First thing that I do when I wake up in the morning is check my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. When I walk into class the first thing I do after I sit down is check my social media accounts. On the bus, in class, in the morning, and at night I am on social media looking at pictures, tweets, and videos. A recent report from Nielsen found that Generation X, or people between the ages of 35 to 49, spend almost seven hours a week on social media. Millennials, aged between 18 and 34, spend a little more than 6 hours per week, the study found. By contrast, people over 50 spend about 4 hours a week on social media. In total the average person will spend about seven years in social media alone (Global Social Media Statistics Summary 2017). This consumption of media where self-identity is derived from how many likes or retweets you can get on a picture or a tweet effects a 15-year old's self of steam and character (Zhao 73). Kids are lacking and direct communication and focusing up to four hours a day on in-direct communication making it harder to communicate to things that are right in front of you. Social media is opening up a platform for cyber bullies which affects thousands of kids across the country. Social media is an extremely addictive substance that releases a chemical called dopamine which is the same chemical that is released when you drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and gamble.( Sinek) I am not suggesting getting rid of social media entirely that will never happen but like any addictive substance it needs to be used in moderation there is an imbalance of use when it comes to social media which affects adolescents, and teens physically, socially, and emotionally.

Social media is an invention that has had a very negative affect on our world today. By now we are all aware of the revolutionary impact that social media has had on the way that we communicate, and stay connected. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are great tools for getting connected, re-acquainting with old friends, and serves many business purposes as well. But what are some of the real affects social media has had on especially they youth of our generation today? “If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please” This quote by Greek philosopher Epictetus introduces this idea of moderation and how it can be harmful or “cease to please” if not used. I use this quote because I believe that social media is a great thing if used in moderation but in our generation today it is being used too much. Currently 92% of teens go online daily and out of those 25% say that they are on social media “almost constantly” (Maryanne 2017).The youth today spends an average of 3 hours a day on websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and over 18% of people say they “can’t go without social media (Maryanne 2017). I worked as bus boy for a restaurant a couple summers ago and I could not help but notice all of the families in their phones, just looking down in silence scrolling, streaming, liking, retweeting, favoring as if the phone was more stimulating than their own family. Social media inhibits the act of genuine conversation between family member, friends etc. We are the most well-connected generation of all time yet we are the most isolated generation of all time, how can that be? 

The negative cycle occurs when kids spend too much time inside on social media, this is time taken away from other activities that may encourage social health like exercise, being with friends, and engaging in other activities of that nature. According to the 2010 proceedings of the SIGCHI conference of Human Factors in Computing Systems, social media users who consume the highest amount of content report a decrease in social bonding and an increase in loneliness or isolation. Social Media just furthers the vicious cycle of sitting at home and being remote and not engaging in face to face activities. which easily attributes to the ever-increasing suicide rate in America which coordinates with the ever-increasing rate of time spent on social media (Suren 2015).

Social media is nothing new to the world the first recognizable social media site was called "Six Degrees." created twenty years ago enabling users to create a profile and make friends with others. (Smart Insights 2017). Two years later came blogging which sparked a trend of sharing, liking, and tagging that is at the forefront of our society today. The new part is the instantaneous access that we all have in the palm of our hand. We now live in a world where you can see everything that your friends are doing and where they are doing it that day. You can view social media anywhere and anytime which is a double-edged sword because on one hand you can now stay up to date on everything that is going on around you but on the other hand you might lose sight of what is right in front of you.

Social media is not without its benefits. For the first time, you can now access information live as it is happening no matter where you are. One fairly obvious benefit to social media is the ability to be able to reach out to anyone from anywhere. Re kindle a relationship with an old high school friend, or speak to your family members on Google+ from half way around the world. It is also an incredibly useful instrument for building a brand, business, or any kind of recognition. For the first time, everybody has a platform to speak out and be heard you do not have to go to New York or LA to push content you can do it from anywhere with a signal. It gives you the ability to see everything that is going on in the world (Drew 2013).

Almost 80% of the world’s population is now on Facebook. Because of this people with specific viewpoints or causes can come together to create memes, publications, campaigns, and have certain issues break into the mainstream. Without social media regular people would not have a voice or the social visibility to see beyond their home state. On the other hand, social media is slowly doing away with real activism and replacing it with "Slacktivism” (Wilfreid 289). We are great about bringing awareness to a certain issue through social media but what about turning that into real tangible change. In 2013 a study done by the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business in 2013 showed that when people are given the option to like a social cause on social media they use that to opt out of giving time or money to the cause. The study ultimately found that a public endorsement of the cause is meant to satisfy others where as a private donation of money or time to the cause is done because it correlates to their values (Elise Lifewire).

There are two types of communication direct and in-direct communication. Direct communication involves talking with another individual on the phone or in person, when there is little time to respond during a conversation. In- direct communication involves conversations over text, or Facebook, when you have a lot of time to respond. Millennials are masters of in direct communication we practice it about four hours a day when we are using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and most of all texting. Millennials lose out on our direct communication skills because of our social media craze. This lack of direct communication skills makes social cues, and facial expressions much harder to discern. Indirect communication creates a barrier from clear cut communication which effects our social skills especially as kids when trying to make friends (Ehmke 2016). This is also true for maintaining relationships when there are problems that need to be faced in a relationship it takes courage to be vulnerable and get past it through direct communication. But when friendships are spawning online and being maintained online you are stripping away many of the most personal and beneficial parts of what a friendship or relationship should be because it is very easy to keep your guard up behind a keyboard. If kids are not getting enough practice conversing and dealing with issues in real time it could follow them into adulthood by being anxious and uneasy when hit worth the real world (Ehmke 2016).

Social media can be easily looked at as an addiction. Simon Sinek is a British/American author of four books including two bestsellers, a marketing consultant from the university of London, and motivational speaker. Sinek talks about social media being an addiction in an interview just last year. Sinek first starts by talking about a chemical called Dopamine which is a chemical that is released in your brain when engaging in social media. That’s why when you get a text it feels good, when you get a like on a picture it feels good. When you get these likes on photos and text messages you get a hit of dopamine which is why it feels good to get a lot of likes and to feel wanted. Dopamine is also the same chemical that makes us feel good when we drink, smoke, and gamble meaning that it is highly addictive. You have an entire generation that has access to the numbing and addictive chemical dopamine through social media during an important and high stress time of adolescents. Because of this unlimited access to dopamine through cell phones and social media what is happening as kids grow older they do not know how to form deep and meaningful and because of this when a stressful situation comes around they are not turning to a friend, a parent, or a family member they are turning to a device to maintain their happiness which only offers temporary relief. There is a direct correlation with the amount of time spent on Facebook and depression (Sinek interview).

Like any addictive substance such as alcohol, nicotine, or social media they need to be used within moderation. In social media, there is an un healthy Imbalance of use. When you sit down at a dinner table with your friends and you are texting somebody who is not even there that is an addiction. When you are giving more time to people that are not even there by checking Instagram or twitter than the people right in front of you the people who you are at dinner with supposed to be paying attention to that is a problem and a problem that is extremely socially acceptable making it more dangerous as years go on.

While social media opens many doors for networking, and creation it can also open up a lot of doors for scrutiny and cyber bullying. The American Psychological Association defines bullying as aggressive behavior by an individual that causes discomfort to another. Cyber bullying in the form of social media is displayed through direct threatening and harassing emails to an anonymous source of harassment or trolling. Currently there are 32 percent of kids that say that they have been cyber bullied (Smith 280). I am not saying that if we get rid of social media we will get rid of bullying but we can at least acknowledge cyber bullying as a negative impact of social media.

Social media today is a part of our everyday life. We use it to connect, share, post, and to know what is going on in the world. With all this access to unlimited information and the ability to see what all of your friends are doing on one platform it is starting to take a toll on society. when a 15-year-old kid defines his self-worth by how many likes he or she gets on a comment, or post that mentality is bound to cause problems in the future especially at such a fragile age.

Social media has plenty of redeeming qualities about it but like anything it needs to be used in moderation. If we think of it as a dopamine releasing substance like alcohol, nicotine, or gambling we can better see the dangers of social media. When you gamble it is fun but when you gamble to much it is destructive, when you drink alcohol it is social and fun but when you have too much too often you get sent to a rehabilitation facility. All of these addictive substances have an age limit except for social media even though all have addictive qualities about them. When we open up social media to kids that are very young and trying to find their own identity it can lead to problems in the future. Kids put everything they have into their social media accounts and the public’s perception of them. When the world judges you based on pictures, tweets, and statuses they aren’t getting the real you which can ware on people. Social media opens up a major platform for anonymous bullying. Kids are much more inclined to bully behind a keyboard rather than putting a face to it. We as a society need to do a little bit less of looking down into the digital world are start looking up at the real world. When I look back on my life I am willing to bet that I will not re-account the amazing time I had with twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, I will remember the amazing times I had with my family and friends and all of the amazing human interactions that encompasses this world. that is what we need to be focusing on.
