Effects of Facebook on Teenagers: Positive and Negative

https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Teens-and-Facebook

Updated on June 27, 2016

Kristin Trapp - Author

Psychological Effects of Facebook on Teenagers and its Overuse

As if parents did not already have enough to worry about, now they need to worry about their children
displaying negative psychological effects from overusing Facebook and other social networking sites.

New research revealed August 2011 by Dr. Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State
University, makes it official what some parents already suspected -- our kids are getting sort of screwed
up when they spend too much time on Facebook.

On a more upbeat note, the study also showed a few unexpected benefits of social networking online.

Spending too much time on Facebook can have both negative psychological and educational effects on teens.

Negative Psychological Effects

Thus far, Rosen has made a 25-year career out of studying the influences technology has on people. His
latest research, which examines teens and Facebook, was conducted using 1,000 teen surveys and
observation of 300 teens actively studying. It concluded that multiple negative psychological effects could
result from spending too much time on Facebook and other social media sites.

Negative effects include:

 Teens who use Facebook frequently may become narcissistic. If you are not already familiar with
that term, dictionary.com describes narcissism as an, "inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive
self-love; vanity." Most likely these are not the character traits you desire for your child.
 Teens who have a strong Facebook presence may display psychological disorders, such as anti-
social behaviors, and mania & aggressive tendencies. An anti-social child often does not consider
the effects their actions have on others. This can be quite dangerous, especially during the already-
volatile teen years. Perhaps this should be termed the anti social media effect.
 The Facebook effect is real, but teens who "overdose" on technology daily, and this includes video
games, have higher absenteeism from school and are more likely to get stomach aches, have sleep
issues, and feel more anxious and depressed.

Negative Impact on Education

Although this pretty much goes without saying, being connected to technology on an ongoing basis can seriously
impact a teen's and young adult's education. The negative educational impacts of regularly checking Facebook
during Rosen's 15-minute observation of kids during study time revealed the following:

 Middle and high school students, as well as college students, who checked their Facebook once during the 15-
minute study time had lower test grades. Perhaps this is similar to being a distracted driver.
 Those students who checked their Facebook most often also had the lowest rates of reading retention. This
probably is not too surprising, but now it is a proven fact, in case you need to tell your kids.
 The Positive and Negative
Effects of Facebook
https://turbofuture.com/internet/The-Positive-and-Negative-Effects-of-Facebook

Updated on June 13, 2012

Nick Barricella

The Negative Effects

Cyber-bullying- On Facebook it is very easy for cyber bullies to thrive. They can harass and/or
gang up on one person even easier than they could in a school environment. There aren't
moderators that go around monitoring what people say to each other. Anything can be said. There
are also a relatively small amount of parents that have Facebook accounts and keep up with their
children's. More than once I've witnessed this form of bullying, whether it be about race, appearance,
intelligence, etc.

Ruined relationships- Facebook is notorious for causing couples to break up. Let's face it, no one
wants to see their girlfriend/boyfriend telling other people that they look cute, or liking their pictures,
or instant messaging them constantly. It builds up jealousy, which causes quite a bit of tension in a
relationship. The fact that many people try to hook up with others over Facebook while not realizing
that these people are in a relationship doesn't help the issue.

Distraction- At the end of the day you may have seen your cousin's new outfit or talked to your
sister who is in college, but you still haven't really accomplished anything in the hours that you were
on. Critics of Facebook claim that it is a worldwide distraction and even obsession that amounts to
nothing except for significant amounts of time wasted. There is even a group that is trying to stunt
the influence of Facebook called "Facebook Detox."

Insecurity- Facebook is a cause for insecurities due to the fact that it makes people compare
themselves to others. How can you not when all you see is pictures of your friends and
acquaintances on your newsfeed?

Stalker friendly- Facebook is a very stalker friendly website. Theoretically, someone that you don't
even know can say that they go to your school, add you, and get all of your information. This may
include your phone number, house address, and locations you visit frequently. Not to mention the
fact that they will be able to go through all of your pictures and get to know you completely without
you ever knowing. This is a scary thought, but it is a real issue.
The Impact of Facebook
on Our Students
https://www.nais.org/articles/pages/the-impact-of-facebook-on-our-students.aspx

By Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe

Co-Directors, ChildrenOnline.org
1/22/2009

Demonize it, or extol its admissions and alumni-network virtues; the use of Facebook in our
schools is likely to elicit strong opinions. One thing is for certain, the use of Facebook
repeatedly comes up in discussions about Internet safety, age-appropriate exposure, and student
online behavior. Though many schools have different policies for using or accessing Facebook,
we share many of the same concerns.

Through our Internet safety organization, ChildrenOnline.org, we've surveyed the Internet
behavior of thousands of Independent school children and teens. We've learned a great deal
about their use of Facebook and the inherent issues they face, as well as their schools, because
Facebook is one of the 2 most popular websites for independent school students across grades 4 -
12. (The other site is YouTube.) We would like to summarize our shared concerns and address
the issues that impact our students, and our communities.

1.For those schools that allow it, the use of Facebook in

our communities can take an inordinate amount of
Internet bandwidth.
And for those schools that allow access to Facebook, how do we reconcile our concerns that younger and
younger children are using this adult social network? Four years ago it was rare to learn of a child under
7th grade with an account. Last fall, for the first time, 4th graders began reporting to us that they had
Facebook accounts. We now estimate that about 60 - 70% of 7th graders have accounts and the number
is higher for 8th graders. These children are too young to be using Facebook or other adult social
networks for the reasons detailed below.

2. Using Facebook takes time. Often, a LOT of time!

The greatest motivating factor for children to use technology in grades 7 and up is to connect to others; to
socialize. Their irresistible need to connect with their peers, coupled with the development of 24/7
accessible technologies, can make the use of sites like Facebook all consuming. We have concerns for
children and teens today growing up in a world where they are wired 24/7 without a break. For many of
our kids there is little or no "down time." Some have difficulty disengaging from their social life. For
some, it even raises their anxiety level to be without their cell phones for a few hours! We don't believe
this is healthy for them.
3. To our students using Facebook, there is a false sense
of privacy.
Couple this false sense of privacy with the feeling of anonymity and lack of social responsibility that often
develops from using text-centered telecommunications, and we see that many students post
embarrassing, humiliating, denigrating and hurtful content in both text, photos and videos. We need to
teach them that NOTHING IS PRIVATE online, especially their social networks. We need to show them
examples of the serious consequences that have occurred to those whose egregious online behavior has
been made public. Students have been expelled from high schools and colleges. Students have been
denied acceptances to intern programs, admission to independent high schools, colleges, and jobs at
summer camps. Students, and their families, have been sued for slander and defamation of
character. Students, and their parents, have been arrested. All because of the content they've posted in
their "private" social network accounts. People are trolling their accounts. Hackers, scammers, reporters,
police, high school and college admissions officers, employers, parents and summer camp
directors....Adults ARE looking and the kids don't get it! Also, they don't realize that the instant they post
something to Facebook (or MySpace or YouTube, etc.), they've just lost control and ownership of that
content. Try reviewing the privacy rights of Facebook with your middle and high school students. It is
quite an eye opener!

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