Teenagers and social media

Interesting facts: Parents of teenagers usually want to know what their little angels are doing online and when do they need to intervene. This desire for protection and safety goes to an extent, that applications for invading child's privacy are being developed. For further information please see: https://www.teensafe.com/blog/true-facts-about-teens-and-media/ Even though the page advertises their app quite successfully, it is obvious that the real results of this kind of "monitoring" are not effective and the children can see this app running on their phones. They will be cautious about what they do on social media and the parents will end up where they started- simply trusting their children and giving them their privacy. Studies: If you are looking for interesting clinical studies about the imact of social media on children, this PDF available online will inform you about the origin of the media and the problems that children may face such as cyberbullying. ...

Social media are widely used by teenagers and also adults. According to statistics, in the year of 2017, 81% of the U.S. population owns some sort of social media account (Statista, 2017). People spend their free time browsing on internet, sharing their thoughts and watching what are others doing. Even though internet made the world smaller and enabled people to communicate while being thousands of miles apart, it also made social interaction less personal. Many people spend more time posting pictures on social media than actually interacting with others around them. Most of today’s culture is build on Instagram accounts and Facebook profiles, where individuals present themselves in perfect light. Most of the people on social networks create a “virtual identity” of themselves by posting images and informing everyone how much of a good time they are having at that very moment. Moreover usually the internet image does not reflect the reality at all. Most teengers then experience big soc...

How much time do teenagers spend on social media? It is commonly known that people spend a lot of time on social media, watching TV or browsing the internet, but what is the actual time spent online? Recent studies in the United States showed, that teens spend around nine hours on media for their enjoyment (not including school work). There is a big difference between the gender of teenagers which affects the choice of media. Girls usually spend more time on social media (around 40 minutes), while boys tend to play more video games. Teens use social media not just during their free time but also at school or while doing their homework. As it is mentioned in the article by Kelly Wallace: “Nearly two-thirds say watching TV or texting makes no difference and more than 50% feel the same way when it comes to social media” (2015). However studies at Stanford show, that this type of multitasking negatively affects the quality of studying and makes the activity less effective (Wihbey, 2...

Social Media and body image The social media are usually filled with many pictures and so-called “selfies” which present unrealistic images to many adolescent girls and boys. These may be the reasons for various eating disorders and low self-confidence, since today’s social media culture tends to be more concerned about physical atributes than the meaningful qualities of a person (Pennington, 2015). To show the disproportions in numbers, according to the surveys made by the University of Texas the average woman is 165 cm tall and weights around 75 kg. On the other hand, the models on Instagram and other social media are usually 180 cm tall and weigh 50 kg (Crain, 2016). Looking to the past, there were many studies focusing on the decreasing weight of the models as ideals of beauty. In the years 1950 and 1990 the differences between the ideal and the reality became very significant and since then it continues to influence not just adults, but also teens. Those body images h...

13 Reasons Why Netflix recently released new series called  "13 Reasons Why" which is based on Jay Asher's bestseller and co-produced by a famous actress Selena Gomez. The main purpose of this project is to share a message about being kinder to one another and ask for help if needed. However suicide experts do say, that this good intention can do more harm than good. The plot is about a young girl Hannah Baker who commits suicide and leaves audiotapes explaining what led her to this terrible act. In each tape, Hannah blames her act on the bahavior of her classmates and a member of faculty. Controversy On one hand, the producers of the series point out, that this show is supposed to bring awarness and make people talk about suicide more. As a co-producer Selena Gomez said herself: “I just wanted it to come across in a way that kids would be frightened, but confused ― in a way that they would talk about it because it’s something that’s happening all the time. So...

Introduction The game called "Blue Whale" has been discussed in the media all over the world. Even though the reports are not confirmed, there is a possible link between teenager suicides and this social media challenge. The purpose of this game is completing series of tasks in a 50 day period. Those tasks are dangerous, self-harming and eventually result in making the player kill himself. The origin of the game It is actually believed, that the name is referencing to an act of blue whales, in which they purposely kill themselves nearby the shore. The Blue Whale is understood to be an online pressure group, with the curator assigning players tasks from watching a horror movie to jumping off the building. Reports First mentioned reports came from Russia. To be concrete, a ten-year old girl was found wounded after trying to commit suicide in the city of St. Petersburg. Similar case was a suicide of two Russian girls from Siberia (Julia Konstantinova, Veronika Volko...

We live in the world of an instant flow of information. We are able to reach, chat with people around the world, we can share what is on our minds and what are we doing at this very moment... Internet has connected the world and made it smaller. However among those great opportunities it creates, there are also many downsides to it. One of them is the influence of social media on teenagers. To start with some data and make this whole thing a little more credible, here are some statistics of teenagers using all kinds of social networks: With this type of data one has to ask: What are they doing there? Which activities do they skip to spend time on social media? What do they share with the world- is it safe or not..? The purpose of this blog is to show some downsides to social media and point out to some problems that may appear with overusing those sites and becoming addicted to them. Sources: Lenhart, A. (2015). Teens, social media and technology overview 201...