Technology has spread like a wildfire in recent years, and so has the use of social media. Many people today have a smartphone or laptop that they can have access to within minutes to communicate and socialize with others to form social links and connections. Society is dependent on the use and availability of having a way to communicate easily through technology and social networks, especially in the teenage population. Since media is such a growing industry, there is no stopping it anytime soon no matter how influential it becomes. The way that people react on social media is very distinct and familiar because it is the way that most of society acts in real life, which is reflected on certain profiles and platforms. Human behavior can slowly change throughout one’s life based off of how much one uses social media and what they view on it, which causes for perceptions to be shaped differently in the eyes of others. The way that out behaviors can change can either be good or bad based on the types of things that one sees on certain platforms. Social media causes individuals to have misconceptions about individuals in their lives, which leads to depression and dependence on alcohol and drugs that break social links and social norms in relationships.

Checking social media on a daily basis has become a natural habit that society has acquired, especially teenagers. Many wake up in the morning and it is the first thing that they do, as well as the last thing they do when they go to bed. Teenagers have become victims of social media and the progression of technology because they grew up in it, causing it to become a significant part of their lives. Even though teenagers use media the most, everyone has had some type of experience with technology at some point in their lives, whether it be at their job or as a hobby, and it can slowly become part of their daily routine. According to TIME Magazine, teenage girls are sexualized on social media which makes them feel the need to self-promote themselves for the attention. Girls have fallen under the norms of beauty and social standards and they strive to follow them in order to please those on social media. The need to be someone that one is not does not apply to just girls, but to society as a whole because many individuals of all ages, races, and genders want to be something that they can’t and it creates an unhealthy mindset to be like others. This type of thinking makes people have misconceptions of their lives because they get lost in how other people live and forget what reality is. Wortham states that for some, social media is the “portal into the rest of the world” which makes “it easier to tune out the people we do not agree with” and leads to us forgetting what is really important to us. She explains that people want to escape from their own lives to be in a life that is more appealing to them and, in this process, makes them forget.

Our social lives are created off of how we act in certain social environments which can vary based on who our audience is and the type of situation one is in (Meyrowitz). Society tends to view other people’s social media pages and gets lost in this “better” life, while losing focus of what truly matters in reality. The friends and family that one has can determine the way that one acts in his or her social life which can be directly seen on social networks (Christakis). If one surrounds themselves with reckless people, then it will be reflected on his or her social media profiles. A person’s attitude can be correlated to what they do and post online. As an individual, there are multiple traits, such as happiness and depression, that one acquires depending on the types of relationships one has and how they socially can determine their personality. Each person creates clusters from the relationships they have and these clusters are directly correlated to social links (Christakis). These social links are between the individuals involved, and can grow in strength depending on the relationship. If this link is broken, the way a person is effected can be related to how strong of a relationship of the people that the link was between. The audience a person has and the type of environment they surround themselves in is all determined by what type of relationships they are a part of. 

As a society, we create self-images for ourselves which depict how we want others to see us and while doing so, we get “lost in social media” (Hogg). Social media is like a race, and everyone in it is competitive with others to express who they are and how they want to be seen. Every individual wants to have an appearance or personality that fits the perfect self-image, and will do anything to pursue it. In the social world, people make judgements based off of memory and how information is represented (Hogg). Each person has an online processing in their brain which is known for making certain judgments about their image and other people’s images (Hogg). These are connected with primary effects in memory, which makes them correlate with “low recall-judgment” (Hogg). A common term known as “first judgments” can come from online processing when a single person makes assumptions about someone based off of appearance or the way one acts. The cause of these judgements can be influenced by social media and what happens in real life based off of what has been implemented into our memory (Hogg). The types of images and ideas that are tossed around through mass media are the source of socialization and communication. All people around the world can be connected based on similarities and differences, thanks to the help of mass media (Johnson).

Society as a whole makes certain inferences about individuals which can be traced back to memory related to content and bias (Hogg). Social media makes people into social targets, “idols” that one looks up to, that individuals can make assumptions about based on personal judgements and societal norms. The more one spends on social media, the more one becomes known on the virtual world making them a target. Inferences are made up of perceptions and stereotypes which are categorized and represented as social-judgement within an individual and a group. This categorization is created within social networks and puts “an effect on individuals by allowing them to believe that these judgements are nothing to be concerned with” (Hogg). These judgements that Hogg is referring to are related to the memory that one acquires while spending time on social media. The self-image for a person is enhanced and makes their thinking about others shift to a different view. A social target with “more emotion and motivation attached to self-knowledge” can be an individual who has a stronger personal connection to themselves than anyone else (Hogg). Instagram and Facebook let society enhance their self-image for positivity and self-esteem but don’t show individuals how their whole outlook can be altered, whether it’s for good or bad. Many teenagers today are in the mindset that society thinks of them based on how they come across on social media. Many young girls try to perfect their lives by making it seem as if they have everything in the world and are better than everyone else. However, some guys are still victims of perfecting a self-image and making them seem as if they were invincible. The self-indulgence from creating these social statuses can lead to depression and the downfall of self-esteem.

The spread of alcohol misuse among between teenagers in the past years has drastically increased, and part of the cause is the amount of social media use and what these kids see on it. If someone posts pictures or posts about alcohol and drugs, then one is more likely to be effected by it in real life (Groth). Between college students who viewed mass media with alcohol related content versus those who didn’t, it showed that there was a greater influence on the norms of alcohol for those viewing such media (Groth). Relationships between social media and alcohol use are explained by a social norms theory, stating that an individual is influenced by the actions of others even when the actions may or may not be accurate of real life (Groth). Since many college students use social media, the social norms theory can be applied based on behavior and certain perceptions. These perceptions can be taken directly from the frequency of alcohol related content and images being posted on social media websites (Groth). Based off of the social norms theory, these postings can be concerning because students are likely to overestimate the frequency with which their peers engage in such dangerous behavior and as a result may be more likely to take such risks themselves (Groth). These actions caused by peers can lead to long-term side effects such as depression and alcohol abuse that many of these college students do not realize are in effect once they pick up a drink and consume it. The overestimation of the “college scene” and how one portrays the college life can be dangerous to one’s health, especially when put in risky situations.

Depression can also start at a young age, depending on when one starts using social media and technology. According to The New York Times, the age of when someone uses cell phones and is on social platforms is decreasing every year, starting as low as age seven (Chen). Our behaviors are reflected by what we see and do on social media. The use of social media at a young age can cause a long-term effect in one’s later years, causing one to become disconnected and faded from the real world (Johnson). This disconnection can cause anxiety and depression at a young age, which can be worsened by social media. Social media portrays many bad ideas and thoughts to the younger generation, especially an emphasis on violence and how certain bad actions are “okay.”

Another contributor to the increase of depression from the use of social media can also be cyberostracism which is a feeling of exclusion causing a disconnection to fundamental human needs (Schneider). This is linked in with belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. For example, always feeling the need to keep followers and friends updated with statuses will make one feel more connected to them reducing their feeling of loneliness (Schneider). Studies show that 92% of American adults own a cell phone, while 36% of them never turn their device off. This shows how people always want to be connected to the online world, suggesting that they want to continuously live their lives on the internet to stay connected (Schneider). Individuals also create a sense of trust when they are on social media, because the virtual community makes one feel involved more than the real-world community (Wang). Facebook gives society the opportunity to remain connected through communication but at the same time gives one the feeling that they are being excluded from their peers. The feeling of cyberostracism also happens when one is communicating to another on social media, and waiting for a response (Schneider). This feeling of exclusion and loneliness can lead to desperate measures down the road, which can be the prime reason for depression and anxiety to start.

There are children who are more vulnerable to violence seen on the media and become “less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others”, which make them more likely to become “aggressive and harmful to others” and “accepting to violence” (Johnson). Children will imitate behaviors they observe, not knowing if they are good or bad. Johnson explains a quote from The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reporting that themes in music videos, posting of pictures, and production of movies glamorize the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Since the advancement of mass media has grown so much in recent years, the amount of negative ideas has increased. The younger one is being exposed to these types of negative ways, the earlier one develops these ideas and uses them in their later years.

Social media use today has caused for certain ethical issues to arise, and privacy concerns for the amount of information that has been put on the internet (Jayson). Big companies such as Google and Facebook slowly collect information for research that causes eyebrows to raise. The audience that one has on a certain profile can be a lot bigger than one may think, even if it is set to private. Every online move that an individual makes leaves a cyber footprint, which is like a target for the outside to analyze (Jayson). From these cyber footprints, social media companies can use the information one leaves on their accounts for research, which makes one question the ethical aspect. Private companies such as Google and Microsoft can collect vast amounts of information to study the patterns of everyday life (Jayson). Some people have found it beneficial for this data mining to be in their social media by helping with “women at risk of postpartum depression” and “to study how parents and kids interact” (Jayson). Data mining helps towards these studies because researchers can look at behaviors “under a microscope”, and the information being used has been closely looked at by social and personality psychologists (Jayson). Although this invasion of privacy is helping some, the mining of digital behavior is increasing and individuals are cautious of the consequences.

Although there are many opinions towards the negative effects on social media and how it doesn’t benefit society, there are some who believe that it is more of a “portal than pitfall” (Klass). Although there are dangers, scientists are turning to understand social media as an important part of adolescence. Since social media is so vital in our lifestyles, people have looked at how they can use Facebook or Twitter to show patterns of depression and negative thoughts to help assist in understanding teenagers. Emails will be sent out to individuals if risky behaviors are detected, in hope of preventing a long-term consequence. Girls are more likely to have a positive response to these warnings, whereas boys were indifferent towards the removal of certain content. The process of trying to help the younger generation is in play, and will hopefully grow in the future based on how much social media is spreading. A large part of this generation’s development is occurring while on the Internet and social media, which will become much more serious in the future since it is a growing industry. Klass states that children use social media to accomplish eternal goals during their development. Children want to socialize with their peers, learn more about the world, and establish a sense of independence. Allowing them to use social media gives children a chance to grow as an individual and make certain decisions for themselves. Digital media is an amplifier, causing introverts to become extroverts and vice versa. People want to find all the positive outcomes from using social networks and media platforms, especially since it can bring out unexpected and potentially negative outcomes. Because social media has both good and bad effects on society, the amount of exposure one has will relate to how one will either bottle himself or herself up or become more connected to the rest of the world. 

The influence of social media and how much teenagers feel the need to create a certain self-image while creating perceptions and judgements about oneself causes for social links to break between individuals in society. While social media has its ups and downs, the way it effects human behavior and how a person portrays themselves towards others shows the negative usages and how society does not regulate their use. Even though there are multiple benefits for using social networks, such as targeting and helping depression with alcohol and drug related content and communicating between connections, it still raises a question on whether it has a positive outlook or a negative outlook in society. Social media makes individuals become separated and lost, forgetting their identities. Using these platforms has its benefits, but the effects that it has on human behavior is definitely negative. If society doesn’t start making smarter decisions when they open up Facebook or Instagram, then people will most likely be negatively effected in the long-term. 
