NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE YOUTHS

What’s more, with this type of growth in any field, there must be both positive and negative effects. A recent poll showed that 22% of teenagers are active on their sites at least 10 times in a day while the remaining percentages log in at least once a day. These numbers are supported by the fact that 75% of teenagers now have mobile phones, 54% use them to text, 25% use them on social media, and 24% use it to instant message. Therefore most of this new generation’s emotional and social development is happening on the internet and mobile phones. (Clark-Pearson, O’Keeffe, 2011) There are a number of diseases linked to idle sitting that are increasing daily like obesity. Moreover, this hinders the quality of their studies and homework as it becomes hard for them to multitask (Treyvaud, 2017) Secondly, on social media, there is no privacy.

Anything posted on a social media site can be reposted and viewed by an unwanted audience. This is because privacy on social media is practically non-existent. For instance, if a person posts something by mistake they may not have the chance to take it back. This may lead to one not being offered a job based on image abuse or online shaming (Abdulahi, Samadi&Gharleghi, 2014) Thirdly social media affects one’s self-esteem. What’s moreover exposure to sexual content can cause them to develop problems in establishing healthy sexual relationships. Additionally, social media can disrupt one's sleep patterns. This is because teenagers and youth have been known to stay up all night on social sites. Besides if one does not get enough sleep they tend to feel stressed, one may develop health issues such as viral illnesses, and skin related diseases.

(Treyvaud, 2017) Additionally, the amount of self-disclosure may cause youths to be unavailable to other social cues. Research has shown that this artificial light inhibits one from producing the hormone melatonin that facilitates sleep. This includes the blue light that is emitted by laptop and mobile phones. The screens are said to be the worsts when it comes to affecting one's sleep. Therefore, when a youth or teenager rests their head on the bed at night hoping to sleep on Facebook or Twitter they are headed for a restless nap. For instance, researchers have found that the longer that one spends time on social media the more their chances of having disturbed sleep. Besides at this age, most youth and teenagers cannot properly distinguish reality of violence from fantasy.

The endorsement of violence on social media or in others post normalizes the idea and this has changed the way most youths understand violence. The promotion of violence in some cases tends to make the teenager change their behaviour and even become less social. (Kim, 2016) Interestingly, most adolescents get influenced on how to spend their money by social media sites too. This is because most businesses are nowadays based online to target the youths. This is because of this the prerequisite age set by the government in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The regulations prohibit websites from trying to access information on children below the age of 13. This may be one of the only ways of protecting pre-teens from cyberbullying.

(O’Keeffe, and Clark-Pearson, 2011) In conclusion, according to history, this new invention has sparked dreadful commentary. However, just like any other form of technology, social media can be used or misused, Therefore, while we are still trying to figure out the negative effects on teenagers, there is need to understand its darker side and its effects on us all as humans. forbes. com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#1f18820c2e5 Treyvaud, R. The Negative Effects of Social Media on TeensWangle Family Insites. Retrieved 3 March 2018, from https://wanglefamilyinsites. com/advice/negative-effects-of-social-media-on-teens Walrave,, M. ke/books?id=vUYWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA164&dq=NEGATIVE+IMPACTS+OF+SOCIAL+MEDIA+ON+THE+YOUTHS&hl Abdulahi, A. , Samadi, B. , &Gharleghi, B. A Study on the Negative Effects of Social Networking Sites Such as Facebook among Asia Pacific University Scholars in Malaysia.