The Problems of Social Media and Teens Social media has greatly changed our society but is that a good thing? There have been many cases of bullying, stalking, health problems, and death that have been linked with social media. A majority of these cases have been targeted towards teens and young adults. So is social media good for our youth? No, I do not think so. I believe that social media is harming our youth. To begin my argument I would like to say that many forms of social media is very easy to use. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out the basic functions of Facebook or Instagram. You might be thinking that this is a good thing, so why am I bringing this up? Well it is also just as easy to post or edit an existing post to spread false information. “Social media is a quick and easy way to spread information that is not true” (Are Social Networking Sites Good For Society). Anyone can go online pretending to be a doctor, and they can say that they found a cure for cancer. People can also spread rumors about anyone, and social media users would just believe those lies as facts. It is like how people say that Kesha is a dumb blonde who does nothing but parties all day, but I learned that she is actually really smart and really nice. Sadly though, social media just treats her like she is just a drunk college student the same way it treats many other people. Speaking of which, that leads to the next problem. Along with false rumors social media can also lead to bullying. “Teens are much more vulnerable to cyberbullying than bullying in real life” (Jarice Hanson). Like I said before rumors spread very easily throughout the world. Just a few simple words can greatly affect a person in a negative way. Once someone types and posts something on the internet, it is stuck on there forever. That can eventually lead to people bullying the victims in real life which is already bad enough without the use of social media. Bullies are a big problem in school and adding other people from the internet just makes things worse. A lot of suicide cases involves bullying, most of which started with a few pictures or tweets from social media. That shows that all of the torment can really affect the victim in a horrible way. I already mentioned suicide, but social media can cause other problems to the human body. After hours on doing research I learned that, “ spending too much time on the on social media can cause great harm to the body” (Seren Ramasubbu). Like I said, the great amount of negativity on social media can lead to people growing depressed or anxious. I know from experience that negative views on the internet can lead to someone to become a perfectionist and that leads them to grow nervous over the judgmental views of society. We do not want to get as much hate as other people do on social media, so many of us try to appeal to the masses. That eventually leads to how the internet can harm our bodies. Not only do we try to change the way we look using harmful methods, but the amount of time we spend on our phones looking at Tumblr posts will eventually lead to our bodies growing fat. “Excessive time spent on social media leads to obesity” (Seren Ramasubbu). We would rather watch Youtube videos than go outside and play and enjoy nature. These are all awful ways social media can affect our bodies. Even though there are so many bad things with social media, people still think it is very useful. I am not going to deny it, it can be useful. People can use social media to communicate to relatives that live far away. It can also be used to have a nice chat with other people from different places. . “Social Media can broaden communication with other people” (Seren Ramasubbu). This means we can connect with different people, but that is not always a good thing. Many people can fake their identity online and pretend to be someone else. For all we know that friend you have been chatting with could actually be a criminal gaining information to kidnap you in the future. It is nice that we can talk to anyone on social media, but it can also be dangerous so be careful. From everything that I have listed, it is safe to say that social media is harming not only our youth but society in general. People can spread false information which can lead to cyberbullying. Social media can also deal great damage to our bodies and even our emotional state. Not to mention that it can be dangerous to be on social media. I believe that from now on we should change the way we use social media. I am not saying that you have to stop using it all together, but you should at least be more cautious while using it. You can even spend more time outside and enjoy life. You can just go out and have fun! Works Cited “Are Social Networking Sites Good for Society?” ​
ProCon.org​
.n.p. 24 March. 2015. 10 March. 2016. “Influence of Social Media on Teens.” Ramasubbu, Seren. ​
Huffington Post Parents​
.n.p. 8 June. 2015. 10 March. 2016. Hanson, Jarice. “Social Media Website.” ​
Worldbook​
. 2016. 9 March 2016