Cristina Bedolla
Ms. Lehmann
English 2-1B
7 February 2020
Social Media’s Impact
A wise person once said, “The more social media we have, the more we think we’re connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.” Teens should be aware of this while using social media. Teens should be responsible users of social media because social media impacts teens’ well-being, social connectedness and academic achievements. In examining social media’s impact on well-being, it is clear the connection is complex.
How we use social media impacts our well-being. Social media has both good and bad impacts on teens’ emotional health. There are a range of challenges teens face in life, and social media allows them to seek out help they might not get otherwise. James et al write, “The ability to communicate anonymously can mitigate barriers, such as shame, that interfere with support seeking offline” (72). Being able to anonymously ask for help has a positive impact on teens’ lives because it allows people to ask for help without feeling judged so that they can get the help they need. Having considered the positive impacts of social media, users must also be aware of the negative. Social media has been blamed for many negative impacts on people’s lives. James et al explain, “Several investigations document correlations between heavy media use and reduced well-being - related outcomes, such as diminished life satisfaction, internalizing negative experiences, and various dimensions of ill-being, such as depression, anxiety, attention problems, and stress” (72). When young adults use social media to compare themselves to others, negative outcomes will follow. When social media presents the good things in our lives as the only things, users can lose sight of the messiness of life, making them feel less satisfied with what they have. The impact that social media has on adolescents’ well-being depends upon how it is being used.
Social media has made an impact on face-to-face interactions and connections. There are both positive and negative impacts on how social media affects face-to-face conversations. The way teens communicate with one another has changed over time. The survey conducted by Common Sense Media showed that it is young adults' personalities that determines social media’s impact. “The 17 percent who scored in the low- SEWB group were the most impact by social media interactions, suggesting that the child’s personality – not the platform – is the more important factor when determining the influence of social media” (K.Y. 18). Young adults have different personalities; they all don’t share the same traits. We can’t always know how social media affects everyone; it depends on the person. Social media changes the way young adults communicate. Many teens are not communicating with friends like how they used to. Social media is a distraction for young adults. “Only 32 percent say their favorite way to communicate with friends is in person (dropping from 49 percent in 2012) and teens are more likely to say they are distracted by social media when they are with other people (52 percent, up from 44)” (K.Y. 18). The ways young adults communicate change over the years. It’s great that teens know how to communicate over social media, but it’s also very important that they know how to communicate face-to-face. Social media has made many new connections, but it has also changed face-to-face communications.
Some argue that the dangers of social media have been over exaggerated. Despite the appeal of this argument, the negative effects of social media cannot be ignored entirely. Using social media too much has been connected to a lack of emotional and physical well-being as well as weaker social connectedness. Success in school has also been impacted by screen time. “Academic performance is directly related to sleep time and inversely related to overall sedentary SMU [screen media use] among the students who participated in this study” (Peiró-Velert et al 5). The study found that the more time students spent on their screens, the less time they had to sleep, which resulted in lower academic achievement. It's obvious that social media’s impact is complicated, and people should be mindful of how they use it.
By using social media responsibly, teens can minimize its impact on their health, connections with others, and success in school. Being aware of how they use social media can minimize social media’s impact on teens’ well-being. Social media has become a distraction to teens’ communication skills, and teens should become aware of how they use it. The amount of time teens spend on social media has an impact on academic achievement. Social media’s impact on teens really has been to cause teens to disconnect from each other.
Work Cited
James Carrie, Katie Davis, Linda Charmaraman, Sara Konrath, Petr Slovak, Emily
Weinstein, and Lana Yarosh. “Digital Life and Youth Well-being, SocialConnectedness, Empathy,
and Narcissism.” Pediatrics, vol. 140, no. S2,November 2017, pp. 71-75. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1542/peds.2-16- 1785F.
Accessed 21 January 2020.
K.Y. “Social Media and Teens.” School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 10, October 2018, p18-18.
Academic Search Premier. Accessed 21 January 2020.
Peiró- Velert, Carmen, Alexandra Valencia-peris, Luis M. González, Xavier Garcia-
Massó, Pilar Serra Añó, and José Devis- Devis. "Screen Media Usage, Sleep Time and Academic Performance in Adolescents:
Clustering a Self-Organizing Maps Analysis. “Plos One, vol. 9, no. 6, June 2014, pp. 1-9. Academic Search
Premier, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099478. Accessed 10 February 2020.
Ms. Lehmann
English 2-1B
7 February 2020
Social Media’s Impact
A wise person once said, “The more social media we have, the more we think we’re connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.” Teens should be aware of this while using social media. Teens should be responsible users of social media because social media impacts teens’ well-being, social connectedness and academic achievements. In examining social media’s impact on well-being, it is clear the connection is complex.
How we use social media impacts our well-being. Social media has both good and bad impacts on teens’ emotional health. There are a range of challenges teens face in life, and social media allows them to seek out help they might not get otherwise. James et al write, “The ability to communicate anonymously can mitigate barriers, such as shame, that interfere with support seeking offline” (72). Being able to anonymously ask for help has a positive impact on teens’ lives because it allows people to ask for help without feeling judged so that they can get the help they need. Having considered the positive impacts of social media, users must also be aware of the negative. Social media has been blamed for many negative impacts on people’s lives. James et al explain, “Several investigations document correlations between heavy media use and reduced well-being - related outcomes, such as diminished life satisfaction, internalizing negative experiences, and various dimensions of ill-being, such as depression, anxiety, attention problems, and stress” (72). When young adults use social media to compare themselves to others, negative outcomes will follow. When social media presents the good things in our lives as the only things, users can lose sight of the messiness of life, making them feel less satisfied with what they have. The impact that social media has on adolescents’ well-being depends upon how it is being used.
Social media has made an impact on face-to-face interactions and connections. There are both positive and negative impacts on how social media affects face-to-face conversations. The way teens communicate with one another has changed over time. The survey conducted by Common Sense Media showed that it is young adults' personalities that determines social media’s impact. “The 17 percent who scored in the low- SEWB group were the most impact by social media interactions, suggesting that the child’s personality – not the platform – is the more important factor when determining the influence of social media” (K.Y. 18). Young adults have different personalities; they all don’t share the same traits. We can’t always know how social media affects everyone; it depends on the person. Social media changes the way young adults communicate. Many teens are not communicating with friends like how they used to. Social media is a distraction for young adults. “Only 32 percent say their favorite way to communicate with friends is in person (dropping from 49 percent in 2012) and teens are more likely to say they are distracted by social media when they are with other people (52 percent, up from 44)” (K.Y. 18). The ways young adults communicate change over the years. It’s great that teens know how to communicate over social media, but it’s also very important that they know how to communicate face-to-face. Social media has made many new connections, but it has also changed face-to-face communications.
Some argue that the dangers of social media have been over exaggerated. Despite the appeal of this argument, the negative effects of social media cannot be ignored entirely. Using social media too much has been connected to a lack of emotional and physical well-being as well as weaker social connectedness. Success in school has also been impacted by screen time. “Academic performance is directly related to sleep time and inversely related to overall sedentary SMU [screen media use] among the students who participated in this study” (Peiró-Velert et al 5). The study found that the more time students spent on their screens, the less time they had to sleep, which resulted in lower academic achievement. It's obvious that social media’s impact is complicated, and people should be mindful of how they use it.
By using social media responsibly, teens can minimize its impact on their health, connections with others, and success in school. Being aware of how they use social media can minimize social media’s impact on teens’ well-being. Social media has become a distraction to teens’ communication skills, and teens should become aware of how they use it. The amount of time teens spend on social media has an impact on academic achievement. Social media’s impact on teens really has been to cause teens to disconnect from each other.
Work Cited
James Carrie, Katie Davis, Linda Charmaraman, Sara Konrath, Petr Slovak, Emily
Weinstein, and Lana Yarosh. “Digital Life and Youth Well-being, SocialConnectedness, Empathy,
and Narcissism.” Pediatrics, vol. 140, no. S2,November 2017, pp. 71-75. Academic Search Premier, doi: 10.1542/peds.2-16- 1785F.
Accessed 21 January 2020.
K.Y. “Social Media and Teens.” School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 10, October 2018, p18-18.
Academic Search Premier. Accessed 21 January 2020.
Peiró- Velert, Carmen, Alexandra Valencia-peris, Luis M. González, Xavier Garcia-
Massó, Pilar Serra Añó, and José Devis- Devis. "Screen Media Usage, Sleep Time and Academic Performance in Adolescents:
Clustering a Self-Organizing Maps Analysis. “Plos One, vol. 9, no. 6, June 2014, pp. 1-9. Academic Search
Premier, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099478. Accessed 10 February 2020.
Research Paper Reflection
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
Research qualifies this as a research paper and evidence. requirements are going through evidence using it in the research paper citing the quotes. I did that as shown I the paper above.
3. Explain one thing you learned about reading research or taking notes on research that you can apply to your next research paper? I learned never to copy and paste other peoples words and if you use evidence always cite it. When taking notes I learned to highlight a quote and introduce and have a conclusion for the quote. This can help when writing more research papers in the future.
- Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
2. What qualifies this paper as an argumentative essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
Research qualifies this as a research paper and evidence. requirements are going through evidence using it in the research paper citing the quotes. I did that as shown I the paper above.
3. Explain one thing you learned about reading research or taking notes on research that you can apply to your next research paper? I learned never to copy and paste other peoples words and if you use evidence always cite it. When taking notes I learned to highlight a quote and introduce and have a conclusion for the quote. This can help when writing more research papers in the future.