Julie Book

Draft
Since the new millennium occurred, social networking sites have been popping up
everywhere, from Friendster, to MySpace, to Facebook. Setting apart the old way of
communicating, by telephone, letters, and in person is having a negative impact on us.
People young and old have found themselves addicted to well, basically themselves.
People post pictures of themselves, update their status constantly and write blogs hoping
someone else will credit it. With all of that said, these social networking sites seem to be
causing more bad than good. Teenagers are a vast majority of those using these sites. Do
social networking sites hurt teenagers? People of all ages use social networking sites to
keep in touch with friends and family. Not everyone can see someone on an everyday
basis, nor call them every day. Being able to talk to people in your life all at one time is a
great idea. Meeting new people is an advantage also. Finding those who have the same
qualities and hobbies as you can make an instant friendship.

Social media is a large part of todays technology driven world. People of all ages use
social networking sites to keep in touch with friends and family. Not everyone can see
someone on an everyday basis, nor call them every day. Being able to talk to people in your
life all at one time is a great idea. Meeting new people is an advantage also. Finding those
who have the same qualities and hobbies as you can make an instant friendship.

Unsurprisingly, the heaviest consumers of social media are teenagers. Because teenagers are in
an intense state to define their identity and they have grown up in a world of digital technology,
the presence of social media has blurred the lines between online and offline identity.

Online profiles provide an opportunity for anyone to display an altered reality of their
identity. Teens may put up only pictures that they want seen, and pass any information about
themselves as the truth. They can create a totally fictional identity, although
Users can immerse themselves in social environments 24/7 with an ever-expanding
compendium of symbolic tools at their disposal to present their identities to others (Doster).
Sitting in front of a computer is much less personal than being face to face and therefore
its easier to do mean things. It's a "playground with no parental supervision," said Dr. Dimitri
A. Christakis, George Adkins Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, who
found in a study released earlier this year that 54 percent of teens demonstrate risky behavior
online (Livingstone). Teens able to hide behind their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other
forms of social media to tease, spread rumors and insult their peers. Bullies can communicate to
a much wider audience in a very short period of time. Oftentimes, those responsible for misusing
social media are not even aware they are doing wrong. A subtweet on Twitter allows for users
to make references to people without directly tagging them. Subtweeting allows a user to be
hurtful and seemingly blameless at the same time. Similar programs such as Tumblr and Ask.fm
allow users to send anonymous messages to anyone else with an account. The animosity of these
comments makes it very easy for users to be ridiculed, harassed and shamed. Still, the attacks
occur on a regular basis to multitudes of teens, and no confrontation ever takes place between
victim and bully. A more recent issue in the form of cyberbullying is online impersonation
(Gaston). Teens create fake social media accounts to bully and humiliate their peers and even
adults. These fake accounts and false identities on social media are extremely hurtful.
An even more relevant issue than cyberbullying is the concept of catfishing. Catfish is
a term that is associated with people creating fake social media accounts who then try to create

relationships with actual real people online. While you would think most people would be
cautious of who they meet online, some adolescents go as far as building trustworthy
relationships with individuals they would not be able to approach in real life (Lyman). What
makes people want to create these fake social media accounts? Research has found that most
teens create these deceiving accounts because they are sensation-seeking, have low self-esteem
and psychological difficulties, and there is a lack of parental support (Lyman). Any teen using
social media is at risk of malicious users who engage teenagers, who are under age minors, into
inappropriate sexual relationships through the Internet. Through the use of private instant
messaging, where nobody can see, and a teenager feels free to open up to someone, online
predators may attempt to initiate and seduce minors into relationships, and the inexperienced,
unaware target sees the relationship as a legitimate attempt at romance, not a threat to their
security by any means (Gatson). If anything, they do not feel the need to report it. Instead, they
get very concerned about one of their parents, caregivers, or teachers finding out.
The internet is full of useful information and can answer almost any question that we
have. Society must be very conscious of how reliable the information we read really is,
especially societys gullible and curious teenagers. Teens are turning to the world of social
media for information that schools and parents should be providing for them. Research shows
that the content on the internet can be confusing to teens which leads to a false understanding of
appropriate sexual behavior (Wagner). This confusion encourages teens to behave in a different
way online than they would in person. Social media distorts relationships and sexual norms and
is turning society into a sex-saturated culture (Wagner). With smart phones and apps with no
boundaries, teens are able to discuss sex with someone at any time. While it isnt very surprising
that teens are interested in or having sex, its on social media that it usually begins. I can scroll

down my Instagram feed and there is always a provocative picture of a young girl. The concern
is in the topic of hypersexualaztion. While teens are aware of it, they still cant resist objectifying
themselves. Sadly in todays world of teens, to be popular, which is what high school is all
about, you have to get likes on your social-media pics (Livingstone).
While social media is a way for teens to express who they are, it can almost
become a dangerous obsession.

A lot of what you see in profiles is peoples aspirational self or their best self, she says. This
shifting in identity isnt unusual, its just people are seeing and aware of it now.
Proost says when a teenager posts a selfie, his or her desire for likes or comments is
part of the natural desire for peer approval. You put [a selfie] out there because you're looking
for that form of validation, Proost says. Thats the danger with teenagers overly looking for that
external form of validation rather than trying to foster internal validation.
Social media use can turn into a problem when a teen's sense of self worth relies
on peer approval,
And because of the constant connection, it can be dangerous for young people overly
concerned with others' opinions. They may feel like they can never escape the social
environment and are constantly faced with peer pressure.

The internets anonymity attracts all those who wish to keep their true identity a secret
(Dostor).
Many parents are from a generation that grow up with no social media at all and therefore
have no idea what is going on in their teens lives. There is a knowledge gap.

Works Cited
Doster, L. (2013), Millennial teens design and redesign themselves in online social networks.
Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 12: 267279. doi: 10.1002/cb.1407
Gatson, Sarah. "Self-naming Practices on the Internet: Identity, Authenticity, and Community."
Cultural Studies/critical Methodologies. 11.3 (2011): 224-235. Print.

Livingstone, S. and Smith, P. K. (2014), Annual Research Review: Harms experienced by child
users of online and mobile technologies: the nature, prevalence and management of
sexual and aggressive risks in the digital age. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 55: 635654. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12197

Lyman, Will, Rachel D. Goodman, and John Maggio. Growing Up Online. Lawrenceville, NJ:
Films Media Group, 2008. Internet resource.
Wagner, Kurt. "Research Reveals How Kids Learn From 'Sex-Saturated' Online Culture."
Mashable.com 19 Aug. 2013, Youtube: NewsBank. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.