Katie Donoviel
The Impact of Social Media on Teenagers
Prospectus
Social media is a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly popular during last time, especially among young people. It is an issue that separates the points of view, as some people regard it as being an amazing phenomenon, but others are worried about its influence on the lives of people. There are several factors that are necessary to discuss, speaking about pros and cons of social media impact on the teenagers, such as self-development and creativity, health and wellness, anonymity and easiness of communication in social networks, business and study development of young people.
For example, if to argue about anonymity in social networks, it may have a positive and negative impact on teenagers. It is much easier for young people to express themselves, their thoughts and their feelings, share their favorite songs and movies, post photos of a beloved pet or a new car, when other people do not know them personally. This may have a negative side too, as anonymity allows some teenagers to write negative or abusive comments, and if the privacy is set not correctly it may lead to undesired results. The social network can become a business development platform, where a young man can promote his web design studio, online store, or rock school. Along with it, social media may help in the learning process. Concerning health and wellness, social media is healthy for stress handling, as it was noted by many studies that when a teenager shares mental stresses and his feelings with other people, he feels much better. To my mind, the issue of the social media impact has become so vital in the recent time that it is worthwhile to discuss and investigate.
Annotated Bibliography
Boyd, Danah, and Ellison, Nicole B. "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship". Engineering Management Review, IEEE 38.3 (2010): 16-31. Print.
This is a peer-reviewed article from the journal, telling about the history of development of social media and giving the definition of this phenomenon generally. Boyd and Ellison stress that social networks have eliminated all communication and interaction barriers and young people can discuss their thoughts and understanding on a variety of topics. However, another side of it also exists, as cyber bullying has become a real problem in the modern world, as “some people can make use of the fact, due to humiliation or bullying being accomplished behind a computer screen” (Boyd, Ellison). The article argues that “equality of all people, who use social networks, makes a positive impact on the entire society, as nobody knows person’s social status, work position, salary, race or ethnicity and all people are given the right to communicate and express their thoughts on the equal basis” (Boyd, Ellison).
This source is credible because it will help me analyze how useful the social media is on the young people and how it positively influences them. Secondly, I chose this source because it gives me detailed information, which will help me strengthen my arguments on my topic. I intend to use the information in this source to answer the question of how the social media has developed and its effects on the life of the teenagers.
Carrol, J.A, Kirkpatric, R.L. “Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Behavioral Health”. Oakland, CA: California Adolescent Health Collaborative, 2011. Print.
In this book, I have found information about the positive effects of social media on the adolescents, for instance, it opens new learning and networking opportunities for them. Therefore, I will be using it to answer the question regarding the adolescent use of the social media and their behavioral patterns. Moreover, I will use the book to outline the basic risks of social media, which are negative effects on mental and physical health, cyberbullying or exposure to sexual solicitation and other illegal content, the violation of privacy issues.
I choose this book because it has information that strongly relates to my topic and it will be efficient in delivering in depth information on the social media effects on teenagers and also and a voice to my other arguments.
Griffiths, Mark. "Internet Abuse and Internet Addiction in The Workplace". Journal of Workplace Learning 22.7 (2010): 463-472. Web.
In this peer-reviewed journal article, the author explains the danger of social media for young people and children, as such kind of leisure requires a much time that can be spent with friends, family, for personal life, and sports activities, and it steadily becomes a certain type of addiction. This is a resourceful article because with it, I will be able to find information about the negative effects of social media for younger generation. Moreover, the source outlines that, the social media has become a huge part of modern reality that it is possible to learn life story of every person simply by checking his private page online. Therefore, this source is credible because it will help me find the negative effects of the social media, for instance, how it can attract dishonest people: cheaters or scammers, who would like to use the acquired information on sites in their own aims or take advantage of it.
I choose this peer reviewed journal because it covers significant impact of social media on teenagers, including addiction and abuse. Most teenagers depend mainly on the social media to find answers other than communicating with their parents and teachers.
"Impact Of Social Media On Adolescent Behavioral Health In California". California Adolescent Health. N.p., 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
The presented internet article is the summary of the opinions of several authors on the problem of social media influence on adolescent health. It analyses all benefits and negative effects of it on the health of teenagers and provides the strong background of the issue by giving comprehensive information and supporting statistics. The source is credible because the article provides a lot of interesting facts about the risks for health of teens. In addition, it is credible because it gives information on how possible it is to improve the health the teenagers with the help of social media. Nonetheless, the article might be heavy read with unclear ideas because of the opinions of the many others. Despite this, I found this article interesting and helpful because of the way it explores the subject of the effects of social media on adolescents.
I will use this source to support both the negative and positive effects of the use of social media by the youth. Moreover, this article will help me to clearly illustrate the points that am trying to make regarding the topic of the effects of social media on teenagers.
Aliyas, Paul, Jomon, Baker Hope M, and Cochran Justin Daniel. "Effect of Online Social Networking on Student Academic Performance". Computers in Human Behavior 28.6 (2012): 2117-2127. Web.
The article discusses the positive effect of social media on the learning process and academic performance of children and youth. The authors of the article argue that “social networks can be used as a tool for self-development and creativity; they provide the ability to use a large amount of information to develop and improve” (Paul, Baker and Cochran). With this information, the source is credible because it points out how the social media affects school performance. Secondly, the teenagers can use the social media to find all interesting and useful information they need, such as musical instrument lessons, fitness classes videos, or hand-made process of production different things. Therefore, it is evident that the social networks can be useful and helpful during the learning process. The authors stress that “social media can be used to share lecture notes, laboratory work assignments and other useful information” (Paul, Baker and Cochran). Young people can join the community on various subjects and come to know the history questions or improve the knowledge of foreign languages. Here you can find the links to all important literature, videos and photos; and it is possible to discuss various issues with other members of the group, but some unscrupulous students may use this information to plagiarize and use the thoughts of other people instead of using their own. It may produce a negative impact on the whole learning process.
I find it very useful because, unlike other sources, this one points out the significance of the social media on learning. I will be using this article to answer the question asking if the social media is helpful or detrimental to academic excellence of the youth. In addition, this source is credible because it will help me illustrate the positive and negative effects of the social media on college and high school students.
