Social Media And Behavior Of Teenagers And Young Adults

The Effect of Social Media on the Behaviour of Teenagers and Young Adults
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The Effect of Social Media on the Behaviour of Teenagers and Young Adults
Social media platforms have continued to dominate the communication channels used by teenagers and young adults. With the revolutionized information age, social media platforms have become widespread both in development and usage with major platforms being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, WeChat and Snapchap. Social media platforms have been used as an effective means to share information with large organizations using such platforms for advertisements due to the large audience available. Social media platforms have expedited the spread of information unlike the traditional media including newspaper thus becoming a favorite of many people who wish to stay updated. With features such as instant messaging, photo and video sharing, online games and other forms of entertainment, social media outlets have continued to tap in an ever-growing number teenagers and young adults as the most convenient medium. Nonetheless, the impact of social media as a result of its continued effect on young people has proved to be detrimental. Social media is a cause of concern for teenagers and young adults who have recorded strained relationships and poor friendships, reduced mental and general wellbeing of its users, interfering with academic and intellectual capabilities as well as increased chances of mental illness and depression.
Increase in technological advancement has seen new social media outlets being developed and launched to an eager consumer base. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) define social media as a collection of internet applications that have been developed allowing users to share information to and fro and thus increasing the flow of information. Social media has revolutionized the art of communication enabling users to send short messages to multiple users and receiving responses instantaneously. Use of social media by teenagers and young adults has an immense negative relationship with academic performance. According to Lau (2017), increased use of social media for non-academic purposes, especially in online and video gaming, academic achievement, and psychosocial development has been hindered. Additionally, continued use of social media by teenagers and young adults in colleges has encouraged inappropriate behavior with students undermining the authority of teachers by disrupting classes as well as causing an increase in cyberbullying (Lau, 2017:p. 291). Such behavior in teenagers and young adults is worrying and requires urgent rectification.
Use of social media platforms by young adults has exposed many to virtual friends and followers with whom they have no real friendships. Consequently, the use of social media to communicate between the virtual friends has created shallow friendships and relationships. Annisette and Lafreniere (2017) note that the use of ultra-brief messages (short texts and tweets) encourage increased shallowness in thought and cognitive abilities. For teenagers and young adults, continued use of social media is likely to promote “cognitive and moral shallowness” (p.1). Additionally, continued use o...