Introduction
Technology gas changed the world today, the way people communicate and the culture that was formed from the exchanges made within the virtual world reinforced by the wide use of Internet in almost all aspects of life. One of the most revolutionary discoveries of the modern era is social media, which created a contemporary society that paved the way for the rise of a new kind of culture. Bernie Froese-Germain author of “Bullying Gets Digital Shot-in-the-arm” that the rise of social media and networking websites such as Facebook, My Space, and the like have created a contemporary youth culture, which enabled a clear understanding of the teenage head space. This culture established a place for the youth to explore their identity, workout ways of how they want others see themselves, and a space to express their nature away from the adult culture. It is apparent that social media empowered the youth to take its place in the society through constant exposures to a wider audience, which in the end had immense impact in their own existence. However, the rise of the youth’s contemporary culture has paved the way for social conundrums that puts their future at risk of imminent danger.
Digital Age, its Culture, and the New Society
In an article by Paris and Robert Strom entitled “Growing up with Social Networks and Online Communities”, the impact of the social media was not limited to way of life, casual conversation, and communication, but also the way the youth today establish relationship. At some point virtual friendship became instant due to the ability of social network users in engaging to casual conversations with the individuals whom the users have no prior acquaintance. The most disturbing in this matter is that the social media participants are becoming younger and younger increasing the risk for underage social media users to be exploited online.
The virtual environment did not only introduced a new way of socialization, but also influenced the way education was served to the youth. The rise of the digital age culture enabled students to harness the power of technology to aid learning. Jeffrey Yan wrote in his article “Social Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom”, the new mode of communication has provided visual and textual tools for students to connect and communicate their academic achievement with their peers. Sharing information was made easy through social networking with a number of college and high school students spending time online; blogs and wikis became a prominent source of information defeating the conventional trip to a library.
Given the increasing reliance on social networking by the youth to the point that even their education is largely influenced by the social culture, concerned groups are beginning to notice the negative implications of such culture to the general youth population. Dana L Fleming wrote in her article “Youthful Indiscretions” that the more students sign-up for a free social media account, the more, job recruiters, law enforcers, and sexual exploiters to sign on and begin to search for a target. With a single click, students and the rest of the youth population is exposed to a number of uncensored contents and a myriad of social groups with specific interests. For example, Facebook allow formation of groups and community page with themes such as “Drunks United”, Sexy and Single”, and “My B.A.C is Higher than your GPA”. Signing up to this social groups is in the sole discretion of the social media user, hence securing the youth for getting involved in groups with unclear ideologies becomes an imminent risk of insinuating negative and destructive social perception on the youth. This leads to a myriad of social conundrums that social media have created on the expense on the teenage users. These problems include cyber bullying, sexual exploitation, wrong perspective about romantic relationship, and even death due to being exposed to psychopathic strangers online asking for a date. The rise of social media culture also paved the way for an utter destruction of one’s future due to the problems that teenagers are facing brought by the contemporary culture. Problems that is difficult to be dealt with because of the lack of mere understanding of the cause and continued exposure to the digital society.
Emerging Social Dilemmas: Youth’s Future at Risk
Part of the problems perceived in the wide influence of social media culture is believed to put the youth’s future at risk encompassing a self-destruct notion in its concept. Nancy Jo Sales in her article “Friends without Benefits”, points out that 80% of Internet-using teenagers in America are reported to be active members in one or more of the social-networking sites and such exposure combined with ease of access puts the vulnerable teenagers to the world of sexuality as described in an article entitled “Hello PBF” by Hani Miletski. Internet pornography is rampant and access to such materials brings forth a different notion of gender and sexual exchange. In addition, large number of the teenage boys is uncovers perverted ideologies that they have the right to social submission of their teenage peers to outright sex. Conversations between teenagers are limited to a few slurs that convey sexual stimulations such as “ur hot” and “wanna meet?” However, female teenagers have also adapted to the same ideology and often respond with agreement to similar conversation without hesitation.
Such online scenery is becoming typical among teenagers. Allie Conti told about the story of a camgirl who’s grabbed of her youth at a very young age due to the perverted environment created by the digital society. In an article entitled “4chan Camgirl Loli-chan Grows Up” by Conti, a girl concealing her identity by the name of Loli-chan has started to post her nude photos in picture boards since she was 13 years old. It could have avoided at some point but the perverted culture within the virtual society encouraged the acts and lured Loli into a world of sex and pedophilia. Loli-chan’s life as a teenager began to go downward spiral when she was exposed to instant messaging and became highly addicted to online socialization. After Loli-chan’s parents gave her an HP computer at the age 11, the self-destruct mode came in full throttle. She was suspended from school several times and even was admitted to Jackson Memorial psychiatric ward.
Loli-chan is just an example of millions of teenage girls whose life turned miserable due to the uncontrolled engagement to online culture. Today, new self-destruct trends are emerging, putting the teenage population to utmost vulnerability. Teenagers forming a social circle of their own tend to insinuate a bullying behavior over other teenagers outside their dominion. Antonia Alvarez wrote in her article “IH8U”: Confronting Cyberbullying and Exploring the Use
of Cybertoolsin Teen Dating Relationships”, that texting, blogging, posting and instant messaging became the tool for dominant teenagers to inflict insults, racial slurs, condemnation towards other teenagers. Traditional bullying elements were put into cyber context where cases of inflicted repetition of aggression, power imbalance, and threat were smeared upon the weaker members of the teenage circle according to Colette Langos in her article “Cyber bullying: The Challenge to Define”.
Conclusion
The discussion of this issue poses greater importance towards addressing the negative impacts of social media and its culture towards the teenage population. The rising social media culture introduced the youth to an environment where a self-destruct button is just waiting to be pushed. This leaves the general social media users with a thought of seeking control to avoid imminent possibilities of the youth’s future to be destroyed by the same culture they created.
Works Cited
Alvarez , Antonia R. "“IH8U”: Confronting Cyberbullying and Exploring the Use of Cybertoolsin Teen Dating Relationships." Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session 68.11 (2012): 1205–1215. Wiley Online Library. Web. <10.1002/jclp.21920>.
Conti, Allie. "4chan Camgirl Loli-chan Grows Up." Miami News Times [Miami] 10 Oct. 2013: n. pag. Web. <miaminewtimes.com/2013-10-10/news/4chan-loli-chan-camgirl/!>.
Fleming, Dana L. "Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?" The New England Journal of Higher Education (2008): 27-29. Print.
Froese-germain, Bernie. "Bullying Gets Digital Shot-in-the Arm." Canadian Education Association 48.4 (2008): n. pag. Print.
Jo sales, Nancy. "Friends Without Benefits." vanityfair.com 26 Sept. 2013: n. pag. Web. <vanityfair.com/culture/2013/09/social-media-internet-porn-teenage-girls>.
Langos, Colette. "Cyberbullying: The Challenge to Define." Cyberpshychology, behavior, and Social Networking 15.6 (2012): 285-289. Web. <10.1089/cyber.2011.0588>.
Miletsi, Hani. "Hello PBF!" Contemporary Sexuality 45.11 (2011): 3-6. Print.
Strom, Paris, and Robert Strom. "Growing Up with Social Networks and Online Communities." eddigest (2012): n. pag. Print.
Yan, Jeffrey. "Social Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom." The New England Journal of Higher Education (2008): 27-29. Print.
