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#Nofilter
Affects of social media on teenagers

Michala Freedle
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
March 30, 2015

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Over the past decade social media has started booming and has
made a huge dent in the world, but with that, issues such as bullying,
behavioral/psychological disorders, and suicide have increased in
teenager. Is social media to blame, or does it play a smaller role than
experts believe? Sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and
so many more have gradually taken over our lives, especially in the
younger generations; There are now multiple ways to instantaneously
share information, ideas, and opinions through sites like social
networks, blogs, and even videos but also making it easier for
teenagers to be bullied or become the bully themselves.
Adolescent years are already the most embarrassing, difficult,
and confusing time in a persons life and now that social media is so
prevalent it makes this time period that more challenging. For girls this
time can be especially hard because their bodies are undergoing major
changes that can either be a self-esteem booster or the complete
opposite. This is also the time when most pre-teens start joining social
networking sites like Facebook and Instagram. Teens, especially girls,
figure out tricky ways to hide blemish marks or whiten teeth to achieve
the flawless look in pictures. But thats just the start. Seven in ten girls
believe that they are not good enough or dont measure up in some
way, including their looks, performance in school, and relationships
with friends and family members. This really surprised me because
from the outside it can be very hard to tell who has self-esteem issues

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and you never think about how other people see themselves. Now that
it is pointed out rarely do you find a girl that has only a few, minor
things they want to change about themselves and truly believe they
are perfect just the way they are. You can see this in pictures when
girls use editing apps in an attempt to hide these flaws to the online
world. Not only do girls edit their pictures but also have strategic ways
for gaining followers and getting more likes such as: posting at high
traffic hours (posting a night when people are scrolling through their
news feed before bed), following famous people so that fans will follow
you, have people that are insta famous post pictures and tag you,
and many more clever tactics.
Boys have different self-esteem issues that can worsen because
of social media. These issues are more about their bodies rather than
their overall looks. More than forty percent of boys in middle school
and high school regularly exercise in order to gain muscle mass. On
social networking sites they will post pictures of them in the gym and
even tweet about working out to prove to their followers that they are
working on improving their bodies. Some even go to the extreme and
take steroids to help achieve this goal. Thirty-eight percent of these
middle school and high school aged boys reported using protein
supplements and nearly six percent of them admitted to using steroids.
This can cause developmental issues later on, especially for middle
schoolers, because their bodies are still developing. Even though boys

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seem to hide their self-esteem issues better than girls, it is still a huge
problem that does not need to be over looked.
These self-esteem issues that develop because of social
networking sites may seem minor as a teenager but can eventually
grow into something much more. Behavioral issues such as engaging
in sexual activities with a person online can cultivate when always
being connected because one will start to feel comfortable behind a
screen rather than having face-to-face contact. Doctor Catherine
Steiner-Adair, author of The Big Disconnect, says Its not like it creates
a nonverbal learning disability but it puts everybody in a nonverbal
disabled context, where body language, facial expression, and even
the smallest vocal reactions are rendered invisible. Older generations
honestly believe that this generation could not survive without the
Internet. We cant get mad at this because we dont give them a
reason to believe otherwise. Social networking sites can also cause
psychological issues like depression that results from low self-esteem.
Low self-esteem is described as a thinking disorder in which an
individual views him/herself as inadequate, unlovable, and/or
incompetent. Once formed low self-esteem is hard to disregard; this
negative view penetrates every thought producing faulty assumptions
and ongoing self-defeating behavior. Having a high self-esteem doesnt
only come from personally feeling good about yourself but also comes
from how others perceive you. Older generations tell us not to worry

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about what others think of us, but in todays time, it is nearly

impossible not to do so. Teens today worry about having to look their
best while doing the smallest tasks in public for the fear of being
caught on social media. An article from KidsHealth, written by Michelle
J New, states that Our tweens and early teens are a time when we
become more aware of celebrities and media images- as well as how
other kids look and how we fit in. The main point taken from this
quote is that most teenagers just want to fit in and feel as if they
have to change things about themselves to achieve this; in many cases
this can be taken to dangerous lengths such as developing mental
illnesses like anorexia, bulimia, or even, in extreme, suicide.
Although the extreme cases are hard to ignore, it is crucial for
parents to be aware of all problems that can arise from their child
using social networking sites. It is wise for parents to educate
themselves on the social networking sites their child is using and how
they use it before they confront them about a situation. It can be
frustrating for teenagers to listen to their parents complain about their
social media habits when they dont understand how it even works.
Also parents need to be aware that even their good teenager may
succumb to peer pressure at some point, especially when there are
ways to be anonymous online. Parents may think their child is
completely fine because they fail to talk to them about issues going on
in their lives. Educating your child about how some actions online can

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have unintended consequences could be the difference between life

and death. The top wish for teenage girls is for their parents to openly
communicate with them.
With all the negative talk about social media, when used right,
there can be many benefits for adolescent health and development.
Social networking sites are a way to extend friendships and connect
with people you otherwise would never talk to. It is a way for teenagers
to express themselves and display their creativity. It is an opportunity
to share and discuss parts of teen culture that can connect them to
people with the same interests. Fifty-seven percent of teenagers look
too social media to provide them with advice or answers to health
concerns on any topic you can think of. Although if taken too far can
cause a non-verbal state it can also benefit teenagers who are shy or
socially awkward to communicate in a comfortable way. This in time
can help them break out of their shell and become more social in faceto-face contact. Social networking sites like Facebook can also be
extremely helpful for students to discuss topics with their classmates.
Not only can Facebook connect you with classmates but also with
relatives or family friends that you may not see often. As for another
popular site like Instagram, which is mainly used by young
generations, its a more relaxed site to post pictures without the
anxiety of every family member seeing; Its not flooded with the older
generation. It is also higher quality because users take the time to edit

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and use filters to make the picture more visually appealing. In essence,
Facebook gets all of the photos we took- the good, the bad, etc- while
Instagram, just gets the one that really summed up the event we went
toOn Facebook we just throw up everything we got so people can tag
each other and show our family members that we are still alive
(Andrew Watt).
In a blog post, by Andrew Watt, referencing Facebook, he says,
Its dead to us. Facebook is something we all got in middle school
because it was cool but now is seen as an awkward family dinner party
we cant really leave. Its weird and can even be annoying to have
Facebook at times. That being said, if you dont have a Facebook,
thats even more weird and annoying. Its time to face the facts that
we live in a cyber world where the Internet consumes our lives and will
never go away. How we use these sites is what defines us. Is social
media to blame for this generations self-esteem issue or does it play a
smaller role than experts believe? Randye Hoder helps shed some light
to this question in her article from Time Magazine, No doubt, in most
cases the reasons for the childs death are complex, and the blame
cannot be laid solely on an app or website that was home to the
bullying, or even the awful youngsters who participated in it. Granted
social media may play a huge role in the unhappiness of a teenager
but there are many other factors that come in. A father of a fourteenyear-old boy who killed himself told Time My son didnt commit

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suicide because of social media. But, it didnt help. Some parents and
even teenagers dealing with the stress of social networks first hand
may believe the opposite. This is an unanswered question that
depends solely on the situation at hand and the support of family and
friends.

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Works Cited

"11 Facts About Teens and Self Esteem." 11 Facts About

Teens and Self Esteem. Ed. Ben Kassoy. N.p., n.d. Web. 30
Mar. 2015.
Body Image and Self-Esteem. KidsHealth. Michelle J. New.
The Nemours Foundation, 01 Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015
Carroll, J.A. & Kirkpatrick, R.L. (2011). Impact of social
media on adolescent behavioral health. Oakland, CA:
California Adolescent Health Collaborative.
Hoder, Randye. "Five Things Parents Should Tell Their Kids
About Anonymous Apps." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 30 Mar.
2015.