I am always on my phone, going through different apps and texting my friends. I especially have used it as a procrastinating tool, since I check social media multiple times a day., whether I am bored or actually have work to do. Recently, I have been trying to stop going on my phone so much and it has made me realize how much everyone else is addicted to their phones and social media. People are always obsessing about topic after topic, whether on Twitter, Instagram, etc. Which is what makes this subject interesting, to see how the spread of social media is affecting us. I believe that I am qualified to write about the way social media is affecting teens because the invasion of social media is affecting me, as a teen, and the world around me. I have first hand experience with the topic and it is something that is probably going to get worse before it gets better. 

The first article discussed ten different ways social media affects our mental health. It listed reasons such as how social media is addictive, leads to multitasking and cyberbullying, can make us unhappy and glamorizes drug and alcohol use. Under each point, the author, Caitlin Probst, discussed why the reasoning is correct and backed up the reasoning with a reference to a study. She identifies various reasons as to why social media is having a negative impact towards teen health, although she also brings up two rebuttal arguments in the last couple points about positive impacts of social media, such as it makes teens more sociable. These points work to enhance my overall argument, as I can argue against them. Probst, does not have a lot of credibility just by her name and the website since she is not well known, and neither is the website, degreed.com. There is no reference to her profession or background either. Although, by citing her sources, this gives her argument some credibility since she references more well-known sources. The article itself is relevant to today's society, since it is dated from April 29th of 2015. Probst seems to be mostly informative, but she seems slightly biased since she talks about more negative aspects of social media. She mentions two positive views and eight negative.

Similarly, the second article argues that social media is negatively impacting children and teens. It includes examples such as, how teens are not learning social skills by only talking online, or how kids are constantly trying to make themselves look good online. Contrastly to the first article, the second article discusses some ways that parents can take action, including not using, or reduce using, one's technology in front of their child. This article will be valuable to my argument since it includes an abundance of information from trained professionals, which will also help to increase my credibility. The article talks about some of the most important ways that social media can have a negative impact on teen health. Although the author, Rachel Ehmke, does not give specific statistics, she references various doctors and psychologists, which helps her credibility. Although Ehmke, is a senior editor at the Child Mind Institute, she does not seem to have a lot of credibility. But the website itself seems to be credible since it is an educational website that has a lot of information on many topics, especially about children and teens. The article is relevant to the argument because it has been recently updated, the last edit being in August of 2015. Bias seems to be prevalent in the article since it only discusses one side of the argument.

The third and last article talks about how teens are at risk of lack of sleep, depression and anxiety, if they use too much social media. It discusses a new study that showed a correlation between these symptoms and social media. Although later in the article, it mentions a professor who talks about the other side of the argument and how this is mostly in extreme cases and some teens actually get support through social media. The article has many aspects that can contribute to my argument. It references a study that shows a correlation between social media and mental health problems. It also references professors throughout the article, giving it a professional aspect that can help give me credibility. It also shows another side to the argument, a positive influence and refutes the negative impact argument a bit, which will be useful for me to refute back and enhance my overall argument.The author, Alan Mozes, has some credibility since he is a HealthDay reporter. The article is also posted on a well known site, WebMD, which many people know to be credible. Various people use this site to find out what sickness they have or how to treat it. The article is also recent, posted on September 11th, 2015, therefore it is relevant to my argument. Although the article seems to have bias since it leans toward different point of views, it is actually informative since it discusses the different professors perspectives, and gives two sides of the argument.

My research question has a conflicting argument that states that social media is actually positively affecting teens, which many people believe. Although I do not believe this to be true, the points on the other side of the article help to make my own argument stronger. The three sources that I found have seemed to say similar things for the negative side, about how social media can lead to cyberbullying and how it makes us compare our lives with others. But there are also some differences. For instance, in the first article, it talks about positive aspects, like how social media may be able to make us more social, whereas in the second one it says that social media is harming our social skills. Although the articles are from different perspectives, they share the same ideas, only enhancing the information that I already know about the topic.
