quality time to the outside world, he added. And
instead of cherishing a moment with their very own eyes, they use their cellular phones to record
the moment making it virtual. Instead of cherishing the actual moment they post these into social
media trying to earn some likes and popularity from other people and this has been frequent
especially in the current generation where technology has taken over peoples’ lives and they
become less independent. Jones sternly argued that “If you don’t set boundaries and post
everything that happens to you willy-nilly, you forget that your entire life is not only public, but
also permanently recorded in visual images and text. Just remember that safety and reputation
are both important. And dial it back a bit. People nowadays confuse reality to virtual reality
where they literally don’t spend time outdoors putting their health at risks.”
According to Alejandrino (2018) stated in his study that the central phenomena of using
social media gets the attention of students and then diverts it towards non-educational and
inappropriate actions including extreme web surfing. A lot of concerns come across because of
the enormous increase of the engagement of teens on social media apps. Above all concerns, the
learning factor of students that extremely influences their academic behavior is being negatively
influenced by the diversion of time spent on social media. Student that spends too much time in
social media and makes less time for studying his lessons has impacted on communication,
learning, research and education in general.
According to (Osharive, 2015), social media have positive and negative effects on
teenagers primarily in high school level in the study conducted in University of Lagos in Nigeria.
Negative effects contain lack of privacy, distracting students from their academic work, taking
most of their productive time and sometimes they tend to develop an aggressive or violent
behavior towards family, peers, and their social circle. On the other hand, positive effects such as
forming online communities in order to plan for a project, have group discussions about class
material or use of social networking sites as a way to keep in contact when a student who has
been absent needs to be updated on current academic information have benefits if used
appropriately. This only shows that technology is evolving at a very fast rate and its effect is very
apparent in the current generation. But as it is, technology like two sides of a coin, bring with it
both negative and positive sides.
According to Rideout (2012) research observers surprisingly learns that these "digital
natives", who are teens considered to have grown up with social media as part of their lives still
prefer personal hang-outs with friends. Although at some point checking social media might
inevitably happen while being together in person, it is still interesting that even today's teens see
the value being able to look a friend in the eye and make her laugh. Social media may be more
fast and easy and often used nowadays, but as one teen wrote, "moments only happen in person."
It is also great to consider hints of "Facebook fatigue" among teenage group which can
happen when the time-consuming pressures of social media are beginning to take a bit of a toll,
even among young people. There are already numerous teenagers who sometimes wish they
could "unplug" or even go back to a time when there was no Facebook. Always being active can
be tiring, and it seems that even some teens are beginning to look for relief. Hearing from teens
first-hand about how they assess the impact of social media on their own social and emotional
well-being is important; their perspective, while not the only one, is critical.
According to Starcevic (2013) Social media addiction can be viewed as a form of Internet
addiction wherein a person experiences a compulsive action to use social media in an excess
amount of time.
According to Andreassen & Pallesen (2014) Individuals with social media addiction only
concerns using social media that are driven from their uncontrollable desire and urge to log on.
Studies have shown that the symptoms of social media addiction can be manifested in
mood, cognition, physical and emotional reactions, and interpersonal and psychological
problems.
Many studies on social media usage and mental health have shown that the prolonged use
of social media such as Facebook is associated with adverse effect on mental health which may
lead to stress, anxiety, and depression and can further be associated with negative long-term
well-being. (Shakya & Christakis, 2017)
Social media addiction can be closely related with problems. Understanding the causes,
consequences, and remedies of social media addiction is thus of paramount importance.
According to Xiong (2019) A cost-efficient intervention that included cognitive
reconstruction, reminder cards, and a week-long diary keeping effectively reduced the addiction
to social media and further improved mental health and academic efficiency.
Social Network Theory
As eloquently stated by Claywell (2017), “Social Network Theory is the study of how
people, organizations or groups interact with others inside their network.” Claywell also stated
that understanding the said theory is easier when you examine the individual pieces in a
deductive manner starting with the largest element, referred to as networks, and then working
down to the smallest element, known as the actors. In addition, it is all about the relationship
between social media and its user since every user has a different perspective of social media,
whether it is for communication, entertainment, and even both.
In some ways, networks can be thought of as neighborhoods, this is because networks are
comprised of the actors as well as the relationships occurring between those actors (Claywell,
2017). These actors, referred to as nodes, can be individuals, organizations or companies.
Regardless of what they are, they are always the smallest single unit inside a network. An
example of a simple analogy connecting social networks and practical things is when you view
the United Nations as a social network; in doing so, the United States would then be seen as a
node or actor inside the said network. Another example of a social network is the Church and its
entire member. Although all of them are connected by the overall network, not all the individuals
are connected with the same degree of closeness. Claywell argued that it is these varying degrees
of closeness, or connectedness, which determine the value of that node to the network.
Social Interaction Theory
According to Eric (2018), the study of sociology revolves around the idea that we behave
in distinct ways when we are in groups. This is the reason why when a person is alone, he acts
differently than when he is with a group of people. Social groups have their own unique sets of
behaviors and attitudes; hence, the Social Interaction Theory, looks at an individual's patterns of
actions and reactions in response to other people. This way, the theory could emphasize on the
changes in the manner of communication and interaction between people be it outdoors or just
simply in social media depending on how they treat each.
The Social Interaction Theory, also covers how peoples' behaviors are determined by the
social pressures they encounter. This means that a person’s behavior is seen to be dependent on
the relationship of an individual with his surroundings. Eric gave an example of this suggesting
how a person who may normally be too shy to sing in public can change their behavior if their
entire social group actively participates in karaoke. He also said that you’ll be amazed when the
Social Interaction Theory occurs in this situation because the next thing you know; this shy
individual is standing on stage belting out their favorite Katy Perry song. The theory also shows
that peoples’ behavior may vary from different types of people they meet depending on how
close they are with one another; for example, is with a family, a friend, or a special someone.
“Even folks could easily determine the behavior of a respondent by just simply looking at them,
just like love, when an individual is in love and can’t seem to get close to the person whom he is
in love to, he would be more hesitant and be more self-conscious whether that person is around
and this is what social interaction theory is all about (Eric, 2017).”
Social Media Health Interaction Theory
A large number of theories and models are used in the existing social media research
covering the socio-psychological behavior of social media users and other stakeholders, such as
marketing people and customers (Glen & Ramos, 2017). The Social Media Health Interaction
Theory is a theory on how users utilize technology as well as on how the social media affects
their lifestyle. Glen and Ramos stated that if social media is used incorrectly, it can drastically
affect the users’ lifestyle, since it can be really addictive; thus, it can harm the users’ health when
used in an excessive manner. Moreover, they said that “too much use on social media can also
harm the brain causing the user to lose focus on his academic studies and performance and also
ruining the users sleeping schedule, the users emotional state however, can also be distorted
causing the user to have short temper and can get easily be irritated.”
In accordance to Glen and Ramos (2017), Huang (2014), said that adolescents who are
more likely pre-occupied by social media tend to be leisurely bored and self-absorbed
individuals. He also said that the use of social media can in fact harm the adolescents if used
excessively but for those adolescents who are currently burnt out due to endless school works,
dispute among friends, family problems, and also bullying – whether physical, mental, or cyber –
they use social media to cope up with the said problems to escape reality. This is when where
various social media platforms come in to help. The adolescents hang on to such because
expressing themselves in social media does not necessarily require an interaction between
individuals; a very good of example of this is Twitter since a person could voice out his feelings
out of the blue in a comfortable manner where they do not become anxious of people judging
them through their expressions.
As social media grows dynamically and shapes various aspect of each individual’s way
of living, people eventually begins to accept their dependency on it. It is evidently shown that
social media is not merely a tool for easier communication but has already become a medium
where people fits into their life in order to receive validation and fulfillment from the people
around them. As social media becomes a vast platform for people to stay connected, it resulted to
lure people to spend more time using it to connect with others and to fill-up their longing for
social development. Due to the frequent use of social media applications, there are rising effects
that research studies show. Some studies support how social media platforms can be helpful for
the behavior of teenagers. As teenagers develop maturity at this stage, social media becomes
their comfort place to freely express themselves and acquire a sense of belongingness. These
platforms allow young people to discover and form groups of people who shares the same
interests with them allowing these young people to give importance to relationships with other
people. However, as these teenagers spend more time on social media than doing their personal
priorities and endeavors, other researchers suggest that social media can inflict social media
addiction. Social media can be so powerful enough to allow these young people to behave
aggressively and disconnect from the reality. Researchers also worry about the devastating
distractions that social media brings that affects the academic priorities of these teenagers. It
does not only end there as social media can contribute to a decrease of teenagers’ well-being and
mental health. Some theories support that social media allows people to have thousands of
networks and connections to a different people which can influence an individual’s manner of
socialization. Other theories offer how social media affects individual’s health and behavioral
actions. A lot of studies are being conducted regarding social media to know the true effect it
gives to people of all ages. A better way to handle it at the present is to stay in moderation and
know how social media can powerfully shape a person’s life and behavior.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Research Design
Action research design is the most applicable design for this research because it aims to
develop a strategy for intervention with the purpose of improving the said situation and
observing and analyzing the result until a sufficient level of understanding of the problem is
achieved.
Population and Sampling Method
The population of the study included all the teenagers who are active users of social
media. In context of this research, it was specified and narrowed down to students within the age
bracket of 16-18-year-old from Basic Education in Trinity University of Asia. The population
must acquire a pertinent characteristic of being a frequent and active user of social media.
Another pertinent characteristic was that those users are greatly influenced by social media in
terms of their behavior.
The total respondents included in the sample was 10 students from the Basic Education in
Trinity University of Asia. The sample was within the age bracket of 16-18 years old. This
sample size was arrived at due to the lack of time and constraint in analyzing the data. Having
larger sample size would take longer time in analyzing the data from respondents.
The sampling method used purposive sampling method since the proposed research study
focused on the influence of social media on teenagers; thus, the sample should be carefully
selected to provide the necessary data. Purposive sampling method was used in order to only
include and limit the respondents to those who were useful for the study. Another reason was
because the sample should possess certain qualities such as active and matured users of social
media.
The researchers used qualifying questions that served as our basis in knowing and finding
qualified respondents for the study. The qualifying questions included factors such as the age
limit for the study, the frequency of using social media, and the maturity level in terms of
handling social media. Then, the respondent’s consent was observed and scheduled an
appointment on the time of their availability. On the appointed time, the researcher interviewed
the 10 students.
Research Method and Instrument
The method and instrument used to gather data was individual interviews because it was
designed to obtain specific information from every individual as people have different ways to
use social media that may influence them. Interviews schedules were used to have the same flow
of questions among different respondents so as the interview stays on track. The said interview
was in semi-structured form since there are follow-up questions asked aside from the structured
research questions created during the interview.
The chosen method and instrument were semi-structured method interview and
interviews schedule since there are follow-up questions asked aside from the structured research
questions created in order to gather sufficient data during the interview. Individual method
interview was used because it was designed to obtain specific information in every individual
and to achieve reliable data that will answer the problems to be addressed in the research.
The major variable included were about personal information, background use of social
media, content management, and the behavioral use of social media. For our sub-variables, it
included the devices and applications used. The major variables included the answers regarding
how social media influences the behavior of the respondents and included its effects on an
individual.
Chapter 4: Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data

Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data
Selective #1: Early beginning year of using Social Media
Axial 1: Started year earlier than suggested normal age
Respondent 1: “Uhm 2007? 2007? Ay oo parang ganun.”
Respondent 2: “Hmm… siguro mga ano as far as I remember mga two thousand… mga 2007…”
Respondent 3: “2012…ano ata uhm… 10 ata ako nun”
Respondent 5: “When I was in 6th Grade, 11 years old, 2014 ata ganun.”
Respondent 6: “Grade 3. Around 2010 ata.”
Respondent 7: “As long as I can remember noong ano pang around 2011, Grade 6 ako nun eh.”
Respondent 8: “Siguro noong una akong nagka cellphone ahmm…Grade 2 like mga 2010,
around that year.”
Respondent 10: “Uhmm...’di ko matandaan pero sobrang bata pa ako nun...2011 mga ganun
Grade 5.”
Axial 2: Started on the average year of suggested normal age
Respondent 4: “Since uh 8th Grade. 2014 mga ganun.”
Respondent 9: “Pinaka nag start ako, siguro ‘yung talagang open minded ako sa social media is
Grade 7, bali 13 ako nun mga 2014 ata ‘yun eh.”

Interpretation of data:
Most of the participants engaged with social media at an age earlier than the minimum
age prescribed by the regulations of all the social media applications. It was stated by the social
media developers that a person must at least be 13 years old before they could be able to join
such platforms. Respondents 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10, stated that they started using social media
at an age before 13 years old. This implies that these respondents lied about their ages to be able
to access such social media platforms. On the other hand, Respondents 4 and 9 started using
social media at the age appropriate to use such platforms.
Selective #2: Most used social media app
Axial 1: Facebook
Respondent 2: “Facebook kasi ano marami kang makikitang mga trends ganun tapos you can
stay connected with others”
Respondent 4: “Facebook because I usually use it to connect with my friends and to get updated
with their posts and for entertainment stuff.”
Respondent 6: “Facebook kasi usually nakikipag-chat lang ako tapos scroll lang sa feed para
makakita ng mga nakakatawang videos, and memes ganun.”
Respondent 7: “sa app na ‘yun may connection ako with my parents kasi ‘yun lang ‘yung
application na mayroon silang account. Sa Twitter kasi and Instagram wala silang ganun kaya
mas ano ako sa Facebook.”

Respondent 10: “kasi dun sa Facebook nakakakita ako ng mga memes…memes saka mga
information about sa mga kaibigan ko. Also kasi mga masasaya lang halos mga pinopost tsaka
mas nagiging aware ka sa paligid mo sa Facebook eh.”
Axial 2: Twitter
Respondent 8: “sa Twitter feeling ko dun ako mas pinaka nakakapag express kasi sa Facebook,
ewan ko medyo careful ako sa mga pinopost ko kasi lalo’t sobrang daming taong nakakakita
unlike sa Twitter na parang piling friends tapos like, alam kong mas open sa Twitter in regards sa
topic less busisi, less ingay at judgement ganun”
Respondent 9: “Sa Twitter kasi, mas mae-express mo ang sarili mo… kasi once sa Facebook ka
nag- express, ang daming comments ng iba, ang daming say ng iba… parang na-oopose ‘yung
opinion ko, unlike Twitter, parang free will mo mag salita kahit ano man yan.”
Axial 3: Messenger
Respondent 1: “Messenger kasi doon ko nakakausap si mama kasi ‘yung mom ko nasa Dubai.
Also kasi mostly, nakikipag-chat at chikahan lang ako sa mga friends ganun.”
Respondent 3: “Messenger kasi doon talaga ako nakikipag communicate sa mga ano school
works ganyan nagtatanong sa group chats ganun.”
Axial 4: Youtube
Respondent 5: “I think it is Youtube since I am fond of watching my interesting videos and I get
more knowledge from the videos from Youtube eh.”

As seen from the responses, Facebook came first on the list of most frequently used
social media platform based on the following grounds: it provides connection between distant
friends and family members, it helps them to be updated with what is happening around them,
and of course, it provides entertainment by allowing the users to watch videos and play games.
Second on the list is Twitter as it provides a medium for people to express themselves freely.
Third, Messenger because it serves as a more accessible means of communication. Lastly, the
fifth respondent used YouTube more often because of the interesting videos that can be watched.
Selective #3: Effects of the number of followers and online friends
Axial 1: Social insecurity
Respondent 2: “Pero parang it’s part na like sa pagiging teenager ko na nakakainsecure kasi
compared sa iba mas maraming friends or followers ‘yung meron sila so parang maiisip mo na
parang ‘di ka famous kasi kaunti lang may kakilala sa’yo o kakilala mo pero may time din na
wala lang kasi I’m just there for enjoyment.”
Respondent 5: “I actually like less followers because, especially on Twitter because I tend to post
personal things and I actually prefer my close friends; only my close friends to see those So, I
tend to follow less people so less people will follow me back.”
Respondent 7: “parang kase ayoko din masyadong although syempre gusto ko din parang
madaming likes pero hindi ko din gusto na parang madaming nakakakita ng posts ko kasi parang
feeling ko nai-invade ‘yung privacy.”

Respondent 9: “Yes, kasi the more people na nagfo-follow sa’yo or friends mo, the more na
maraming makakakita ng posts mo or mas maraming nangingialam ganun. Tulad ng sa Twitter,
kunwari marami kang followers, once na ma-express mo ‘yung feelings mo ang daming
makakakita ang daming nilang maiisip sayo once na nag post ka ng ganun.”
Axial 2: Social Validation
Respondent 3: “syempre nakaka-overwhelm din kapag maraming nakakakilala sa’yo lalo na
kapag napapansin ka nila so feeling mo rin mahalaga ka talaga sa kanila mga ganun.”
Respondent 6: “Dati kasi parang pag mas marami kang followers, maraming nag lilike sa
pictures mo parang mas nakakataas siya ng self-esteem and confidence sa sarili kasi pag mas
marami kang kilala parang ang friendly mo”
Axial 3: Peer Pressure
Respondent 10: “Oo, sobra. Nakakapressure, parang kasi kapag nag post ka kailangan gusto nila
at gusto dapat nila dapat para sa kanila gusto nila ‘yung post na ‘yun. So for me nakakapressure
‘yung mga followers ko dahil dun.”
Freitas (2017) revealed how even the most well-adjusted individuals also suffer from
self-doubt when they compare their experiences with the vast collection of experiences one could
find through the internet. This supports how Respondent 2 experienced social insecurity resulting
from a feeling of inferiorly known or less important compared to others. Respondent 5, 7, and 9,
experiences social insecurity as they try to lessen those people who would be able to see their
posts to avoid judgements. The case of Respondents 3 and 6 differs when it comes to the number
of followers and online friends. For them receiving it is better as they acquire validation of their
social capabilities by having wider connections among a lot of people. There is also another case
in which the number of followers and online friends one has can greatly dictate and limit the
content of the user’s posts which reflects from the response of Respondent 10.
Selective #4: Exposed Contents on Social Media
Axial 1: Usual Contents Seen
Respondent 1: “Hmm… kalokohan mga memes (laughs). At tsaka ano rants ganun. Tapos vlogs
madami rin. Lifestyles din nung mga friends ko ganun.”
Respondent 2: “mga videos tas pamake-up then tas parang mga political news, tas memes”
Respondent 3: “Ngayon memes. Ayun ayun lang mga memes tapos syempre mga pictures ng
friends ganyan. Tsaka mga posts nila ‘yung mga opinions nila at mga trends ganun.”
Respondent 4: “Memes. Also, puro social posts like what my friends do and shared thoughts mga
ganun.”
Respondent 5: “On social media, of course we have here issues, photos and then rants, society
issues, all of that stuffs but mostly memes.”
Respondent 6: “Memes tapos mga issues hindi lang sa country pati sa mga influencers mga
ganun mga issues nila.”
Respondent 7: “Memes tsaka ‘yung mga music plays ganon ‘yung sa mga theatre ‘yung parang
Phantom of the Opera tsaka anything about Science or mga facts.”
Respondent 8: “Ano ahmm, mga ano mga nangyayari sa Pilipinas tapos ‘yung mga pina-follow
ko kasi more on ahmm lalo na ‘yung mga friends ko more on ano sila ahmm ‘yung mabibigat na
issue so like, ‘yun ‘yung mga nakikita ko like ahmm LGBT tapos ‘yung mga about rape tapos
‘‘yun saka memes, madaming memes.”
Respondent 9: “karaniwan issues, ‘di lang issues sa government ganun parang sa society, sa
society din ganun mga awayan ng tao. Madalas din palagi ‘yung mga hinanaing ng mga friends
ko about sa life nila.”
Respondent 10: “Uhmm…mga issue, ‘yung mga nangyayari ngayon sa Pilipinas, katulad ng
nangunguha ng bata, ‘yung mga rape ganun at syempre mga activity ng mga friends ko, nakikita
ko din dun.”
Axial 2: Shared Posts
Respondent 1: “…Kung magshashare man siguro ‘yung mga ano lang nakakatawa tsaka kapag
nakakamangha lang ‘yung mga videos ganun…”
Respondent 2: “Mga funny tsaka ‘yung mga ano ‘yung uhm, nag inclined sa interest ko or
something na motivational quotes kasi diba leisure time mo na ‘yun so ‘yung mga pang pagaan
lang ng loob”
Respondent 3: “Mga contents na funny ganyan na super nakakaentertain pati posts sa mga
friends ko na mga nakakatawa tsaka something na nakakarelate ako.”
Respondent 4: “Uh well ah...wait siguro uh mga aside from memes siguro ‘yung mga let's say
how do you say this mga charity works ganun or mga ‘yung mga good vibes.”
Respondent 5: “Memes and rants about social injustice. “
Respondent 6: “More on memes and ano ‘yung issues sa country ganun saka mga pictures ng
dogs”
Respondent 7: “Memes tsaka madalas din ‘yung animals; dogs and cats. “
Respondent 8: “‘yun ahmm ‘yung sa mga sensitives topic lagi akong natri-trigger kapag
nakakakita ako ng something na alam ko, sa tingin ko mali lalo na latest ay about sa rape kasi
nagkaroon ng malaking issue about dun tapos ‘yun karamihan dun ako sa facebook and Twitter
nagvovoice-out ako about dun.”
Respondent 9: “Memes ... Hahaha … Ganun, ‘yung mga ano… minsan irrelevant talaga ishini-
share ko, pero ‘di naman ‘yung something bad basta irrelevant lang yon ‘yung mga kung ano-ano
lang sumisikat na kalokohan ngayon.”
Respondent 10: “Ayun nga memes, tapos ano din mga balita na makakatulong para maging
aware ‘yung ibang tao. “
Axial 3: Personal Posts
Respondent 1: “...pag nagagandahan lang ako sa picture ko. ‘yung parang after special occasions
ganun. Sa Twitter naman kapag gusto ko lag maglabas ng sama ng loob or ‘yung mga
nararamdaman ganun nagiging outlet siya ng feelings ko.”
Respondent 2: “Kapag Twitter ‘yun everyday ganun mostly ano kunwari opinions ko or kung
ano nararamdaman ko.”
Respondent 3: “Sa Twitter nagti-tweet ako ng sobrang dami parang every everyday nagti-tweet
ako ng kung ano ano kung ano lang ‘yung ginagawa ko tsaka kung ano nararamdaman ko at
naiisip ‘yun.”
Respondent 4: “Photos ganun tas mga ano siguro pag nagtitweet ganun mga self-expressions and
thought kasi parang free ka lang na i-lay-out kung ano nasa utak mo and it is kind of a good thing
din when other people give some thoughts about it.”
Respondent 5: “I think it’s on Twitter about my personal stuffs and rants about school, personal
life, things like that. On Facebook, I share a lot of memes and sometimes I give my own side
about some political issues.”
Respondent 6: “sa Twitter own thoughts ‘yun mga thoughts ko pero pag sa facebook ‘yung mga
bagay na nakakarelate ako or sa tingin kong importante. Like, siguro ‘yung ano mga
nakakarelate ako ‘yung mga memes about parents ganun or ‘yung news about the country ‘yung
El Niño mga ganun.”
Respondent 7: “Gala, pictures tapos syempre pag may family gatherings ‘yung kung ano ‘yung
mga nandon tapos siguro madalas din ‘yung view ng sky”
Respondent 8: “sa Twitter wala lagi akong nag twi-tweet ‘yung mga random things lang, ‘yung
nangyayari bigla… ‘yung bigla ko na lang nai-isip tapos lagi akong nag re-retweet ng mga ‘yun
nga about sensitive topics.”
Respondent 9: “Siguro ang basis sa Twitter ang expressions, ko ang feelings ko, pero once sa
facebook, madalang ako mag post, ‘yung akin lang talaga na mga photos ko ganun pag trip ko
lang.”
Respondent 10: “Uhmm…ano lang ako, once in a month ng mga pictures ko pero araw-araw
talaga meron akong my day sa facebook at Instagram ganun trip ko lang na nakikita ng iba ‘yung
mga interesting na nangyayari sa akin wala naman sa akin kung ano sasabihin nila eh. Twitter
kapag may thoughts ako na sasabihin, dun ko linalagay.”

Axial 4: Content Interests
Respondent 1: “Hmm… mostly sa ano sa mga teens ‘yung mga love story…love story ganun.
Nauso kasi diba ‘yung mga made-up love story sa facebook so ayun entertaining siya and
nakakakilig.”
Respondent 2: “Funny. ‘yung nakakatawa tas ‘yun nga ‘yung mga informative sa issues tsaka
‘yung social issues or political issues especially ‘yung mga pinaglalaban ng tao against
government.”
Respondent 3: “I'm interested in fashion, tapos memes tapos ‘yung mga hollywood and then
‘yung mga pinopost nila about sa lifestyle na nagagamit ko rin sa sarili ko.”
Respondent 4: “Uh puro posts from my friends since I get to know about them and I get to know
them more. Also, sa mga positive posts lang ganun to help me rin to look on the positive side of
life despite the problems.”
Respondent 5: “I’m actually interested on, you know the posts about politics things like that,
political issues, social injustice, and of course memes and entertaining videos I think”
Respondent 6: “Make-up and fashion clothes and outfits kasi nagagamit ko ‘yun sa sarili ko eh.”
Respondent 7: “Memes tsaka ano cats and dogs tapos siguro ano meme videos din saka madalas
din ‘yung mga political issues pati educational information.”
Respondent 8: “Ahm, ano anything na nag-aano nagii-stand sa K-pop group tapos mahilig din
akong mag basa ng memes tapos ‘yun nga sa mga issues na ngayon sa Philippines lalo na kapag
masyadong involved ‘yung mga youth tsaka women.”

Respondent 9: “Content… kapag tungkol sa pag ano, sa mental health talaga. Kasi ‘yun nga
kukunin kong course talaga, kapag nakakita ako ng anything about mental health or kaya
anything na ganun mas ano ako...mas interesado.”
Respondent 10: “‘Yung mga ano lang…’yung mga masasaya lang kasi kapag stressed ka na sa
lahat…sa studies, nandiyan yung social media para makalimutan mo yun for a while eh.”
All the responses of the respondents were seen to be classified into four. These four include the
usual contents they see in their “newsfeed” upon opening a social media platform, the posts
people, including their selves share, their personal posts, and their unique individual content
interests. Although having four categories, it could be seen that the most prevalent and occurring
answer was about “Memes.” This shows that the “Meme Culture” in the Philippines is steadily
increasing in influence.
Selective #5: Trends on Social Media
Axial 1: Fashion Trends
Respondent 1: “More on sa fashion ‘yung mga alam ko…”
Respondent 2: “Kapag sa facebook naman more on mga trending na fashion styles…”
Respondent 3: “Mga ‘yun ‘yung outfit trends yan talagang super updated ako dyan…”
Respondent 4: “tapos trends sa mga make-up, fashion styles”
Respondent 5: “fashion trends”
Respondent 8: “Doon din ako naa-update sa mga ‘yung mga usong clothings…”
Axial 2: Entertainment Trends
Respondent 1: “trending na mga sayaw, kainan, movies, basta more on sa entertainment din…”
Respondent 2: “…mga music like may mga sikat na OPM and K-pop. “
Respondent 3: “mga trends na nangyayari about about artista mga celebrities super lumalabas
yan sa news feeds ko so syempre andun na so bat ‘di ko pa basahin.”
Respondent 4: “Let's say music…”
Respondent 5: “…memes. As well as, social trends like people becoming popular because of
funny videos that they post on Facebook.”
Respondent 6: “siguro ‘yung nauupdate ako about sa mga kunwari anong usong mga sayaw mga
ganun ‘yung parang mga ginagawa nilang memes ganun. ‘yung mga taong sumisikat bigla-bigla.
Respondent 7: “trend na kapag halimbawa may celebrity ganun ‘yung mga hot issues hindi
naman hot ‘yung as in ‘yung sa ganyan pero ‘yung parang hot topics sa kanila na parang may
bagong sikat, may bagong ilau-launch na movie ganun.”
Respondent 8: “‘Yung mga bagong challenges na napopost tapos ‘yung mga bagong ‘yung mga
uso na halimbawa na K-pop na sayaw tapos ‘yung mga ‘Dalagang-Pilipina’ mga ganun lang,
‘yung numerous topics sa ano na tipong nagegets ng lahat kasi masyadong nagci-circulate sa
social media.”
Respondent 9: “tsaka siguro mga usong sayaw, kanta, at mga testimony ng mga tao. Marami rin
kasi talaga ngayon ‘yung mga memes eh pero syempre minsan kasi nakakalungkot na makita
kapag tinatapakan na ‘yung iba makapaggawa lang ng kalokohan.”

Respondent 10: “‘yung trending na ano...’yun nga ‘yung nangunguha ng van na katuwaan…
hahahaha! Marami pa eh yung mga sikat na tao, mga vloggers ganun, tapos mga sikat na mga
dance challenge chuchu…”
Axial 3: Slang Words
Respondent 2: “Meron din naman mga trending na mga words.”
Respondent 4: “Meron pa ‘yung mga nauusong words like “share mo lang?”
Respondent 7: “Atsaka kasi minsan ano siguro may bagong words like millennial words so
parang like ‘skl’ share ko lang so parang nai-influence ako na gumamit.”
Axial 4: Living up with the trends
Respondent 1: “…usually ‘yung mga OOTD ko minsan nakukuha ko din siya sa ano sa social
media, lalo na ngayon ang dami nagpopost ng mga OOTD nila.”
Respondent 2: “sa social media kasi syempre marami ‘yung nagshe-share ng mga pictures, mga
artista ganyan so parang nakikita ko “ay maganda yan”, so parang doon ko bine-base, ‘yung mga
trends ganyan parang naaapektuhan na din ‘yung pagbili ko “
Respondent 3: “Parang dahil sa social media parang mas lalo todo akong mag porma ganyan so
dati parang nung mga year 2013 ganyan ‘yung mga trends talaga nun ‘yung mukang jejemon
pero naglelevel-up din ‘yun naglevel-up din ‘yun dahil sa mga post ng mga Tumblr girls ganyan
so parang ginagaya ko sila or I idolize them the way they dress.
Respondent 5: “Actually, social media influences the way I dress a lot because first of all, we
have all of the ideal instagram models there, what to wear, fashion icons and we have the overly
conservative people telling us not to wear shorts, sleeveless. So, I tend to get more sensitive in
what I wear because of those things.”
Respondent 6: “Ahmm since fashion ‘yung interest ko, karamihan na nakikita ko sa social media
ginagaya ko parang pinapattern ko dun ‘yung mga sinusuot ko pag gusto kong pumorma ganun
feeling ko kasi syempre nakakadagdag ganda tsaka para maiwasan ‘yung mga judgemental na
tao.”
Respondent 7: “Parang dahil kasi may mga sikat na outfits kailangan minsan matapatan mo ‘yun
kasi feeling mo kapag hindi, pwede kang majudge ng mga tao.”
Respondent 8: “Ahmm kasi doon mo nakikita ‘yung mga trends sa social media kasi syempre
given na din ‘yung sa surroundings mo, nakikita mo dun ‘yung kung ano ‘yung mga uso pero sa
social media nakikita mo na mas nagiging further ‘yung alam mo about sa magandang tignan
kasi sa mga pictures ng ibang tao ‘yun pag nakita mong maganda sa social media tapos parang
nagugustuhan mo na rin parang ganun.”
Respondent 9: “Syempre yan…lalo na ‘yung mga ano...’yung mag influencer nag influence sayo,
‘yung trends kasi…hindi pwedeng ma-huli lalo na sa generation na to, meron pa rin sa part mo
na, nakikiuso ka, once meron kang nakikitang bago syempre...kapag nakikita mo ‘yun sa mga
stores, parang gusto mo na rin, kasi ‘yun nga nakikita mo asa paligid at kung saan-saan.”
Respondent 10: “Syempre nakikibagay tayo sa uso ngayon, like ‘yung mga ganito...’yung mga
sinusuot ko ngayon…sabi ko “oi! Ang ganda try ko nga ito”, parang ganun parang try-try lang
muna hanggang sa mainfluence na talaga yung style mo.”

The trends on social media, may it be on fashion, the use of words, influences, and
entertainment, are all evident and constantly circulating due to the flexibility and ability of the
different platforms to spread information. This is well supported by Inglis, Kennedy, and Knight
(2014) when they said that the social media platforms serves its purpose very well by exposing
teens to various information each time they open the said platforms. Moreover, it goes the same
that with the power of social media, dissemination of information is basically impossible when
put up on the platforms. It could be evidently seen that all the respondents were saying that they
were always updated whether it is a trend or an issue going on about the society they belong to,
and this is good news since social media is more or less used properly by most users.
Selective #6: Exposure to Issues
Axial 1: Social Issues
Respondent 1: “Drugs. Ano rape pala. Rape ‘yun ‘yung pinaka ano ngayon trending ngayon dito
parang pinagdedebate-an na sino ba ‘yung mas mali ‘yung mga nangmamanyak or ‘yung
nangrerape or ‘yung nagdadamit ng pasexy ganun. “
Respondent 2: “sa social media ko lang nalaman na nawalan ng tubig ganun. Dito na lang ako
nakakabalita kung ano mga nangyayari”
Respondent 3: “‘yun ‘yung mga drug issues ng Philippines tapos syempre ‘yung mga about
sexual assault ‘yun ‘yung nga nakikita ko about sa local”
Respondent 6: “kasi sa Batangas may isang group kami dun parang isang page siya tapos ‘yung
laman ng page na ‘yun puro mga nakatira sa isang barangay tapos sasabihin dun na “uy may
nabaril sa ganitong lugar kamag-anak ng mayor ganyan or pinatay kasi akala pusher” ganun
more on sa society.”
Respondent 9: “kapag sa local, news and nakikita ko balita, kunwari tungkol sa drugs ganun...”
Respondent 10: “‘Yung mga rape”
Axial 2: Political Issues
Respondent 2: "sa bansa natin especially maraming issues ngayon about President Duterte tsaka
‘yung mga patayan sa bansa natin.”
Respondent 3: “About syempre sa mga political ngayon kasi mga parang panahon na ng mga
botohan”
Respondent 4: “sa ano natin sa present administration kay President duterte ‘yung mga projects
niya or ‘yung mga botohan sa politika ngayon.”
Respondent 5: “Actually for now I only follow local pages and accounts because I am into the
things that affects in and that’s more on the problems in our country like drug, death, rape, and
corruption issues.”
Respondent 7: “Sa local, ‘yung sa ano issue about sa politiko like mga corruption, botohan, kay
Duterte, tsaka ‘yung mga pinaglalaban ng masa against sa gobyerno.”
Respondent 8: “Oo lagi, kasi diba sabi ko nga kanina mahilig akong mag post about sensitive
topics na recent na nag-ooccur sa country natin like mga injustices talaga then sa mga deaths and
kaguluhan ng mga tao.”
Respondent 9: “Syempre ‘yung sa government, lalo ‘‘di naman ako nanonood ng t.v…”
Respondent 10: “‘yung mga na-apektuhan ngayun sa ibat-ibang lugar kasi may pumapasok
ngayun sa ating bansa na ‘di natin alam…bigla bigla nalang silang aatake ‘yun.”
Axial 3: Global Issues
Respondent 1: “mga global issues like kunwari sa issues with other countries sa mga utang utang
sa kanila and mga calamities sa ibang bansa.”
Respondent 2: “sa social media nakikita mo ‘yung mga wars like ‘yung mga tortures and iba’t
ibang kaguluhan sa ibang bansa. Nakikita mo rin ‘yung mga ibat’t ibang feud between
countries.”
Respondent 4: “Diba ‘yung mga siguro ‘yung mga ginagawa ng ano natin ng United Nations uh
something regarding the climate change or ‘yung parang ‘yung sa China kung ano ‘yung
nangyayari. “
Respondent 6: “Sa global, siguro kasi sa wall ko wala masyadong global issue pero more on
nakikita ko sa mga pollution ganun kung gaano lumalala siya every year.”
Respondent 7: “Sa global naman, environmental issues eh katulad ng mga climate change at mga
innovations at posters nila para makatulong sa environmental issues.”
Respondent 8: “… sa global unless sobrang sensitive niya na tipong hurtful na sa bawat
individual ‘yung tipong about human rights ganun.”
Respondent 9: “At sa global ‘yung alam ko lang ‘yung conflict conflict sa bansa tsaka puro
China China ganun”
In addition to what has been said earlier, the scope of information disseminated through
the help of different social media platforms is quite vast. Not only does it inform the users about
their surroundings and desired searches, but also inform the users about the issues going on
around them that could either directly or indirectly affect them as both as an individual and as
citizens. Basing on the responses, the commonality of answers all comes down to three main
ideas: Social Issues, Political Issues, and Global Issues. In the same sense, the most frequently
occurring answer is about drugs, the elections, and the conflict about the West Philippine Sea,
categorized on the aforementioned ideas respectively. Given that the frequency of the answers
occurs highly from one respondent to another then this suggests that the said answers are the
main problems our country is currently facing; henceforth, once again, social media was able to
relay the necessary information to the desired receivers – the citizens.
Selective #7: Influence in using Social Media
Axial 1: Friends
Respondent 2: “Siguro nagiging popular siya or sa mga friends ko gumagamit din sila kaya ayun
gumawa din ako.”
Respondent 3: “Mostly my friends...”
Respondent 4: “Since most of my friends use it to connect with others so I got interested to join
in also.”
Respondent 6: “Ahmm ano friends saka family kasi sila ‘yung mga naunang gumamit so gumaya
na rin ako.”
Respondent 8: “Society, peers just to be updated about all the things that is happening sa
surroundings mo kasi social media is like, the greatest medium to be aware.”

Respondent 10: “Ahhhh…na influence ako mag gamit ng social media kasi… nakita ko sa
friends ko na…wala parang masaya lang siya gawin, kaya nag social media ako para maka-
influence din sa iba na masaya pala siya na masaya pala pag ganito masaya pala pag ganyan…
Ganun.”
Axial 2: Family Members’ Usage
Respondent 5: “my sister because my sister is the first one to use facebook and then I actually
started using facebook because I was envious of my sister’s facebook account and how can she
played games. It’s actually my sister who influenced me on using social media.”
Axial 3: Medium for Communication
Respondent 1: “Sa mama ko kasi nga nagdu-Dubai siya so parang ‘yun lang ‘yung ayun lang
‘yung way para makipagcommunicate ako sa kanya. "
Respondent 3: “syempre social media because my daddy is O.F.W. so ‘yun nagskype kami video
call. Communication din “
Respondent 9: “sa sarili ko nalang, kasi sa generation natin ang hirap na. Kapag ‘‘di ka gumamit
ng social media, parang number one need din yan for communication.”
Axial 4: Educational Support
Respondent 7: “Kasi sa facebook din kasi may page din kasi kami sa facebook kaming magkaka-
section tapos minsan din may page para sa school stuffs like halimbawa physics andoon si sir
tapos nagpopost siya doon ng mga powerpoints ganun although kahit parang minsan gusto ko ng
mag deactivate ng account kasi medyo nakakasabagal minsan lalo na kapag bagsakan na lahat ng
gagawin pero hindi ko siya magawa kasi nagpopost dun ‘yung mga teachers namin ng mga
powerpoints ganun…”
According to Girard, Gordon, and Weir (2014), social media platforms were initially
made for the sole purpose of marketing but as time went by it was reframed to be used to spread
organizational knowledge and expertise. In line with this, since education now takes place even
in social media platforms, then adolescents are bound to at least use it once for studying. In a
separate case, a friend could use social media just for entertainment, a family member for
communication, and even a baby could use the social media nowadays for exposure to helpful
developmental apps. Given these cases, it could be seen that a person uses the social media
depending on one’s needs. In the same way, the respondents answered that the influencers for
them in using social media were: their friends, their family, their need for communication, and
their need for educational assistance. The respondents just proved Girard, Gordon, and Weir
because they are living proof that the social media is an ever dynamic tool that could aid a person
depending on the situation at hand.
Selective #8: Reasons behind Using Social Media
Axial 1: As medium for updates and information on surroundings
Respondent 2: “para mas mainform din ako.”
Respondent 3: “Tapos parang ano tawag dun para maging updated ka din sa mga nangyayari sa
paligid mo. Maging aware ka din para hindi ka magmukhang parang…para hindi ka magmukang
innocent sa mga bagay ganun.”

Respondent 4: “is because I wanna stay updated about what's happening around me kasi it's hard
when you don’t have a social media. Ang hirap maging ignorant kasi it's good when you know a
lot of stuff going on around you parang you get the idea of what to do or how you cope up with
people around you.”
Respondent 5: “I think to be more updated on what’s happening on our surroundings and what
should we do on certain occasions.”
Respondent 6: “Noong una para lang maging updated ako”
Respondent 7: “Ayun nga kasi sa facebook kasi nga mayroon ng page dun na para sa closed
group dun nga nagpopost ‘yung mga teachers namin ng powerpoints, problem sets and to get
updated.”
Axial 2: For Communication
Respondent 1: “Para lagi akong updated and then ‘yung nanay ko din laging updated kasi si
mama gusto niya na lagi syang updated kung nasaan kami, kung anong oras kami umuuwi
ganun. At tsaka para laging maka catch-up sa friends.”
Respondent 6: “and makapag-communicate ako with friends and family”
Respondent 9: “‘yung nga sabi ko, una connection with other people…communication tas hindi
lang ganun, parang ‘di lang siya connection sa mga intimate na kilala mo eh, parang sa iba rin na
tao na ‘di mo pa nakikilala tapos gusto mo maka-meet ng ibang tao, tsaka syempre…’yun nga
for information.”
Axial 3: For Entertainment and Relaxation
Respondent 2: “Siguro ano uhm to relieve stress, for entertainment”
Respondent 6: “pero ngayon more on entertainment na siya para sa’kin.”

Respondent 7: “Para rin pala sa communication lalo na sa family.”
Respondent 10: “Ah, reason ko kasi minsan...kapag malungkot ako ‘yun lang ‘yung ginagamit
ko...pag gusto ko libangin sarili ko nag so-social media ako… “
Axial 4: Self- Expression
Respondent 8: “expression, kasi minsan hindi naman natin nasasabi ‘yung mga gusto nating
sabihin personally like, hahanap ka pa ng taong gusto mong sabihan unlike sa social media na
hindi ka required, alam mo ‘yung hindi sayo nililimit ‘yung pwede mong sabihin unless takot ka
sa judgement pero like I said, very expressive ako lalo na sa Twitter tapos ‘yun kaya gusto kong
gumamit lagi ng social media.”
Respondent 10: “Nilalabas ko rin mga feelings ko sa social media tapos kasi natutulungan din
ako ng mga friends ko gamit yun.”
In accordance to their previous answers, the respondents were seen to have been using
social media for: keeping up to date, communication purposes, entertainment and stress relief go-
to, and of course for their self-expression. Lorents and Ottis (2010) stated in their study entitled
Cyberspace: Definition and Implication, that an individual uses the social media to express their
selves and feel that they are part of a “community.” Looking in the same perspective, the four
main ideas of the answers from the respondents are all rooted to not only their need anymore but
also their wants. Different influences could trigger a person to use social media, but basing from
the respondents’ answers, the four cited above are the reasons which the current generation is
very much inclined to use social media.

Selective #9: Disruptions caused by Social Media
Axial 1: Sleeping Schedule
Respondent 1: “Kapag laging may kausap tapos, pag lagi ay hindi… pag ano tawag dito pag…
pag nasa cellphone kasi ako nawawala ‘yung antok ko”
Respondent 2: “Ano uhm kapag lagi may kausap madalas late na ako natutulog. Tsaka kasi
parang sa sobrang entertained mo sa mga nakikita ‘di mo na mafefeel antukin.”
Respondent 3: “Sobrang affected siya kasi lagi akong… lagi pag tuwing may kausap ako tas
parang nagpupuyat rin siya parang nahahawa na rin ako magpuyat kaya we ended up, we ended
up messing up our sleeping schedule talaga.”
Respondent 4: “I stay up late. Chatting with people and to just scroll around my news feed since
it often entertains me with interesting posts that I see.”
Respondent 5: “I usually do not get enough sleep. Sometimes, I do not sleep at all because when
I use it I do not feel sleepy and just entertained to browse a lot from Youtube.”
Respondent 6: “Ahmm mas nakakapag puyat ako, pag active ako sa social media parang hindi
ako inaantok pag nag sosocial media, pag nag-iinternet kasi syempre maraming nakakatuwang
photos and posts na parang ‘di matapos-tapos kaya ‘di na tuloy nakakatulog.”
Respondent 10: “Minsan ‘di na ako natutulog at minsan kulang ako sa tulog kapag pumapasok sa
school kasi nakakaentertain yung mga nakikita mong posts and videos so pag ganun ‘di ka na
aantukin. Tsaka alam mo kasi madadaldal friends ko so chat chat ganun.”
Axial 2: Responsibilities on Academics

Respondent 1: “nung midterms parang ‘di talaga ako nakapag aral nun parang ginawa ko lang
buong maghapon nun magbrowse na lang talaga. Tas ‘yung nga sobrang expected ko na sa grade
ko na bumagsak ako.”
Respondent 3: “Yeah social media distract me. Lalo na netflix tapos ano parang may
schoolworks akong gagawin tatapusin ko muna ‘yung series na pinapaanood ko tsaka ko
gagawin yan so I ended up procrastinating always.”
Respondent 5: “Yes, a hundred percent. On academics because I tend to focus more on social
media than my academics.”
Respondent 6: “…minsan sa oras ko para mag study…”
Respondent 7: “Kapag bagsakan na ng mga gagawin tapos parang gusto mong mag pahinga
saglit kasi parang naaano na ‘yung utak mo ganun tapos hahawak ka ng phone, mag brobrowse
ka tapos makakakita ka ng meme siguro tuloy tuloy na ‘yun, ayun siya nadidistract ako saka
parang sobrang short kasi ng attention span ko.”
Respondent 8: “Oo, kasi dahil sa study na dapat priority ‘yung tatapusin muna ‘yung mga
homeworks, ‘yung mga basta lahat ng projects na binibigay pero instead, dahil andyan sa harap
mo ‘yung phone or laptop atsaka mas interesting ‘yung makikita mo dun sa mga social media
you’ll pick to use social media instead of doing what should be prioritized”
Respondent 9: “Sa study, oo...kasi kapag aaminin ko, nag-aaral ako...nag-rereview, once talaga
na nakabukas kahit ‘di naka bukas ang wifi mo, once na nakatabi ko ‘yung phone ko, napipilitan
akong i-open ‘yun kahit wala naman akong kausap ganun. Napipilitan talaga akong… kaya ayon
na de-delay minsan ang oras na dapat nag-aaral ako.”

Respondent 10: “Oo sobra, uhmm…minsan ‘di na ako nakakapag-aral at minsan ‘di na ako
nakakapagfocus sa paligid ko kasi dun na lang ako nakafocus sa ginagawa ko sa social media na
‘yun.”
Axial 3: Interactions with other people
Respondent 6: “minsan para sa interaction ko with people na nakasama ko talaga.”
Respondent 8: “…saka nakakadistract siya sa bonding niyo ng family, friends kasi even though
magkakasama kayo, andyan pa rin ‘yung social media para to keep you occupied.”
Axial 4: Unable to do priorities
Respondent 2: “most of the time nadidistract ako kasi instead of doing what I’m supposed to do
parang nafufrustate ako kasi I can’t help myself kasi para gumamit ng social media to check at
kapag may nag-chat na sa’yo wala na tuloy-tuloy na ‘yun.”
Although social media is very beneficial to men, there are still flaws and risks that come
with the use of it. The mentioned “flaws and risks” were identified from the responses gathered
and they were seen to be tackling: Sleep Deprivation, Academic Difficulties, Lack of Social Life,
and the Inability to Set Priorities. These four responses are in accordance with the Social Media
Health Theory. In the study of Glenn and Ramos (2017) they found out that, “too much use on
social media can also harm the brain causing the user to lose focus on his academic studies and
performance and also ruining the users sleeping schedule, the users emotional state however, can
also be distorted causing the user to have short temper and can get easily be irritated.” And with
this, we could see that the answers of the respondents prove the bad side of using social media.
Selective #10: Effects from receiving numerous likes and comments
Axial 1: Feeling of Validation
Respondent 2: “feeling ko parang feeling of validation… parang feel mo maraming
nakakapansin sayo ang saya lang…”
Respondent 5: “I actually feel validated and some point it’s somehow feels relieving like other
people get what I feel and I think they agree on what I stand for. “
Respondent 7: “Ano masaya parang it’s okay, na-ooverwhelmed ako kasi naa-appreciate ng iba
‘yung kwenta ng mga post ko minsan kasi talaga para may puwang sa loob mo na parang need
mo maappreciate at mapansin ng iba… siguro normal naman ‘yun sa lahat.”
Respondent 8: “Nakaka-flatter, na ‘yung sa mga napopost mo, nakaka-flatter lang na
nagugustuhan nila ‘yung shineshare mo, ‘yung opinions mo, ‘yung thoughts mo, ‘yung parang
thinking mo na kapag nalike nila or napositively react nila ‘yung parang nag she-share kayo ng
same thoughts, same beliefs, same opinions which is nice.”
Respondent 9: “Syempre nakakatuwa kapag madami kang likes and comments, syempre
nakakatuwa ang ganun, at syempre kasi sa facebook na may reactions na, ‘di lang naman lahat
ng tao, ang iba kasi ila-like lang pero still atleast napapansin tsaka naa-appreciate ka.”
Axial 2: Boosts self-confidence
Respondent 3: “When I when I get a lot of likes and comments parang syempre na tumataas
‘yung confidence ko ganyan pero ‘yung likes and comments na ‘yun parang panandalian lang
diba …”
Respondent 4: “Uh let's say wala lang you feel good about yourself…”
Respondent 6: “Nakakaboost siya ng self-esteem kasi parang wow feeling kasi diba pag
maraming naglilike sayo ibig sabihin kilala ka or well-known ka, so pag ako nakakakuha ng
maraming likes parang, “ay wow maraming tao na pa lang nakakakilala sa’kin” parang
popularity ganun.”
Respondent 10: “Ahh, syempre flattered ako...kasi nagugustuhan nila ‘yung ginagawa ko and
gusto nila…parang tanggap nila kung ano ako.”
Last April 10, 2018, Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg had his trial about Facebook
being addictive. In a portion of the trial, Sen. Sasse asked if Facebook is addictive as if implying
if it was created to trigger the increase in the Dopamine Levels of the body, leading to the “urge”
of wanting more likes every now and then; hence, the addiction. The CEO’s response was
submissive yet simple; sternly saying that Facebook was created to help connect people and not
serve as another addiction. The answers of the respondents go along with the answer of Mr.
Zuckerberg and of course against the question of Sen. Sasse because it was found out that they
feel delighted, important, loved, and positive when they receive likes from other people.
According to them it was because they feel that people could see a part of their day and given
that they liked their posts means that they care. In addition, another response inclination arose
saying that receiving likes boosts their confidence level. This goes along with the Social
Network Theory because the said theory points out the connection between individuals having
positive effect on each other.

Selective #11: Overcoming Negative Judgements
Axial 1: Ignoring Negative comments
Respondent 1: “Hinahayaan ko lang kasi kung magpapaapekto ako kung lalabanan ko hindi siya
matitigil. ‘yung mga ganung nanglalait ‘di na dapat pinapatulan…”
Respondent 2: “… Minsan gusto mo awayin pero parang syempre social media din ‘yun kaya
isipin mo malakas loob nila kasi nakatago sila pero it doesn’t affect me. Siguro mapapaisip
lang…”
Respondent 3: “sobrang sobrang laki ng effect sakin pag nakakaano ako ng negative lalo na
‘yung curious cat na yan dami kong natatanggap na kung ano ano pero parang at the end of the
day parang ‘di naman nila ako kilala eh parang sige lang… parang say everything about me pero
hindi naman totoo ‘yun so pabayaan mo sila maniwala sa pinaniniwalaan nila sayo.”
Respondent 5: “I actually don’t care about negative comments and actually never gotten any
negative comments but I think if I got any negative comments, I will just ignore it.”
Respondent 9: “Syempre nakakadown, kasi ano…parang ‘di nila matangap ‘yung share mo or
post mo, pero iniisp ko nalang lagi na may sarili tayong opinion, ‘di mo naman kayang i-please
lahat so hayaan mon a lang kaysa magpaapekto ka, ikaw rin talo.”
Respondent 10: “sabihin ko…okay ‘di ko na gagawin tapos papabayaan ko nalang tapos wala ‘di
na ulit ako gagawa ng ganun.”
Axial 2: Through Confrontation
Respondent 4: “if ever it happens to me siguro I'll p.m. the person and then ask the person kung
ano ‘yung problem niya sakin.”

Respondent 6: “Kapag offending syempre kakausapin ko sila ng maayos para malaman kung
bakit niya nasabi ‘yung ganun.”
Respondent 8: “open lang ako sa mga possibilities na negative reactions lalo na kasi ako medyo
dahil sa sobrang expressive ko nga, I usually have maraming nagne-negate sa mga pinopost ko
but then, ayun na ‘yung apekto sa’kin. I usually snap back and well, I usually further na parang
hindi ako napayag na that person will be the last say so gusto ko lang na malaman nila kung ano
‘yung side ko.”
Axial 3: Using Criticism to one's Advantage
Respondent 1: “…yung iba namang negative comments makakatulong para makaimprove sa
akin, siguro I will take it na lang.”
Respondent 6: “Ahmm negative comments pag negative comments ang ginagawa ko is
pinapansin ko ‘yung sinasabi nila tapos titignan ko sa sarili ko if ganun ba talaga ko then, kung
ganun edi icocorrect.”
Respondent 7: “sa next post ko na lang sa parang if ever man na magpopost ako ulit siguro iwe-
weigh ko na lang ‘yung things like, I will look more on the bigger picture para hindi siya mag
mukhang focus lang sa isang view parang sa susunod na post mo na lang, mas magiging careful
atsaka hahanapin mo muna ‘yung roots kung bakit.”
The current generation is a generation which emerged on the climax of social media.
Given such, there have been, of course, people who encountered negative effects in using it. But
because there have been people who experienced negative effects, then there were surely
solutions created to eradicate such problems. The respondents showed their own ways of coping
with the negativities. The coping mechanisms were identified to be: Passive-Submissive,
Confrontation, and accepting them as Constructive Criticisms. The first one was defined by the
respondents when they said they just don’t mind the negativities and live on with their lives. The
second one was defined by the respondents to be a proper and well-mannered confrontation
rather than an aggressive one. Lastly, some respondents answered they take the negative
comments as an eye-opener for them to see the points wherein they need to improve as an
individual. These three coping mechanisms vary depending on the capability of a person to
handle the negativity.
Selective #12: Harms caused by social media
Axial 1: Addiction
Respondent 1: “Kasi parang buong araw na talaga ako nagso-social media ngayon. Wala na
akong time na mag-aral gawin ‘yung requirements ko, wala na. Kapag nahawakan ko na ayun ‘di
ko na nabibitawan.”
Respondent 2: “Yes, I consider myself kasi ‘yun nga sobrang dalas… bihira lang ‘yung hindi ako
gumagamit. Pag ganun parang medyo abnormal na. Tsaka sobrang feeling mo na hindi ka na
talaga mabubuhay kahit for few minutes lang na wala ka kasi maiisip mo laging icheck from
time to time.”
Respondent 3: “I’m addict to social media kasi sobrang lagi ako nagsosocial media as in laging
nagpapaload talaga ako everyday para magka-data ganyan kahit nagcaclass. ‘di ko talaga
mapigilan sarili ko na hindi gumamit. “

Respondent 5: “Yes because there is no day that I did not use it. My whole day just depend on
the joy and fulfilling feeling that social media gives me.”
Respondent 6: “Yes, kasi kapag sinabing addict is kapag you can no longer take it away from
you so ganun ‘yung social media sakin ‘di ko na maalis kasi parang part na siya ng buhay ko and
it give enjoyment kasi eh pero syempre pangit din naman talaga na buong buhay natin puro
social media na lang.”
Respondent 8: “Siguro, somehow kasi like naaapektuhan niya na kasi ‘yung mga priorities ko.
Well like, nagiging parte na siya ng priorities ko instead of the things na dapat lang talagang
maging priority mo ‘yun. Tapos lagi ko siyang ginagamit like, hindi ako makalabas ng bahay,
hindi ako makapunta kung saan-saan nang hindi ko hawak ‘yung phone ko nang wala akong
phone sa bag.”
Respondent 10: “Sobra, parang feeling ko…oo, kasi parang sobrang adik na ako kasi pag gising
ko, bago ako matulog as in natutulugan ko nalang ‘yung cell phone ko kahit ano eh kapag
pagod...’di na ako nakakapagfocus sa ibang gagawin.”
Axial 2: Cyber-Bullying
Respondent 1: “Siguro in terms of communication with my friends ganun ‘yung mga asaran lang
kasi minsan masakit sa damdamin”
Respondent 2: “Cyber-bullying wala naman. Siguro on the negative effects parang
procrastination lang kasi ‘yun nga nawawala ‘yung priority ko para gumawa ng mga school
works kaya I always end up doing it last minute na syempre ayun ‘di ko tuloy nabibigay minsan
‘yung best na magagawa ko.”

Respondent 3: “oo siguro naman uhm siguro naman lahat ng nag gagamit ng curious cat or
ask.fm ganyan or mga parinig ‘yung mga ganun noon pa ah parang elementary days lang pero
ngayon syempre parang nagiging mature ka na sa pag gamit ng social media so parang alam mo
na kung paano talaga gamitin ‘yun tas kung ibully ka man nila you know how to handle it
properly na hindi katulad noon na pag "hala ang pangit mo laki ng panga mo" parang noon
parang… aaah!! Sakit na sakit ka pero ngayon parang ganda ko ‘yun na lang.”
Respondent 4: “I did once when I was in 10th Grade. They made a group chat about me. Im not
sure if I if I should call them haters but they made a group chat for me and they were talking
about my ano… my negative attributes”
Respondent 5: “I didn’t experience it first-hand but a good friend of mine experience it. She was
called a slut because of having boyfriend and it actually affected her more than I expected. She
started to become more self-conscious, she started to think about what other people think about
her and other people’s perspective about her when originally she was a confident girl without
caring about other people’s perspective about her”
Respondent 6: “Ahmm… nung Grade 4 ako, I changed my profile picture sa facebook tapos then
may kaklase akong isang lalaki ang ginawa niya nag comment siya ng bastos sa picture ko and
he said na parang “uy kita tayo sa ganito mag gantuhan tayo” then after that nakita siya ng buong
family ko and nag end up nireport siya sa school.”
Respondent 7: “Oo, siguro kasi dati syempre hindi naman kasi ako pikon like, kapag kasi
although cyber-bullying ‘yung ginagawa nila parang kasi sakin hindi siya as in hindi ko siya
tinetake na as in ganun ka-big deal kasi wala lang, kasi pati din ako tumatawa pero siguro, oo
naka experience naman na ako ng cyber-bullying pero hindi ko siya i-binig deal. Ano siya parang
meme pic, picture ko tapos ginawang meme nilagyan ng caption ‘yun ganun lang pero catcall,
hindi.”
Respondent 8: “Oo naman, of course kasi ‘yung social media open yan sa lahat eh, ako naman
hindi ako nagpriprivate ng mga accounts ko, so like, I allow it naman pero kasi ‘yung sa mga
napopost ko like about sa mga opinions ko about sa mga certain sensitive topics lalo na sa
halimbawa sa LGBT, ‘yung opinion ko about LGBT acceptance tapos like, may hindi nag agree
tapos ‘yun na experience ko na ‘yun and then, ‘yung sa mga napopost kong pictures syempre I
don’t know kung loko loko lang ‘yun or something pero may nasasabi silang somehow hurtful
sakin saka somehow offensive.”
Respondent 10: “Oo, na apektuhan na din ako.…kasi nun ng mga elementary days ko…uhm
parang sobrang adik ko sa social media kaya ‘yung pag gamit ko nun na apektuhan din pala
‘yung relationship ko with others so ‘yun nagkakaroon ng pag ba-backstab sakin na parang,” hoy
alam mo ba ‘yun? ‘Yung ganyan-ganyan ni ano ‘yung post-post niya” … kala nila sa kanila so
pinagtulungan nila ako sa Twitter tapos nag parinigan sila tapos ‘yun…parang na feel down ako
tapos… ‘di na ako gumamit nun ng isang buwan ata ‘yun…tapos nanahimik ako for one month
na parang…tingin-tingin nalang ako sa mga posts nila tas ‘yun, hanggang sa nagka-ayos naman
kami personally.”
Axial 3: Miscommunication
Respondent 1: “siguro ‘yung tingin ko na miscommunication kasi for example through mga
messenger chat, kunwari uhm nagsend ako ng message parang pag tinignan ko siya ulit parang
iisipin ko na baka isipin niya nagagalit ako when in fact hindi naman so ‘yun.”
Respondent 2: “Oo kasi syempre kapag nagchachat lang parang iba ‘yung message ‘yung
pinaparating tsaka iba ‘yung gestures nung taong kausap mo. Lagi talaga na kapag pinapaikli
‘yung sinasabi tas ‘yung structure nung sentence parang kala mo nakikipag-away siya pero iba
pala. ‘yun don nagsisimula ‘yung miscommunication”
Respondent 3: “miscommunication dahil uhm I think parang kunwari may nasabi ako dito tapos
parang nagscreenshot siya so parang minsan… minsan ‘yung screenshot na ‘yun mali parang
hindi nila alam ‘yung story diba so it's a miscommunication.”
Respondent 4: “kapag mga jargon lang kapag may mga terms kayo na hindi niyo maintindihan
tas eh diba kasi it's typewritten so ayun nagkakaroon ng misunderstanding.”
Respondent 5: “I actually experienced miscommunication with my friend because on social
media we tend to not say what we really meant to say. On social media, I actually somehow try
to sugar coat my words. For example, I have a friend who has a negative trait, in personal I
would tell him straight forward directly but on social media, a lot of things can get mixed up
with how I construct my sentence. One time, a friend of mine he asked me about an issue
between us and because I’m on social media, were not face to face, I had an excuse to cover my
lie so I just said that it’s ok, things are now ok between us but in reality it’s not ok between us. “
Respondent 6: “Oo, sa chatting madalas…”
Respondent 7: “Oo, kapag halimbawa may tinag ka na picture sa isa mong friend tapos hindi mo
alam na-offend mo na pala sila tapos parang kinabukasan hindi kayo in good terms…”
Respondent 8: “mga misunderstandings lang kasi diba hindi mo naman talaga first-hand na
naririnig kung totoo ba mga sinasabi nila or minsan kasi akala mo okay lang pala pero may na-
offend ka na pala na something sa kaniya daahil sa sinabi mo.”

Respondent 9: “Yes, kasi nai-isip ko iba talaga yung personal tsaka sa paggamit ng social media.
Minsan namimisunderstood talaga ng tao yung way of communicating mo kasi pag nagta-type ka
di mo naman talaga na-eexpress yung sarili mo, nasasabi mo pero di mo na-eexpress…kaya yun
namimisunderstood…alitan ganun.”
Respondent 10: “Oo, ayun nga parang katulad ng nag post-post kalang ng ano...mga ibat-ibang
ano…pagpaparinig akala nila sila na yon. Parang miscommunicate na hindi sila ‘yun kasi hindi
lang naman sila ‘yung grupo at friends ko or mga tao na nasa paligid ko pwede din sa mga taong
‘di pa nila kilala sa ayon.”
Axial 4: Conflicts on Personal Relationships
Respondent 1: “wala doon ‘yung mommy at daddy ko ah ‘yung lolo at lola ko lang, so lahat
kami may phone then may mga accounts din sila parang every time na nasa bahay kami halos
lahat nagcecellphone. Hindi na nag-uusap nang masinsinan, mag-uusap man parang away na
lang hindi ‘yung katulad ng parang dati ganun.”
Respondent 3: “yes kasi sa bahay parang minsan wala na lang kami ginagawa ‘di na kami
nakakapag-usap ng ganito parang lagi na lang kami nakaharap sa cellphone so parang wala na
kaming masyadong bond…”
Respondent 5: “Yes, for example, on family gathering, instead of bonding with my family, we
just use our cellphones, not talking to each other and same goes with my friends for example, we
went to hang out somewhere and then we just play with our phones and then not actually
acknowledge each other’s presence. “
Respondent 6: “Oo, for example, pag sa family pag weekdays ahmm wala kami sa bahay mag
hapon tapos pag-uwi uupo kami sa isang tabi tapos mag pho-phone kami parang nawawalan
kami ng communication pero ang way na lang namin para makapag-usap is dinner tapos after
nun wala na ulit.”
Respondent 8: “‘yun nga ‘yung sinabi ko kanina mas nagiging pre-occupied ka sa time na
magkakasama kayo na which is time to interact personally at time to bond with each other but
instead, you have your phone and you use it instead of talking with each other.”
Respondent 9: “Yes sobra, kasi yan… isa yan sa hindrance kapag magkasama kayo ng mga
friends mo, instead of communicating with each other…’yung oras na dapat sainyo, kinakain
siya ng puro phone instead na mag share kayo ng experiences at moments niyo, kinakain ng
social media eh, ‘yung time niyo sa isa’t-isa.”
Respondent 10: “Hmmm…for me oo...kasi minsan kapag...kunwari reunion niniyo diba,
magkikita kayo at minsan lang ‘yun diba tapos pag punta niyo sa mismong lugar na pupuntahan
niyo...edi lahat nag phone edi wala na kayong time mag communicate ano personally so ‘yun.
Dapat nag chat nalang kayo…. minsan nandiyan na yung fam ko, ‘di ko napapansin kasi nag
phophone ako mag sasalita nalang sila…nagugulat nalang ako.”
Once again the conflicts in using social media was brought up to light. This time, the
respondents identified four different types of conflict. The first is Addiction, followed by Cyber-
bullying, then Miscommunication, and lastly, a hindrance to Personal Relationships. Although
there is not yet any existing standard scale for determining if a person is addicted to social media
based on the number of hours used in a day, the perception of the respondents was clearly
admitting that they themselves are addicted because they use social media for almost the whole
day. Cyber-bullying is heavier problem because it shows that victims of cyberbullying are more
likely to use alcohol and drugs and skip school than other students. They also are more likely to
receive poor grades and experience low self-esteem and health problems. In extreme situations,
cyberbullying has led to suicide (Fersko, 2018). Long before the rise of the Social Media Era,
miscommunication already existed. In this sense, the identified conflict could not be blamed
solely on social media because the social media platforms made a breakthrough to solve this by
allowing the sending of videos and voice messages so as to be able to express oneself more
precisely. Huang (2014) stated that excessive use of social media truly does hinder one’s
relationship with the people around him because he becomes too pre-occupied with his phone.
Selective #13: Planned Intervention to lessen the negative effect of Social media
Axial 1: Operant Conditioning
Respondent 2: “I’ll lessen ‘yung use ko and spend more time doing other things parang social
media detox. I’m planning to spend more time muna sa hobbies tsaka I’ll train myself to give
reward para masanay na kapag kaunti lang ‘yung time ko sa paggamit ng social media, I’ll give
something na I really wanted kapag nagawa ko.”
Respondent 10: “Hmm, sa ngayon oo, kasi sa sobrang dami na ng ginagawa sa schools…sa
ngayon isasantabi ko muna ‘yung mga social media accounts ko tatry ko na maging less active
siguro once in a while na lang. Papatulong din ako syempre sa mga kaibigan ko na magkaroon
ng mga punishment tsaka pagsabihan ‘pag sumosobra sa gamit ganun.”
Axial 2: Diversion from social media
Respondent 1: “mas uunahin ko muna gawin ‘yung mga requirements ko tapos siguro kung
magsosocial media ako mga research lang, tas kakausapin lang si mama ganun lang. Tatry ko rin
na i-divert ‘yung attention ko kapag nafifeel kong mag social media, parang pipilitin kong
gumawa ng ibang bagay.”
Respondent 3: “I have plans na i-decrease na ‘yung usage parang kunwari monday to friday
ginagamit ko lagi ‘yung social media so pag saturday and sunday lagi akong parang self-care
ganyan face mask, tas nagcacafe ako kahit mag-isa lang ako kasi parang ‘yun ‘yung way of ‘yun
‘yung way of myself my me time yan ganun
Axial 3: Time management
Respondent 7: “Yes, time management tsaka siguro if madaming gagawin edi hindi muna
gagamit ng social media. Although nakakatulong sa atin ang social media sa mga bagay-bagay,
dapat tandaan natin na ‘di tayo nabuhay para lang magphone so need pa rin nating unahin ‘yung
mga mahahalagang bagay sa buhay ‘di lang puro social media.”
Axial 4: Controlling desire of using social media
Respondent 4: “‘yun nga discipline lang and syempre respect din kasi you do not want din
naman na other people are prioritizing their phone more than talking to you and sometimes kasi
minsan na lang kayo magkikita so it’s better to bond with them personally. ‘yung social media
it’s there all the time… pero your personal time with other people, it’s precious eh.”
Respondent 6: “ahmm ngayon kasi parang ‘yung wifi namin sa bahay may time limit na parang
sakin at sa buong family ko para pag gantong oras stop na, samin na ‘yung oras.”
Respondent 9: “Oo, kasi lalo na this sem, gusto ko talaga na ano… mag-excel pa sa grades,
although mataas naman na pero nasa sarili ko na yun na gusto ko pa mag-achieve pa ng mas
mataas para sa sarili ko rin naman yun.”

Axial 5: Dealing with Miscommunications
Respondent 2: “Hindi naman kasi we try to talk din naman. ‘yun siguro ano pag may time na
ganun siguro malala na talaga ‘yun parang may galit na sa isa’t isa. Kapag ganun siyempre
bigyan mo muna ng time pero mag-uusap at kailangan talagang mag-usap pa rin in person para
maayos at masave ‘yung relationship.”
Respondent 3: “or the meantime lang pero as ano parang as soon as possible tinatry pa rin
naming ayusin ‘yung friendship din ‘yun or relationship tinatry pa rin naming ayusin ‘yun kasi
syempre sayang tsaka pinapaintindi namin sa isa’t isa na misunderstanding lang lahat ng ‘yun. “
Respondent 5: “What I learned is that is actually much better to talk about conflicts like that in
personal and not use social media as a medium.”
Respondent 6: “parang sasabihin ko “uy lets see each other mag kita tayo para magkalinawan
kasi ayoko na through this lang misunderstanding na ganito through phone ganyan hindi
malinaw. Ayaw ko kasi na namisinterpret lang ‘yung mga maliliit na bagay nakakasira na agad
ng relasyon kaya dapat ayusin agad pero sa personal na kasi mas magkakaintindihan kayo nun.”
Respondent 7: “ni-resolve ko ‘yun sa personal…”
Respondent 9: “Ano… call…call talaga eh “
Respondent 10: “Parang nagiging awkward kami…parang nagkakahiyaan mag-usap, parang
feeling mo plastikan nalang kayo ganun. Dina-daan ko nalang sa kwela ko parang…wala ‘di ko
nalang iniisip ang problema. Iniisip ko nalang na good vibes ‘yung araw na to dapat G.V. G.V.
lang.”
All the planned intervention given by the respondents have a common ground and that is
it needs one’s resolve for the intervention to be successful. This could be seen as true because
when the respondents said, they would abstain from using too much social media with the
purpose of entertainment because there are of school works; it suggests that the decision for the
intervention still remains with the user. More so, when the respondents said they would improve
their time management skills as well as conditioning their desires in using social media, they
actually coined the old adage that goes, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Selective #14: Social media as means to strengthen relationships
Axial 1: Sharing Common Interests
Respondent 3: “tapos ano natutuwa rin naman kami sa mga sa mga lumalabas na news sa social
media kaya it's a way of our entertainment din. Bonding ganun. Sa friends naman ‘yun din
nagkakayayaan lagi dahil sa social media tapos pag may memes sobrang parang alam mo ‘yung
tags ‘yun tinatag namin ‘yung isa't isa.”
Respondent 7: “Kapag may gatherings tapos picture picture tapos share mo ‘yun sa facebook
ganun. Then may mga trends na parang pagkain ganun itatag ko sila”
Respondent 8: “siguro kasi parang mas nagiging kasi minsan diba hindi mo nga nasasabi sa
kanila ‘yung mga gusto mong sabihin or basta ‘yung mga medyo ano, tapos instead nilalabas mo
sa social media siguro dun nakikita nila ‘yung mga thoughts mo tapos mas nagiging aware sila
siguro ‘yun pwede mo gamitin ‘yun to make yourself close with that person tapos to share
interests tapos ‘yun.”

Axial 2: As means of Communication
Respondent 1: “Kay mama lang siguro kasi doon lang ‘yung time na nakakapag-open ako kay
mama. …. Sa friends ano… kapag wala namang pasok ganun normal chikahan lang pero. Parang
‘di nga matatapos isang araw na hindi ko sila makakausap.”
Respondent 2: “‘yun ako ‘yung mga friends ko pag nasa ibang bansa tsaka pag nasa ibang parts
ng Philippines parang ‘yun ‘yun lang ‘yung way namin para makapagconnect kasi ang laki
talagang mahirap na magkita kami gaya dyan parang nakakapag-update kami sa isa’t isa
nagmemessage ganun kaya talagang mas ano name-maintain namin ‘yung closeness namin as
friends.”
Respondent 3: “naiistregthen niya to kasi kunwari gumagala ako tapos mag parang… parang
kahit gumagala ako parang magtetext magmemessage pa din ‘yung mommy ko sa messenger na
parang "asan ka?" tas magrereply ako tas parang kahit doon makakapagpaalam ako hindi lang
‘yung hindi lang akong biglang aano what's that hindi na ako biglang parang I mean
nagpapaalam pa rin ako kahit umaalis ako"
Respondent 4: “if they…they are a far from me I'd contact them through social media ganun
that’s why nagiging aware pa rin ako sa lagay nila since I get to communicate with them
anytime.”
Respondent 6: “nakatulong siya kasi for example ‘yung mga kamag-anak ko na malayo like
‘yung mga tita ko sa Batangas at nasa Japan saka mas nakakausap ko sila and mas parang ‘yung
hindi sila malayo sakin. Kapag sa friends naman madali lang na makausap sila tsaka halos buong
araw sila-sila lang kausap ko nag-uusap tungkol sa mga chika or madalas mga kaklokohan
ganun.”
Respondent 9: “Mas mabilis ko nakoko-connect yung ano ko…yung communication ko. Marami
kasi akong friends na nasa iba na eh. Instead na magkita kami is sobrang kulang ng
time…nagkakaroon kami ng time sa isa’t isa kahit hindi personal atleast yung social media
nacoconnect kami.”
Respondent 10: “Ahhh, social media kasi…uhmm kunwari layo ka sa family mo ngayon,
nakakapag communicate ka pa rin, using apps na sa social media na inaano mo sila every hour or
every minute...parang inauupdate mo sila.”
Pointing out the cons of using social media, there is a must to view how it positively
affects a person’s relationship with his family, friends, and other acquaintances. The answers
were classified into two, suggesting that social media helps build common interests as well as
provide better communication between a person and the people around him. The first point says
that social media becomes a mean of “bonding time” for a person and both for his family and
friends because they could share their similar thoughts and improve closeness. The second one
says that social media helps especially to those people who are not expressive in personal
because they are shy. The second point suggests that it aids such people to express their selves
because there is no physical interaction required when using social media for communication.
Selective #15: Opinions of Parents regarding the usage of Social Media
Axial 1: Lessening the use of Social media
Respondent 7: “kasi kapag gumagamit kasi ako ng social media app tapos nandoon sila mama,
sila mommy sasabihin nila na “ano nagfafacebook ka na naman hindi ka nakikinig ha
nagfafacebook ka lang” parang ganun…bawas-bawasan”

Respondent 8: “reminder lang minsan kapag too much use na ganun pahinga-pahinga rin daw
muna.”
Respondent 10: “Syempre galit sila, kasi umaakyat ‘yun lagi kapag madaling araw eh... naa-
abutan ko na ‘yung O-Shopping kaya sabi nila ‘yung tv huwag daw buksan kung nag pho-phone
ako, eh kasi ‘di ako nakakatulog ay ‘di ako nakakapag cell phone kapag hindi nakabukas ang tv,
kasi parang ang sobrang dilim ng kwarto naming kaya ayon...kaya pinapagalitan ako ng mga
parents ko every...matutulog ako ng madaling araw tapos ‘yun pinapatulog ako.”
Axial 2: Focus on Priorities instead of social media
Respondent 1: “Nagagalit na kasi parang sa buong araw na nasa bahay ako panay cellphone na
lang daw ‘yung ginagamit ko hindi na daw ako tumutulong sa bahay tas ngayon ‘yung sa
midterms ko din hindi na daw ako nag-aaral kaya nagagalit na din si mama.”
Respondent 3: “pinagbabawalan na nila ako kasi minsan talagang hindi ako kasi hindi ako
gumagawa ng gawaing bahay dahil sa social media so parang lagi nila akong pinagsasabihan na,
“hay nako pag nag- asawa ka iiwan ka ng asawa mo kasi hindi ka marunong maghugas ng plato",
ganyan so parang lagi nila akong pinapagalitan parang "yan lang ‘di mo magawa" ‘yun.”
Respondent 5: “They get mad actually because I spend a lot of time on social media, I don’t have
time to do things like, they don’t see me study and they actually don’t want me to see the
negative things posted on social media but the thing is, I’m so addicted to those negative things
learning about those. So, yes, they’re not happy on social media at all.”
Respondent 9: “Control at manage ganun.”

Axial 3: Advices of Parents
Respondent 1: “dapat marunong na ako maging responsible sa lahat ng bagay kaya ko na maging
independent ganun.”
Respondent 2: “Siguro ano lang din ‘yung huwag makikipag-usap kung kani-kanino tapos be
mindful sa mga shineshare na post.”
Respondent 3: “kahit sa social media yan may mga strangers talaga parang ‘yun ‘yung first na
binibigay nila na advice parang dont talk to them parang syempre know… know who to
communicate with hindi lang ‘yung basta-basta ano may mutual friend kayo inaano mo na
inaaccept mo na.”
Respondent 4: “They tell me na not to stay up too late na be careful with my posts kasi I might
harm people.”
Respondent 5: “They tell me to limit my time on using social media, they tell me to manage my
priorities like doing academics first before checking my social media.”
Respondent 6: “Oo, sabi nila always remember kung anong pwede mong I- visit lalo na ‘yung
mga sight na hindi ka familliar with.”
Respondent 7: “Oo, like kapag gagawa ng assignment dapat focus ka lang dun sa ginagawa mo
kaysa mag facebook ganun saka unahin muna ‘yung school works bago social media.”
Respondent 9: “Alamin ang priorities, kapag ‘di mo na alam ‘yung ginagawa mo sa phone
mo…stop muna.”
Respondent 10: “sabi nila huwag lang magpapakita ng sobrang or ‘yung totoong pangalan ko,
like ‘yung social media ko sobrang buo na ng pangalan ko andun din ‘yung address ko. Sabi ng
papa ko, ‘yung privacy dun sa social media account ko huwag ko daw lahat ibunyag…so tapos
‘yung pag gamit ko rin daw bawas-bawasan ko kasi nga raw na-apektuhan na ako ngayon, ‘yung
mata ko sobrang labo na niya tapos ‘yun.”
Of course, given that the use of social media comes with risks that could negatively affect
the users, the parents indeed have a say for this matter. According to the respondents, their
parents revolve around three things when reminding about the proper use of the social media.
The three things are: to lessen the usage, to learn how to set priorities, and lastly, to always be
careful when wandering in the vast world of social media.
Selective #16: Being Responsible users
Axial 1: Careful Posting
Respondent 1: “‘di ako nagpopost ng kung ano ano lalo na kung inapproiate at harsh. “
Respondent 5: “I think, being responsible enough to use social media, age didn’t matter it is
maturity that matters. For example, you can be 20 years old but you can still be immature enough
not to use social media. For me, I think I’m mature enough to handle social media and thinking
before I click, thinking about what I post and what I say and how it’s going to affect me and the
people around me.”
Respondent 7: “kasi “I think before I click”, ayun bago kasi ako mag comment sa isang post
parang inaalam ko muna kung totoo ba ‘yun or hindi, kung fake news ba ‘yun or hindi tapos
bago ko ishare”
Respondent 8: “Kasi I have a strong knowledge about what my opinions and what my insights
are and I can through posting in social media and sharing my ideas and thoughts, I can explain
and fight for it saka para maintindihan ng iba, para maiwansan ‘yung mga hindi naman
maiiwasan ‘yung mga negative na ano, pero parang sa tingin ko kaya ko naman I-handle kung
ano man ‘yung maging consequences ng mga pinopost ko sa social media kasi nga ‘yun ‘yung
mga paniniwala ko saka ‘yun ‘yung mga gusto kong ipost.”
Respondent 9: “Tulad ng sabi ko kanina, nacocontrol ko naman, responsible ako kasi...alam mo
‘yun? ‘di ako ‘yung type na click ng click, iisip muna ako kung tama ba yon. Dapat iniisip mo
muna ang ibang tao na makakakita ng posts mo.”
Axial 2: Learning from experiences
Respondent 2: “ano ko na lang din like nasasabi ko na lang din like it reflects kung sino ako. If
responsible ako sa pag gamit parang as a person. Marami rin naman akong natututunan like
experiences from other people. ‘yun ‘yung foundation parang sa pagiging responsible”
Respondent 3: “I am responsible enough because parang in the past experience I've learned so
much parang how to handle cyber-bullying everytime.”
Respondent 10: “Ahh, kasi ang tagal na din ako gumagamit ng social media...uhm, natutunan ko
na din ngayon kung paano ko i-control ‘yung sarili ko sa pag shi-share pag po-post ng mga
pictures ko na alam ko na saking lang dapat or sa amin-amin lang dapat so ayon.”
Axial 3: Avoidance on inflicting harm to others
Respondent 4: “when you dont uhm… you dont hurt people through your posts.”
Respondent 7: “syempre tinitignan ko din kung baka ‘yung pag share ko na ‘to is silently cyber-
bullying someone ganun na parang pag ba nashare ko ‘to wala bang masasaktan na tao ganun
tapos kapag din nagpopost ako ng mga post ko or status ganun parang gumagamit ako ng mas
may appropriate words hindi ‘yung mga mura ganun kasi parang ewan ko kasi parang kung ano
‘yung pinopost mo sa social media, like status parang it will reflect pero sa’kin lang ‘yun parang
it will reflect my image.”
Respondent 9: “Tulad ng sabi ko kanina, nacocontrol ko naman, responsible ako kasi...alam mo
‘yun? ‘di ako ‘yung type na before I click, nag-iisip muna ako kung tama ba yon. Dapat kino-
consider mo rin yung ibang taong nakakita ng pinopost mo, shina-share mo ganun.”
Axial 4: Controlling use of social media
Respondent 4: “To be responsible is when you help others through it or kapag uh let's say it
doesn't affect your ano… your… it doesn't disrupt your flow of living kasi some people diba like
what you asked me a while ago “do you consider yourself addicted?” Kasi when you become
addict to it nadisisrupt na ‘yung ano mo ‘yung mga dapat mong gawin the things that you should
be uh focused on for example your studies ganun but then if you focus too much on social media
‘yung mga bagay na dapat mong gawin nawawala so that for me is being responsible. “
Since the main topic here is how the social media affects the teenagers, then it is a must
to make sure that they have self-awareness of how they undertake the use of social media. The
respondents ended up having four conclusions, the first is having self-control over their posts,
second is learning from their past mistakes committed in their use of social media, third is
avoiding things that could lead to conflicts between them and other people, and lastly, is to be
responsible in using social media. They have formulated these ways by themselves basically
because at present, they are almost reaching legal age; hence, they could have an overview of
things in a wider perspective. This means they don’t just act rashly when confronted with issues
during their use of the social media. And this is what a responsible social media user is all about.
Chapter 5: Summary of Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

Summary of Findings
As the rate of teenager’s usage and attachment on social media platforms increase, the
negative effects of social media are inevitable to happen. Given this problem, this study aims to
provide an awareness and intervention to balance the usefulness and harm that social media
could bring to teenagers. This study would provide a better understanding in terms of the effects
of social media on the behavior of the teenagers. This is intended for teenagers within ages 16-18
years-old who are active users of social media from Trinity University of Asia. This study is
designed as an action research and used a purposive sampling method. Interviews and interview
schedules were used to gather the data for this study from a time period that started from January
2019 to April 2019.
As the data were obtained, the results show that a lot of the respondents started using
social media at their early age, supporting the reason that as they grow, social media eventually
became part of their habit; which may also imply the reason why they use social media for a long
period of time daily. Moreover, it was observed that a lot of them are mostly engaged in using
Facebook and Twitter among any other apps. The reasons behind are because most of them are
engaged in using social media to connect with other people, to see entertaining contents, and to
be updated with information and trends all at the same time, in a manner that Facebook provides.
Twitter is also frequently use as it suffices the respondent’s desire for freedom of expression.
With these given reasons, it can be observed how a person can use social media to fill-up their
wants and needs in terms of expressing themselves, getting a sense of belongingness, and being
up-to-date with their surroundings. These reasons drive these young people to spend a lot of time
on social media. Consequently, using social media do not always bring positive things for the
users. It becomes a platform that serves as leeway for them to escape from their responsibilities
in real world. The findings show that most of the respondents tend to prioritize social media over
their school works. In addition, many of them also experienced a feeling of inferiority, cyber-
bullying, and miscommunication with the use of social media. As the respondents notice these
effects, they personally suggest some intervention to help them lessen the use of social media
gradually. They plan to lessen their use through having operant conditioning where one has to
provide rewards or punishments in order to control their usage, others plan to promote discipline
to divert from social media, and others, to exercise time management. With the problem with
social media, it is also better if the parents of these teenagers should be involved in helping their
children to lessen the use of social media and be more responsible in using it.
Conclusion
This study was conducted to weigh in the positive and the negative influence of social
media on the behavior of the respondents. As evidently shown, there is a long amount of time
that these people spend with at least 5 hours that extends to more than 12 hours a day.
Undeniably, social media becomes a part of the routine of the teenagers at present. Social media
starts to shape the behavior of the teenagers as they continuously use it. Social media has been
positively accounted by the respondents as a great tool for helping them feel a sense of
belongingness and validation that they can easily get through a large community of people.
Through the posts that they share online, they learn how to be accountable for every words that
they will share. Although they mostly feel good about the complements and appreciations they
get from others online, there are still people who feels the opposite way. Other people gets to feel
insecure at times when they experience negative feedback from other people. They also tend to
compare their popularity from other people which decreases their self-esteem and confidence.
Social media also provides variety of information either about trends, social and political issues,
or personal posts from others, in which the teenagers often encounter. Most of the respondents
show interests regarding such information leading to the formation on how they perceive the
bigger world around them and how they will let it influence them. As social media gets most of
the time of the teenagers, data also shows that these people changed the way they manage their
priorities in life. As they use social media, they often lose track of time to do the things which
are more important; thus, leading to the habit of procrastination.
The teenagers ranging from 16 to 18 years old are the focus of this study. Most of the
respondents considered themselves matured enough to know how to properly manage and avoid
inappropriate actions with the use of social media. However, there is still a long amount of time
that these people spend with at least 5 hours that extends to more than 12 hours a day. These
respondents have been observed to lose control of using social media because once they start to
use it, they have a hard time to get over it. Most of the respondents use various types of social
media accounts but Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, and Instagram are the most common
platforms used.
As there are a variety of social media platforms that the cyber space can offer, Facebook,
as a platform often used and common to all, can be considered as the most influential and
provides great impact on the behavior of the teenagers. The reason is because Facebook is a
platform that contains diverse contents and features. The teenagers often use not just to
communicate but also to freely post anything. Facebook allows different kinds of content such as
pictures, videos, and personal thoughts of users; which makes it different from any other
platforms. Henceforth, Facebook allows these teenagers to be more exposed to various contents
that may contain inappropriate things not suitable for these teenagers. Facebook also started and
intensifies the meme culture which teenagers at present are fond of. Although it serves as a great
entertainment for these young people to enjoy, it can still contain negative impact on the
behavior of the teenagers.
Using social media is not totally harmful but it is always better to use it in moderation.
However, practicing moderation is a hard part to do at the present condition of students. With
that being said, the findings of this study provided some guidelines and intervention to somehow
lessen the amount of time spent on social media and to maximize the positive effects that it could
bring. First, in order to lessen one’s usage, it is better to start with gradual steps, beginning with
cutting the usage of social media by 30 minutes each day. One must need to control and
discipline himself in order to lessen the dependency on social media especially if there are more
important things to accomplish. Strict time management can also help by creating a schedule for
the tasks that needs to be accomplished at a certain time so as social media will not take the time
intended for it. One can use an alarm before using social media in order to maintain right amount
of time to check his account. One of the findings also shows that operant conditioning can be
helpful by giving rewards or punishments when one successfully controls the amount of usage or
fail at it respectively. Diverting one’s attention when feeling the urge use social media can also
be helpful by trying to do more interesting things like a person’s hobby to spend more time
talking and bonding with the people around. Regardless, of the chosen method, what is more
important is the willingness of a person to commit into lessening the usage of social media to
balance virtual world from the real one.
Recommendations
It has been seen that mots, if not all, teenagers nowadays spend more and more
time facing their phones, surfing the internet, and focusing on their virtual lives through the use
of social media. Given this situation the study at hand was conducted and the results have been
taken into account. By doing so, the researchers found out that there are a few points that need
more attention.
After all these years, the existence of social media had cause an uproar especially among
the psychologists. It has still been on debate if there is really a direct impact or effect to a
person’s mind whenever he uses social media for a specific length of time. The absence of a
standard scale that could determine if a person is addicted to social media depending on his
number of hours allotted daily poses a big problem. Given such, the researchers recommend that
a standardized test should be created. The test would be made up of questions ranging from the
number of hours used up to how they could control their selves in stopping the usage of social
media. A Likert Scale would be used in support of this to measure how addicted they are. The
standardization would of course be passed to a more advanced association for the verification.
Another point for improvement seen by the researchers is how the scope should be
widened. The researchers have seen that it is possible to see what the most used social media
platform is by simply asking and collating the answers of the respondents but it is not possible to
see what the most influential social media platform is. Having said this, the researchers would
like to recommend that the extent of the following studies be able to cover the said loophole.
The “Meme Culture” of the Philippines has been seen to be improving and increasing its
influence among the teens of today. In the same manner, the said culture is on the risk of
becoming another Toxic Filipino Culture because the culture masks the important and serious
matters that our country is facing. It is great that the people are becoming aware of the necessary
issues but due to the Meme Culture, they do receive the information but not the need for wanting
to help stop the issues. The researchers would like to recommend that the following researchers
should try to incorporate on how to effectively handle the Meme Culture of the Philippines.
The researchers acknowledge that there are still points that need to be improved. It is in
this light that the researchers would like to recommend the succeeding researchers to conduct
more studies and validate the findings of the current study. If by any chance the new researchers
would find a discrepancy in the results, may they be able to fulfill the necessary information for
the study to be more credible and help better in promoting the awareness of teens on how they
should properly use the social media.

References
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Running Head: Intervention for the Effects of Social Media on Teenager’s Behavior 1

Proposed Interventions for the Negative Effects of Social Media

on the Behavior of Teenagers from Trinity University of Asia

for School Year 2018-2019

A Practical Research Paper

Presented to the Senior High School Department

Trinity University of Asia

The Requirements in the Senior High School

Badillo, Will Jamz

Danica Visda Maris

Rivera, Heather Anne

Colendrino, Jude Christian

Second Semester S.Y. 2018-2019

negatively by experiencing insecurities, cyber-bullying, and dependence on social media. At this

Chapter 1: The Introduction and Background of the Problem

Background of the Study

Setting of the problem

since it both benefits and serves as a hindrance to their growth as individuals.

that is still under investigation by many psychological institutions.

place for crimes and further conflicts.

Seriousness of the problem

extend the effect in the future.

behavior as affected by social media platforms among teens.

Statement of the problem

Specifically, this paper aims to answer the following questions:

c. Types of social media platforms used

them maximize the effects of social media on their behavior?

Significance of the Study

teenagers, especially to value having real interactions over virtual interactions

The results of this study will be of great benefit to the following:

social media and to help them recover from it.

focused on their studies as well.

people in real life.

resources to support their future studies.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

will be validated interviews.

is psychologically or physically habit-forming.

under particular condition.

medium used to form a global computer network to facilitate online communication.

in something; a range of different things or people.

Intervention. It is an action taken to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order

to improve it or prevent it from getting worse.

Reconnaissance. This pertains to a preliminary survey to gain information.

inclusion, social stability and social peace.

Virtual. It is a state of being on or simulated on a computer or computer network.

Operant Conditioning. It is a learning process through which the strength of a behavior is

modified by reinforcement or punishment.

own worthiness or legitimacy

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies

positively and how it can affect them negatively.

could be profoundly seen nowadays as a huge hit.

without parental permission."

safety settings that are available to them.

social well-being of young people.

in reducing mental health disorder symptoms are needed.

that should be considered.

which sometimes lead to psychological dependency.

eye contact which makes it more convenient for them to socialize.

and education in general.

both negative and positive sides.

well-being (Shakya & Christakis, 2017).

consequences, and remedies of social media addiction is thus of paramount importance.

According to Xiong (2019), a cost-efficient intervention that included cognitive

media and further improved mental health and academic efficiency.