The Impact Of Social Media On Today’s Youth, And Their Future

What do you do when your cell phone pings? How many likes did I get on that selfie I posted? What happens if no one even comments on what I post? How does that make you feel? For too many teens the likes and comments on their social media feeds validates their self worth and self image. Why?

Social media has become a very important part of the lives of today’s youth. The impact of social media has good and bad effects on today’s youth using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram, gaming sites and blogs. The sites have the ability to inform them, educate them, provide political awareness, show employment opportunities, social benefits and provide general awareness of various topics of interest.

Some of the good effects of social media are the youth have 24 hour access to their family and friends, the ability to keep up with birthdays, special occasions and social events in their lives and the lives of others. They have the ability to look up information and research a multitude of topics, as well as get advised by specialists and professionals. They have access to their teachers, as well as access to online resources that can help them keep up their grades and improve where academic improvements are necessary. It has been stated that 27. 8% of Americans get their news online. Due to the accessibility of social media it can be presumed that many youth more than likely get their news this way. The youth also have the ability to find employment and for those who have entrepreneurial ambitions they can promote their businesses and products, opening up a global customer base worldwide. Social media has allowed the youth to keep up with old friends and make new friends both near and far.

Some of the negative effects of social media are that these platforms make the youth more accessible to criminal elements that may have never gained access to them if not for their online presence. Also many youth become too open on social media and lose a lot of their privacy by divulging too much personal information. Social media has also leadway to a new term, “cyber-bullying, ” which is the electronic communication to bully someone by sending intimidating or threatening messages. In the same way as regular bullying, cyber-bullying can cause emotional trauma and sometimes lead to suicides. Youth can misuse social media by cheating on school assignments or jeopardizing their employability posting inappropriate or offensive things. Social media can also be used to spread misinformation and because people do not perform their own research tend to buy into the false reportings. Social media platforms can influence the future of the youth by making them very capable but also more incompetent. By allowing the youth to be spoon-fed answers with ease, taking away the need or desire to research information for themselves, the “old fashion way”, by opening up a book. If the youth were required to perform their own research, searching can lead way to growth and learning, searching for information is the equivalent of teaching a man how to fish rather than giving him a fish. Social media is creating an inactive, socially inept generation. The youth are less physically fit due to inactivity and spending more time on their digital screens than outside participating in healthy activities. Due to their inactivity cases of obesity are growing at a rapid rate in the this generation and many adolescents are experiencing medical issues that previously only affected older adults. Their connection to constantly updating their online presence is evidently impacting their health and wellbeing. Communication skills have depleted. Some youth tend to abuse social media by spending too much time socializing online to the point that they have lost the ability to have meaningful human interaction.

Today’s youth has stifled communication to the point where face to face interaction is awkward and uncomfortable. Written communication has become obsolete turning writing skills into text-speak, grammatical errors, and a string of emojis. Cursive writing has become archaic and some youth can not write or read it. The sooner we recognize that these basic social customs are eroding away; then the sooner the parents of today’s youth can start setting limits to screen time. In an effort to start helping the youth to re-establish the development of their communication skills. Ping, what are you going to do?