ne. Yet, they continue to do this every time without realizing their mistake. With today’s technology, students can use their smartphone to communicate with people on social media at any time and place (Dunn). Furthermore, teens can spend more hours on social media than with their family. Common Sense Media, a non-profitable organization, surveyed 2,658 people and found out teenagers ages between thirteen and eighteen spent an average of nine hours on social media. In their survey, they claim teenagers also multitask when they were doing homework (Fox and Edwards).
Erik Erikson’s Identity Crisis Theory describes the key part of teens in their adolescence age. In his theory of psychological development, it is called Identity versus confusion. This stage occurs between ages of approximately twelfth to eighteen. During adolescence, “children are exploring their independence and developing a sense of self. ” One major question they must ask themselves is: “Who am I? ” Those who receive proper encourage through their personal experiences will develop a “strong sense of self and a feeling of independence and control. However, those who remain confused and insecure about their identity, they will find a really hard time to fit into society (Cherry).
Social media can be a cause of negative effects on high school students’ social relationships because they might alien themselves from real life. In some cases, gang recruits their members by using social media, which they usually target children as young as eight years old. Social media is a way they use to show and advertise their rebellious lifestyles, such as fast cash, drugs, and popularity.
With the benefit of cell phones, social media can be a great way for gang to post comments, photos, their achievements, and their upcoming events. They use the words “Web Banging” to glorify their gang activity (“Gang Presence”). Children in their adolescence stage can be convinced by these images to join a gang organization because they might also want to show part of their rebellious form. As technology improve, gang members could communicate their thoughts and ideas much easier.
Social media can harm social relationships by increasing jealousy and anxiety. Information online can contain suspicion for users, which generally makes people do not trust each other. The outcomes, such as cheating and break-up, were associated with contacting an ex-partner on Facebook or online dating. As people give negative feedbacks on social media, it could disrupt the stability of the relationship. This makes online surveillances very common for couples (Seidman). The use of social media can enable sex addiction.
In social media, people can easily find videos and images that promotes “sexual addictive behavior. ” These free sexual images and videos can lead to teens taking the next step on clicking the internet sites that gives “sex chat, sexual hook-ups, prostitutes, or finding old acting-out partners” (Hatch). Paulla Hall, a sex addiction therapist, claims about forty percent of teenagers had seen pornography before age of twelfth. For men, excitement was the reason for their sexual behavior. In women, “affirmation and feeling wanted” was their reason.
Because teenagers lack of education and easy access to porn, it can easily lead them to become addicted. Keir Starmer, the Directo of Public Prosecutions, admits internet pornography have increased violence in teenage relationships over the year (Payne). Many Companies have used different tactics on social media to target high school students in advertising their products because they know teens are very focused on trends. Some high school students do not have jobs and fully rely on their parents’ income.
However, Companies have started to use free offers and samples online for teens, so they can build their brand awareness and customers’ loyalty around the area. This strategy not only increase the visibility of the company’s brand, but also a unique way to their increase their sales. Regardless where they live, advertising on social media have significant influence ensuring that marketing activities are focused on them (Max). Building a community online not only help them to reduce their advertisement costs, but also efficiently analyze customers’ demands.
Companies have used social media to interact and get feedback from customers, which can greatly increase the brand trustworthiness. Part IV – What I Learned Throughout my research, I learned many advantages and disadvantages of social media could have on high school students. I learned that google search engine may contain unreliable sources and give repetitive information online. I learned that most reliable and useful could be found on the four pages or more.
I learned not all information would be available online and some information could be bias. I learned how to do a more accurate and efficient google search by using truncations and keywords. I learned how to prepare to do an interview without feeling uncomfortable and nervous. I learned how businesses would use their marketing strategy to improve their sales and brand reliability. Above all, I learned that many negative effects of social media on high school students and know how to avoid these consequences for the future generation.