A Discussion of the Positives and Negatives of Children's Social Media Use

It’s no secret that the introduction of social media has greatly impacted the world we live in today and the minds of young people. But to what extent? Are the moral panics of losing the ability to communicate face-to-face real? Or are there more benefits from the use of social media than we initially thought? According to (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD, 2011, p. 800) 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half log in once a day. (Livingstone, S, 2002) made the excellent point: “Young people are at the point in their lives where they are most motivated to construct identities, to forge new social groupings, and to negotiate alternatives to given cultural meanings”. Basically, young minds are extremely impressionable, so we must consider what affect this extensive use of social networking sites has. According to (Correa, T, Hinsley, A, & de Zuniga, H 2010), 89% of teens report using a computer, and 14% report seeing something they do not want their parents to know about. This is alarming, but as (Livingstone, S, 2002) points out, these same types of concerns were raised when television and VCR were introduced. I will look at the arguments for the positives of using social media as well as the negatives, and weigh this against my own knowledge and experiences to form my own opinion.

(O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD, 2011) brings up many positives of using social media, including the ability to stay connected with friends and family, share pictures, and exchange ideas. In addition, social media brings opportunities for community engagement, such as raising money for charities and volunteering, as well as enhancement of individual and collective creativity, sharing artistic and musical endeavors, and the growth of ideas from blogs, podcasts, and videos. Shared interests lead to talking to others from more diverse backgrounds, through which adolescents learn the lessons of respect and tolerance by increased discourse about personal and global issues. A survey of teenagers ages 12-17 found that 62% of online teens get news about current events and politics online. There is an endless amount of opportunities to learn and grow and create on the Internet. In a survey from 2009, 38% of Internet-using teens say they shared content online, and all demographic groups are equally as likely to share content (Lenhart, A, Purcell, K, Smith, A, & Zickuhr, K 2010, p. 23). However, (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD, 2011) also states that all of these things will help to foster an adolescent’s individual identity and unique social skills. I disagree with this—many young people create alternate identities of themselves on the Internet, typically due to the fact that they are not happy with themselves in the real world and get pulled into cyberspace. This idea is further backed up by a survey I created and sent out to my peers, where I asked, “How accurately do you believe a person’s Facebook profile depicts their personality and their life?”, to which 0% said “completely accurate” and 76% said “somewhat accurate”. This shows that users of Facebook between the ages of 18-21 understand that people like to portray an image of themselves on social networking sites that are not always completely representative of their real selves.

Aside from social media, many young people use the Internet for health concerns such as STI’s and depression—providing a network of support where they know they’re not alone. According to a survey of teens ages 12-17, 31% get health, dieting or physical fitness information from the Internet, and 17% gather information about topics that are hard to discuss like drugs or sexual health (Lenhart, A, Purcell, K, Smith, A, & Zickuhr, K 2010 p.4). (Lenhart, A, Purcell, K, Smith, A, & Zickuhr, K 2010) stated, “The mobile technologies that teens use daily…have already produced multiple improvements in health care, such as increased medication adherence, better disease understanding, and fewer missed appointments”. However, this typically brings up the issue of inaccurate health information online.

As mentioned before, there seems to be typical fears and anxieties that are recycled as each new media comes about. Currently, questions raised about the Internet ask about violent, stereotyped, exploitative and pornographic content which are reinforcements of individualistic, lazy, prejudiced and uncritical activities (Livingstone, S 2002 p.5). It was found (Livingstone, S 2002 p.7) that these moral panics are generally not productive of good research: “You don’t find often teenagers turned by computer games into lonely, isolated addicts unable to communicate with each other—rather, they incorporate new media into their peer networks, using both face-to-face and online interactions, visiting houses to talk about and play these games like they used to swap comics”. Schoenback & Becker (1989) surveyed the impact on households of media introduced in the 1980’s (VCR and TV) and found little evidence of reduction in time or money spend on non-media leisure. It is interesting that in my daily life I have found that even my face-to-face interactions with people involve talking about things that we saw on social media—“did you see what she said? Did you see that funny tweet?” However, it is true that we definitely have the ability to find information much faster—if there is ever a question no one knows the answer to, the answer is always, “Google it!”

Something that is currently being discussed in Europe is 2.0 learning, which could be used to integrate learning to a wider community—meeting people from other age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds, exchanging knowledge, and increasing academic achievement (Redecker, C, Ala-Mutka, K, & Punie, Y 2010 p.7). 2.0 Learning encourages teaching and learning processes that are based on personalization and collaboration. Teachers become designers, coordinators, moderators, mediators, and mentors, while students take responsibility for their own learning progress and support each other (Redecker, C, Ala-Mutka, K, & Punie, Y 2010 p.8). This is a very interesting concept that definitely has very positive potential.

So, do the positives outweigh the negatives? One very prominent negative is cyberbullying, defined as “Using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person” It is the most common online risk, and “Can cause profound psychological outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation and suicide” (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011 p.801). Personally, in my hometown a young boy of 15 years old committed suicide because of people bullying him online, sparking a huge debate on education of cyberbullying in the curriculum.

Another negative is sexting, which is “Sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs or images via cell phone, computer, or other digital devices (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011 p.802). According to (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011) 20% of teens have sent or posted nude or seminude photos or videos of themselves, and some were charged with a felony of child pornography. I have definitely witnessed young girls’ reputations get ruined by what they thought was innocently sending a nude picture to a boy, who then sends it to everyone in the school.

A negative that may not be so well known is Facebook depression, defined as, “Depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression” (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011 p.803). Acceptance by peers is so critical in adolescent life, and therefore they become at risk for social isolation and turn to unsafe sites for acceptance—sites that may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or self-destructive behaviors (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011 p.803). In the survey I created, I asked the question, “Has the use of social media ever affected the way you feel about yourself (your looks, your economic status, your social status, etc)?” and 88% of respondents said yes, indicating the huge impact using social media can have on your mental health.

Privacy is another very big issue. Adolescents don’t understand the long-term repercussions of their “digital footprint”, and post inappropriate pictures and things that could cost them a college acceptance or a job. The online realm represents ‘their’ space that is visible to their peer group but away from parents. In my survey I asked, “Have you ever posted something on social media that you regret?” and 87% of respondents said yes.

Leading off of this, the use of social media has led to a much more self-absorbed generation. In an experiment by (Villani, S, MD 2001), a young girl discussed getting comments by “friends” on her pictures and said, “It’s like, quite nice, I think, when people say you’re pretty. I like when they comment me because, like, it shows that they care”. This truly shows how misled and egotistical this younger MySpace generation has become.

During my research, I found a quote that really sums up what needs to happen in order for social media to be beneficial to adolescents: “The challenge to adults who deal with children, either personally as parents or professionally, will be to monitor media use in ways that foster curiosity and the positive aspects of the ability of media to teach, yet simultaneously protect children from spending too much time with media at the expense of human interactions…” (O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011). Basically, everything in moderation—social media use has many positive aspects, but when taken to the extreme it can be detrimental to a young person’s mental health and put their futures in danger.

References

Correa, T, Hinsley, A, & de Zuniga, H 2010, ‘Who Interacts on the Web?: The Intersection of Users’ Personality and Social Media Use’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 26, issue 2, pp. 247-253, viewed 26 August 2013, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563209001472.

Lenhart, A, Purcell, K, Smith, A, & Zickuhr, K 2010, ‘Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults’, Pew Research Center, viewed 25 August 2013, http://web.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Social_Media_and_Young_Adults_Report_Final_with_toplines.pdf.

Livingstone, S 2002, Young People and New Media: Childhood and the Changing Media Environment, SAGE Publications, viewed 30 August 2013, http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=e4AHeRPLs0oC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=social+media+impact+on+young+people&ots=myiQwM0sIC&sig=VciCLnprTIsb5hvCCE-tSJEU0zs#v=onepage&q=social%20media%20impact%20on%20young%20people&f=false

Livingstone, S 2008, ‘Taking Risky Opportunities in Youthful Content Creation: Teenagers’ Use of Social Networking Sites for Intimacy, Privacy and Self-expression’, New Media & Society, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 393-411, viewed 30 August 2013, http://nms.sagepub.com/content/10/3/393.short.

O’Keeffe, G, MD & Clarke-Pearson, K, MD 2011, ‘The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families’, Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, vol. 127, no. 4, pp. 800-804, April 1, viewed 26 August 2013, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short.

Redecker, C, Ala-Mutka, K, & Punie, Y 2010, ‘Learning 2.0-The Impact of Social Media on Learning in Europe’, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, viewed 28 August 2013, http://www.ict-21.ch/com-ict/IMG/pdf/learning-2.0-EU-17pages-JRC56958.pdf.

Villani, S, MD 2001, ‘Impact of Media on Children and Adolescents: A 10 Year Review of the Research, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 40, issue 4, pp. 392-401, viewed 24 August 2013, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856709603877.