Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram have slowly, but surely begun to control and dictate the lives of millions. Without noticing the extent of their social media activity, users log on to these sites for hours at a time, slowly becoming more and more addicted to their profiles. Social media may seem harmless, but when overused, can cause several problems, even as serious as identity formation issues. Being a social media user myself and seeing the way the people deal with problems presented on the internet, I realize the seriousness of the issues that come with the world of social media. With the number of internet users on the rise, the problem has only gotten worse. These whopping, new statistics are being broadcasted more than ever in articles and on the news, which drew my attention to the matter. A majority of social media users, however, do not realize the effect in which social media is playing on the formation of their identity and their qualities as a person. By analyzing the negative effects that social media has on the growth of a person's identity, self-assessment and cyberbullying, development and communication, and even decision making all become issues that these individuals must endure.

There is no doubt that websites like Facebook and Twitter can have a major effect on the way that an individual obtains personality traits, lifelong qualities, and even characteristics of their own identity. From examining three different sources based on the results of self-development of excessive social media users, it becomes extremely obvious that these websites are posing problems that may be more serious than we thought. For example, in the article, Exploring the Effects of Social Media on Children's Spirituality by Karen-Marie Yust, readers are shown that social media can cause individuals to harshly assess themselves and others. Yust explains, " A Kaiser Family Foundation study in the USA revealed that young people who spend more than 16 h a day consuming media based content are more likely to report feeling sad, unhappy, or bored with life" (Yust 4). The increased percentage of individuals who become depressed and disconsolate because of these sites leads users to contemplate their self a whole, as well as their worth as a person. Yust also goes on to explain that cyberbullying, too,  plays a large role in the way that individuals view themselves, explaining that, "a fifth of students [in the study] felt anger, depression, and sadness as a result of others' bad conduct online" (Yust 4). However, self assessment problems are not the only issues that come with social media. In the second excerpt from Social Media and Student Identity Development, the author, Reynol Junoco agrees with Yust in the way that social media is potentially ruining its user's lives.  Junoco, however, studies the effects of social media on the development of individuals. He explains that we go through stages of development and must match an "inner sameness" that is seen by others (Junoco 100). By overusing social media, individuals lack opportunities to communicate with others, therefore damaging the formation process of their "inner sameness". The author backs up his point by explaining the consequences of unsuccessfully crossing into the stage, as well as uses charts to better describe. As for, Janet H. Long, author of the third source and researcher at The University of Rhode Island, she shows readers that social media use can cause individuals to have difficulty making decisions as well. When discussing the impact that media sites have on individuals decision making, Long states, "Results show Internet usage impacted student's avoidance of decisions by offering them technological ways to communicate their decisions strategies" (Long 104). By giving individuals an out on making important choices, social media ultimately tears at a significant factor in developing ones own identity. All three of these authors are the same in the fact that they believe social media can have a serious impact on the formation of an individual's identity. Through displaying the different outcomes that media can have on development, these three sources are useful in backing up these claims and portray the seriousness of the overuse of social media. 

Ultimately, after researching the effects of social media on the development of identity, the results show that social media can, indeed, be the cause of some of serious formation problems. Some may say that social media has no effect on identity formation, however, after assessing my sources, my view on the topic remains the same as theirs: social media does have a major effect on development. This, however, does not affect the research of my paper or the ability to keep the reader intrigued. For next time, I could possibly revise my research question to a more specific topic and focus on certain website, such as Facebook. Overall, from the findings in my research, I gained a better understanding of the self-assessment, development, and decision making problems that people who overuse social media must endure. 

