An idea that many cling to everyday around the world has a negative impact on teens’ lives. Currently, most of the world uses social media such as apps like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter. Many see these apps as a way to communicate themselves or to stay connected with the rest of the world. In a recent study done completed by the Common Sense Media Research team, “more than eight in ten teens (83%) have visited a social networking site, and three out of four teens currently have a profile on a social networking site” (Rozen). What most do not realize is that these apps affect peoples’ lives in a highly negative way because of how high of a standard that teens and young adults hold social media to. UCLA recently did a study proving that when teens get positive feedback from social media, its excites them as much as “seeing a loved one or winning money” (East). They placed a scanner on teenagers’ brains and that resulted in the activation of the “rewarding” part of the brain. This shows that social media impacts teens and young adults’ lives in an extremely negative way which makes them depressed, destroys skills essential to life, causes anxiety and eating disorders, and gets them in trouble because they are not aware of how what they are posting can influence their life.

Social skills and the development of them in a teenager’s life is crucially important. The social habits that are created early on in a teen’s life determine their social future. Social media has been seen to “destroy social skills, decrease in productivity level, and isolation of kids with disabilities” (“The Pros and Cons of Teens on Social Media”). When teens and young adults are constantly glued to their phones during school or work because of apps, they cannot be social. They can be interactive with others through the internet, but it can be hard to make friends outside of that, which results in isolation. It has been researched that “social media has made people have a tendency to want to interact with people online rather than in person” (“The Negative Impacts of Social Media on Face-to-Face Interactions”). The thought behind this is that “a simpler process allows for things to be done easier and more efficiently, which attracts more people to give it a try” (The Negative Impacts of Social Media on Face-to-Face Interactions”). This has caused “people to become more antisocial than ever before” (“The Negative Impacts of Social Media on Face-to-Face Interactions”). Face to face conversations are very rare now due to the high rate of people always communicating through social media and technology. Teens and young adults are also becoming less productive because of how much time is spent on social media and their phones. Ray Williams, author of Wired for Success, wrote about a recent study that found “that companies who allowed employees to access their Facebook site during work hours could expect to see total office productivity decline by an average of only 1.5%” (Williams). People who use social media during their work day are less productive than those who do not. Social media has a negative impact on young adults and teens because it creates a decline in improvement for social skills and productivity.

Social media also increases isolation for kids with disabilities. Teens already want to isolate themselves when they spend a ton of time on social media. Children with disabilities already have a hard time with isolation because of their disabilities. Not many people involve them in activities because it can be hard to include them sometimes, which is why they already struggle with isolation. In a study done by Brian Primack, the director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health at the University of Pittsburgh, found that “people who visited social media platforms most frequently, 58 visits per week or more, had more than three times the odds perceived social isolation than those who visited fewer than nine times per week” (Hobson). It is very ironic how “social” media decreases how advanced young adult’s social lives really are.

Not only does social media destroy the way young adults interact with each other, it also makes them very depressed. Psychologist Nadine De Giordany indicated that “teens that already have low self-esteem are prone to suffer from depression and project their low self-esteem onto others” (Rozen). The rapid increase in depression and low self-esteem rates pinpoint “social media as a rising cause of depression, the main identifier of low self-esteem” (Rozen). As many teens follow after each other and the domino effect is prevalent in a teen’s life, teens will become more depressed with their lives if they follow and engage with people over social media who are already unhappy with theirs. This could be a reason that depression is so high due to social media because teens follow what they see and it controls how they live. A study done on teens from the ages of 10 to 15 proves that “by teens spending an hour on social media, they become less happy” (Mastroianni). Becoming less happy results in the fact that “they become unsatisfied with every aspect of their life, except their friendships” (Mastroianni). They do not become unsatisfied with their friendships because all of their friends and friendships are made via social media. In conclusion of this article it was found that “cyberbullying was found to be a reason that teens were feeling this way” (Mastroianni). In an article done about how cyberbullying affects teens’ lives, it was found that “20% of kids cyberbullied think about suicide, and 1 in 10 attempt it” (“Cyberbullying Rampant on the Internet”). In another article done by CNN, a pediatric office did a study and found that “23% of teens report they are or have been the target of cyberbullying” (Ring). The researchers’ review of 10 studies that explored the link between social media victimization and depression all showed—without exception—a significant correlation (Ring). It was also found that “Some 5% to 8% of U.S. teens attempt suicide yearly, with an additional 16% seriously considering suicide within the past 12 months” (Ring). The way social media makes teens and young adults feel impacts their daily life so much that they are attempting to kill themselves over what someone said or did to them through social media and the internet. Suicide rates have increased due to cyberbullying from social media. In another study done, a survey was given to 2000 middle school students. It was proven that a middle school child “is almost 2 times as likely to attempt suicide than those who were not” (Luxton). It has been proven that suicide rates are increased when a child has experienced cyberbullying. 

Social media has a huge correlation with depression and cyberbullying, but it also causes eating disorders and anxiety. Many women look at other girls on social media and compare themselves to them. Most of the time the women on social media that viewers are comparing themselves to are unrealistic, photo shopped, airbrushed, and filtered. There is not a “real” part of their body in the picture that is being viewed. In a study done by Haifa University in 2011, 248 women from ages 12-19 were examined and it was found that “more exposure to social media contributed to higher rates of eating disorders and related concerns. Specifically, the more times these young women spent on Facebook, the more likely they were to struggle with “…bulimia, anorexia, physical dissatisfaction, negative physical self-image, negative approach to eating and more of an urge to be on a weight-loss diet” (“Does Social Media Cause Eating Disorders in Children?”). In another article, a group from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine did a study in 2014 and surveyed 1,765 adults from the ages of 19-32. They found that “the subjects who spent the most time engaged with social media each day at 2.2 times the risk of developing eating disorders. Additionally, those who most frequently checked their social media feeds weekly carried 2.6 time the risk” (“Home”). Including eating disorders, anxiety is caused by social media. In an article, it was found that “a social anxiety triggered by online media is the fear of missing out; pictures of a party where the user was not invited” (“Why Social Media Causes Anxiety”). About 30% of girls and 20% of boys have an anxiety disorder or has had one in the past. This totals in about 6.3 million teens. (“Why Social Media Causes Anxiety”).

Social media continues to have a negative impact on teens and young adults because it gets them in trouble with future employers. Most teens and young adults do not realize that what they post on the internet never truly goes away. Everything can be found even after it has been “deleted”. Many teens have “fake” Instagram accounts called “finstas”. They believe that having a finsta can allow them to post whatever they want and no one will know about it. In an article found, a teenage girl was interviewed about what a finsta was and why she has one. When asked why she has one, she states, “I made it so I wouldn’t feel judged with what I post. I definitely feel more comfortable posting on it because I know only my close friends will see it.” (Pennell). From personal experience, finstas can make you feel more confident in being yourself more because it is a private, closed Instagram page that can only the people that love you can look at. If the people that love you are looking at it, you cannot be judged. Even though it is not a public page, it is still not okay to post anything you want. From a personal level, teens should be aware that employers do look at social media pages to determine whether you are suited for the job. In the same article, Paul Booth, an associate professor at DePaul’s University’s College of Communication, was interviewed. When asked how he felt about the fake Instagram accounts and how it affect’s the younger generation, he said, “Nothing that is online is ever private—that’s why it’s important to make sure everything you put online you’d be comfortable with your grandparents and teachers seeing” (Pennell).  Not only are finstas still public to anyone because they are on the internet, they increase cyberbullying. In an article found, the author said, “with all eyes on finstas and other modes of cyberbullying, the odds of the creator’s eventual exposure and accountability are significantly higher than ever” (Patterson). Along with finstas’, there are also closed Facebook groups that many young adults are a part of. They believe that being a part of these groups, universities and employers will not be able to find who they truly are. Universities have become big on looking at applicant’s social media sites before accepting them into their school. In an article written by Darian Somers, an Associate Editor for US News, he wrote about a study done that found that “of more than 350 college admissions officers in the U.S., 35 percent of officers polled reported having looked at applicants’ social media accounts to learn more about them” (Somers). The conductor of the research stated, “For better or worse, social media has become an established factor in college admissions, and it’s more important than ever for applicants to make wise decisions” (Somers). 

While many believe that social media has a very negative impact on the young adult’s society and it has become extremely hard to find a light in social media, some also believe that social media can have a positive impact. In an article written, it was shown that “social media allows teens to be connected with their friends, loved ones, and the world” (“Home”). Continuing in the article, “social media also allows teens to express themselves and have fun”. In another article, a statistic was found that said, “more than one in four teens say that using their social networking site makes them feel less shy (29%) and more outgoing (28%). One in five say that it makes them feel more confident (20%), more popular (19%), and more sympathetic to others (19%); and 15% say it makes them feel better about themselves” (“Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives I Common Sense Media.”). From personal experience, social media can make you feel more popular, but there is always someone who is feeling left out or unpopular because they do not get a certain number of likes on a picture of a certain person does not like their picture. Also, social media can make you more confident but it cannot make you less shy or more outgoing. When you are constantly using social media, or have your eyes on your phone, there is no way that you could feel more outgoing. You might feel more outgoing with what your posting but you there is definitely no way that you could be outgoing outside of social media. Half of teens that use social media say that social media has been a help to their relationships whether it be a friendship or a romantic relationship. Only 4% believe that social media was a hinder to their relationship. (“Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives I Common Sense Media.”). From personal experience, I know that social media does not help relationships. Especially with a significant other because there are many people that use social media as a way of spreading rumors about one person in that relationship. It is interesting how teens view social media to have a positive impact on their life but the rest of society can tell how negatively it impacts them. 

Social media causes teens and young adults live in an extremely negative way by making them depressed, destroying skills essential to life, causing anxiety and eating disorders, and getting them in trouble because they are not aware of how what they are posting can influence their life. Social media makes teens depressed by causing anxiety, eating disorders, and isolation. It also destroys social skills that teens need to develop at an early age by only allowing them to talk to people virtually instead of face to face. Additionally, social media gets teens in trouble because they are not aware that what they post can be viewed by anyone, no matter if their profile is private or public. Once it is out on the internet, it is out there forever. This causes younger generations to get in trouble because they do not realize that universities and employers look at social media sites before they consider the applicant for admission or hiring. There are personal cases that come to mind with each reason of why social media impacts teens and young adults in a negative way. Definitely consider the next you want to post to social media and the effects it could have on you if it consumes too much of your time. 