Teenage Addiction to Social Media, Essay Example

Social media has become an integral part of nearly every teenager in the world.  As a result, parents, educators, and other adults have a great desire to understand the role that social media plays in teens’ lives. Some are optimistic about social media use, while others are sure it will cause more harm than good, especially when it comes to the emotional well-being of the teens. To date, there are about 1.2 billion teenage users of Facebook around the world (Boyd, 2007).  Teenagers spend much of their time engaging in activities on Facebook. They are updating status, posting pictures, liking, and commenting and others posting for nearly six hours a day on average. With the invention of Smartphones and 4G networks, teenagers are spending more time on social media because they have easy access to it. It is in their pockets. Its accessibility and ease of use has made it addictive for many teenagers. Many view it as a form of entertainment while others center their lives on it. For many, their addiction to social media has started to interfere with their daily lives and parents are outraged. The obvious question for most is when has social media use become an addiction and what should be done about it. Teens of today are the first to embark upon teenage years with social networking sites; therefore it is still unclear if social networking will be more of a benefit or detriment to the average teen.

Internet addiction is described as  the use of social media to an extent that creates psychological, social, school, and work difficulties in one’ life.  A person with a technology addiction will spend a great amount of time using the Internet, which leads to increased levels of loneliness and depression from the lack of human relationships outside the use of technology. Social media can be a double edged sword. Teenagers can benefits from expanding their social network and meeting people from different cultures and different parts of  the word- something that would not have been possible twenty years ago from the comfort of one’s own home.  Teens with similar hobbies and mindsets often form communities within social media stations. For example, teens who like to play the same types of video games can chat and share game secrets with one another. However, studies have shown that social media networks seem to attract teens with psychological and social problems more often than it does teens without these problems. This is because using social media has a degree of anonymity. For example, “Technology addiction can have several negative effects on a teen. The attractiveness of anonymity, for example, might pull a teen away from social engagement. After all, a teen might embarrass himself at a party, but that’s something not easily done online” (Boyd, 2007).

A teen can be whoever he/she wants to be on social media. Often this is what attracts teens that are having problems forming friendships or fitting in. In some sense digital technology has broken a barrier between reality and imagination. Those teens may become addicted to social media because they are enjoying the life they have created there more than the life they are actually living. The American Psychiatric Association has yet to include social media addiction as a legitimate diagnosis because it is difficult to diagnose this as a disorder. When a teen spends hours on social media sites is he/she addicted to social media? Some signs of social media addiction are: Feeling preoccupied with the Internet, use the Internet with increasing amounts of time to achieve satisfaction, had repeatedly unsuccessful attempts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use, feeling restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when not using the Internet, staying online longer than intended, jeopardized significant relationships because of Internet use. For example:

“Almost all teenagers in America today have used social media. Nine out of 10 (90%) 13- to 17-year-olds have used some form of social media. Three out of four (75%) teenagers currently have a profile on a social networking site, and one in five (22%) has a current Twitter account (27% have ever used Twitter). Facebook utterly dominates social networking use among teens: 68% of all teens say Facebook is their main social networking site, compared to 6% for Twitter, 1% for GooglePlus, and 1% for MySpace (25% don’t have a social networking site” (Turkle, 2011  ).

Social and other digital media are a part of the daily lives of the vast majority of teens.

The Internet is a great tool for teens to use when used properly and with proportion. However, too much use of the Internet can have a negative effect on a teen’s well-being. Although teens love social media, many have shared a desire to “unplug” and go back to normal life. Many teens describe themselves as addicted to their cell phones and other gadgets. Teens who report this say that they are addicted to their cell phones because they are attached to their social media sites. For example, “Many teens express and almost adult-like weariness with the pressures of the constant texting and posting involved in their modern lives”. (Turkle, 2011)

Teens are attracted to technology for several reasons. The main reason is that teens have poor coping skills. When they are stressed they often turn to something that comforts them. This something has to be easy to focus on. Consequently, many teens use social media sites as coping mechanisms. It is an escape from challenging situations they don’t want to face. Also, teens seem to be bolder when using social media. They might say things that they would have never said to a person face to face. Secondly, the Internet is widely available. So, many teens are a part of this virtual world due to peer pressure. They want to fit in with other kids their age. It’s also a curiosity issue. Teens may come back to school discussing who posted what or who liked what; everyone who is on social media knows exactly what they are discussing. This will make children who are not a part of the virtual world feel like an outcast. According to Turkle, there are five psychological traits that drive one to use social media. First, there is the fear of missing out (FoMo). According to her, humans have a desire to belong. “27 percent of consumers admit they check social networks as soon as they wake up, and 51 percent continue to log in periodically throughout the day” (Turkle, 2011  ). The next is one’s ego. Many people check their statuses to see how many people agree with them. It is an emotional attraction to have an audience. Third, is the way one is perceived. The way a person perceives something is his/her reality. For teens this is the ultimate truth because they have not experienced enough life to be able to weigh situations for worthiness. For a teenager, perception is everything. The fourth trait is control. Social media uses desire control over issues. It is much easier to un-friend someone than it is to tell them that they hurt your feeling and upset you. Teens do this all the time. They come to the realization that someone is not their friend because they un-friended them on Facebook. They accept it and never discuss it. Finally, social comparison is the final trait (Turkle, 2011). Teenagers are learning what is acceptable. They need to be able to compare how they think, feel, and look to other teens. Social media allows them to do this.

Social media gives the teen a sense of empowerment that they are usually not capable of having in the real world. Teens’ addiction to social media is merely a compulsion to fit in with other teens. Some teens may overdo it because social media interferes with the face to face human relationships they have. For the most part, using social media is probably harmless. Most teens are able to discern if social media has become an issue. For other teens that are unable to do this, parents must step in. Parents must be vigilant of teens Internet use. There are far more dangerous aspects of using the Internet than the possibility of becoming addicted.

Works Cited

Boyd, D. (2007). Why youth (heart) social network sites: the role of networked publics in teenage social life. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), MacArthur Foundation series on digital learning—Youth, Identity, and Digital Media volume (pp. 119-142). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.