Hello I have a first draft that I need peer-reviewed for an assignment. There are a lot of mistakes but I am looking forward to your help.
Cigarettes, drugs, alcohol and social media all four of these things have something in common. People can become highly addicted to them. 3 out of the 4 are regulated by age and sometimes illegal. Social media is different though. Despite its addicting characteristics people of all ages can freely have access to social media. So, are there any bad effects for children and what can be done about it? There is one option that stands out above them all. This could greatly improve the quality of life of children in the current generation. All social media companies should be required to create a second app specifically for children so that children can enjoy social media in a safer environment.
Firstly, social media's history and its rapidly growing popularity warrants our attention. Social media has a robust history. Social media also changes rapidly. In 2003 Myspace was created, which was a social network with games, and it gained more than 100 million users in two years (Glazer). Myspace, even without the advanced algorithms of modern times, was able to gain more than 100 million users in two years. This growth was just from the basic qualities of social media. In 2009, about half of U.S. teens not only use social media, but they also use social media daily (Glazer). Anything used daily will have a huge effect on a person. Especially when it comes to children because their minds are developing so if they do something daily it will affect their mental growth. In 2019 the suicide rate for 15-to19 year old almost doubled when you compare statistics from 2007(Glazer). This kind of change needs to be investigated to mitigate the consequences. In 2021 a former Facebook employee gives internal documents to the wall street journal that showed that Instagram makes body issues worse for some teenagers (Glazer). This study that Facebook did was based on a concern that they had about their own social media platform. After a study like this there should be concrete actions in accordance with the results of the study.
Real life experiences of teenagers show how social media can affect teenagers on an individual level. The first experience has to do with a teenager named Alexis Spence. Alexis Spence started her Instagram account at 11 years old. This is very young, but a young person can easily lie about their age and gain access to Instagram. Originally, she was interested in fitness content (Glazer). This initial interest in fitness ended up leading her to photos of very emaciated women and accounts that glorified anorexia (Glazer). Instagrams algorithm can easily guide people towards what they feel their users are interested in even if it's not in the best interest of the user. At 12, just one year older from when she began using Instagram, she had an eating disorder (Glazer). She also started posting on Instagram that she wanted to kill herself (Glazer). Her parents have filed a lawsuit against a major social media company (Glazer). She still struggles with her mental health as an adult (Glazer). Her experience illustrates how an innocent interest in a topic on social media can lead to a serious problem with a person's health and can change someone's life, especially a child's. If there is a properly monitored app for children, these kinds of posts would have been deleted and helpful posts about fitness for children would have been shown to her.
The second experience is also a very sad one. This experience is about a teenager named Molly Russell. Molly Russell committed suicide at 14 years old (Dyer). A coroner said that the cause of death was self-harm because of the negative effects of social media (Dyer). They came to this conclusion because of the solid evidence that was presented to them. Meta, which is a company that owns some of the most influential social media platforms, agreed to release the posts that Molly was exposed to (Dyer). What they found was shocking. They found that she viewed about 12 posts a day that had to do with suicide, hurting oneself and depression (Dyer). These posts are readily available for many teenagers and children to be exposed to. The posts that Instagram gives you via their algorithm can even affect adults, how much more so does it affect children. The psychologist that viewed the posts she was exposed to was not able to sleep for weeks because of the disturbing nature of these posts (Dyer). Although they didn't go into detail it is obvious that these posts' purpose was not to help those with depression instead its result was to intensify and promote unhealthy practices.
Social media is designed to be addictive because of its algorithm, and this is problematic. Some people can tell themselves they will only stay on social media for a limited amount of time but before they are aware of it, hours have passed by. Social media now comes with timers that can track your usage and warning after you have been using it for a long time. It is easy though to decide to continue even after warnings. There are many factors that make social media addicting. There was a study that showed that 33% of girls from the ages of 11 to 15 feel that they are addicted to social media. This study only represents those girls that are self-aware of their addiction, there may be more that aren't aware of their addiction. You may wonder why that is important. It is important because there is also a study that showed that teenagers that average more than 3 hours a day of social media use also double their risk of mental health disorders (Cleveland).
Social media plays on our innate desires as humans so it should be regulated. These huge social media companies have a lot of data about humans in general (Yang). They know what kind of people are interested in a certain subject. They also know what interests are related to each other. As an example, a person interested in fitness may also be interested in healthy eating. These companies also track the way a person responds to a certain post. After tracking this they use that data to give that person more of what they like. The algorithm can also predict what is trending amongst people and of the greatest interest to a demographic (Yang). This is dangerous because its purpose is for the user to stay on their app as long as possible to view the largest number of ads. This is in the best interest of social media companies, but it isn't of the best interest of children. Children need to be exposed to many different things and to grow emotionally and socially. An algorithm shouldn't be the source of a young person's emotional and social growth. Some youth also have FOMO which is the fear of missing out (Yang). Since there is a plethora of information and news on social media one moment off it could mean that you haven't learned about the new trend or gossip happening. The fear of going to school and not knowing about what happened with that celebrity or influencer since they spent time off of social media would be an example of the fear of missing out. This can cause addiction for some youths. Also, we have a reward system according to the Pavlovian response (Yang). This is when we realize that we have experienced some joy from an action or event so when it happens again, we begin to have a reflex reaction for whatever gives us this joy or adrenaline rush. When youths see the phones that they have readily available to them they can have a conditioned reflex to reach for it and go on social media (Yang). They can also be addicted because of the desire to build social connections. Receiving a lot of likes from their peers causes them pleasure and raises dopamine levels (Yang). There are many reasons why social media is addicting but is that a bad thing are there any negative effects of social media use?
Social media can have a negative effect on the body image and self esteem of children. Digital wellness lab did a survey that reports that 46% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 said that social media makes them feel worse about their bodies (Cleveland). Young people see perfectly curated pictures of the appearance of others, and it can cause them to feel like there is something wrong with their bodies. American psychological association found that the way youth view themselves is directly connected to how often they use social media (Catchings). When a young person decreases the amount of time spent on social media it makes them feel better about how they look. Young people build their self-esteem as they grow up. It is very important for them to see realistic examples of how people truly are. Although it is hard to regulate celebrities and influencers appearing online as their authentic selves it is easier to regulate the amount of time children can use social media daily. Kids can spend more time focused on the reality of the world around them.
Kids can also be exposed to online predators, cyber bullying, harmful content and dangerous trends while on social media. Cleveland clinic talks about statistics that show that almost 6 out of 10 teenage girls have had uncomfortable experiences when a stranger has contacted them. Online predators are searching for inexperienced young people. Our children need to be protected by having an option for social media that is regulated and geared towards them. Children are also exposed to content that is full of hate. Chats during lives often have commenters who bully the streamer. 64% of teenagers have said that they often or sometimes encounter content that is full of hate (Cleveland). This is a very high percentage of teenagers. Something should be done about spreading hateful emotions to developing children. Their belief systems are still being built and they should be given the best opportunities to grow up as positive and loving adults.
There are also dangerous trends that are spread in social media that kids shouldn't be exposed to. Most people have heard of viral trends. Some examples are when people were eating tide pods laundry detergent or eating large amounts of cinnamon powder. The danger with kids being aware of these trends is that it appears to be safe. The people that post these trends are still ok enough to post so kids think that it is safe. Kids' thinking ability and decision making haven't been fully developed (Cleveland). If social media made a separate app that is specifically for kids, they could monitor the viral trends that are spread on their app by their algorithm.
A solution that can be implemented right now would be to regularly inform the public of the risks of social media. There are ads about other addictive behaviors like warnings against smoking. There can also be ads that show the risks when it comes to social media. Parents will then be well-informed about the dangers of social media. There are many statistics that parents may not be aware of when it comes to the dangers of social media. Ads can make the parents familiar with the risks. These ads can also help parents to know about different methods to help their child to be safe on social media. Some examples of what they can learn is that right from the start parents can begin to have conversations with their kids about social media. They can find out the reasons why their child wants to use social media (Cleveland). Parents can learn how to regulate and supervise their child's use of social media, and they can set limits from the beginning. Showing ads that help parents be well-informed and give them strategies to help their children would be very useful. This would be a temporary solution since it is still hard for parents to fully know what their child is doing online.
There is a solution that can provide a more stable, permanent outcome. Major social media companies can create apps that are specifically for children. If they provide these kinds of apps, it will be appealing to kids because it is still social media, but it would also be strictly regulated. The social media app can be split up based on age so that it will be appropriate and interesting for all age groups. Teenagers wouldn't be given the same content as preteens as an example. All posts can be screened before being published on the app. This will allow children to be safeguarded from viral trends and harmful ideologies. YouTube has an app for kids, so this is possible. Other social media companies can follow their example but still make it better than YouTube. They can also set screen time limits that can only be bypassed by using a password set by a parent. This would mean that after a certain time they will need to check in with their parents about what they have been doing on social media. Social media companies can also eliminate direct messaging capabilities and screen the comments as well so that hateful comments aren't allowed on the platform.
In conclusion, there is a serious issue happening right now when it comes to kids and social media. Children are being affected by the amount of time they spend on social media and the content they are exposed to. It affects their body image, their safety and their mental growth. Parents and children need to be well-informed on the issues that can come about because of social media. The best solution would be to have a highly supervised social media specifically for kids split up by age group.
References:
Social Media Companies, Are they doing enough?
Cigarettes, drugs, alcohol and social media all four of these things have something in common. People can become highly addicted to them. 3 out of the 4 are regulated by age and sometimes illegal. Social media is different though. Despite its addicting characteristics people of all ages can freely have access to social media. So, are there any bad effects for children and what can be done about it? There is one option that stands out above them all. This could greatly improve the quality of life of children in the current generation. All social media companies should be required to create a second app specifically for children so that children can enjoy social media in a safer environment.
Firstly, social media's history and its rapidly growing popularity warrants our attention. Social media has a robust history. Social media also changes rapidly. In 2003 Myspace was created, which was a social network with games, and it gained more than 100 million users in two years (Glazer). Myspace, even without the advanced algorithms of modern times, was able to gain more than 100 million users in two years. This growth was just from the basic qualities of social media. In 2009, about half of U.S. teens not only use social media, but they also use social media daily (Glazer). Anything used daily will have a huge effect on a person. Especially when it comes to children because their minds are developing so if they do something daily it will affect their mental growth. In 2019 the suicide rate for 15-to19 year old almost doubled when you compare statistics from 2007(Glazer). This kind of change needs to be investigated to mitigate the consequences. In 2021 a former Facebook employee gives internal documents to the wall street journal that showed that Instagram makes body issues worse for some teenagers (Glazer). This study that Facebook did was based on a concern that they had about their own social media platform. After a study like this there should be concrete actions in accordance with the results of the study.
Real life experiences of teenagers show how social media can affect teenagers on an individual level. The first experience has to do with a teenager named Alexis Spence. Alexis Spence started her Instagram account at 11 years old. This is very young, but a young person can easily lie about their age and gain access to Instagram. Originally, she was interested in fitness content (Glazer). This initial interest in fitness ended up leading her to photos of very emaciated women and accounts that glorified anorexia (Glazer). Instagrams algorithm can easily guide people towards what they feel their users are interested in even if it's not in the best interest of the user. At 12, just one year older from when she began using Instagram, she had an eating disorder (Glazer). She also started posting on Instagram that she wanted to kill herself (Glazer). Her parents have filed a lawsuit against a major social media company (Glazer). She still struggles with her mental health as an adult (Glazer). Her experience illustrates how an innocent interest in a topic on social media can lead to a serious problem with a person's health and can change someone's life, especially a child's. If there is a properly monitored app for children, these kinds of posts would have been deleted and helpful posts about fitness for children would have been shown to her.
The second experience is also a very sad one. This experience is about a teenager named Molly Russell. Molly Russell committed suicide at 14 years old (Dyer). A coroner said that the cause of death was self-harm because of the negative effects of social media (Dyer). They came to this conclusion because of the solid evidence that was presented to them. Meta, which is a company that owns some of the most influential social media platforms, agreed to release the posts that Molly was exposed to (Dyer). What they found was shocking. They found that she viewed about 12 posts a day that had to do with suicide, hurting oneself and depression (Dyer). These posts are readily available for many teenagers and children to be exposed to. The posts that Instagram gives you via their algorithm can even affect adults, how much more so does it affect children. The psychologist that viewed the posts she was exposed to was not able to sleep for weeks because of the disturbing nature of these posts (Dyer). Although they didn't go into detail it is obvious that these posts' purpose was not to help those with depression instead its result was to intensify and promote unhealthy practices.
Social media is designed to be addictive because of its algorithm, and this is problematic. Some people can tell themselves they will only stay on social media for a limited amount of time but before they are aware of it, hours have passed by. Social media now comes with timers that can track your usage and warning after you have been using it for a long time. It is easy though to decide to continue even after warnings. There are many factors that make social media addicting. There was a study that showed that 33% of girls from the ages of 11 to 15 feel that they are addicted to social media. This study only represents those girls that are self-aware of their addiction, there may be more that aren't aware of their addiction. You may wonder why that is important. It is important because there is also a study that showed that teenagers that average more than 3 hours a day of social media use also double their risk of mental health disorders (Cleveland).
Social media plays on our innate desires as humans so it should be regulated. These huge social media companies have a lot of data about humans in general (Yang). They know what kind of people are interested in a certain subject. They also know what interests are related to each other. As an example, a person interested in fitness may also be interested in healthy eating. These companies also track the way a person responds to a certain post. After tracking this they use that data to give that person more of what they like. The algorithm can also predict what is trending amongst people and of the greatest interest to a demographic (Yang). This is dangerous because its purpose is for the user to stay on their app as long as possible to view the largest number of ads. This is in the best interest of social media companies, but it isn't of the best interest of children. Children need to be exposed to many different things and to grow emotionally and socially. An algorithm shouldn't be the source of a young person's emotional and social growth. Some youth also have FOMO which is the fear of missing out (Yang). Since there is a plethora of information and news on social media one moment off it could mean that you haven't learned about the new trend or gossip happening. The fear of going to school and not knowing about what happened with that celebrity or influencer since they spent time off of social media would be an example of the fear of missing out. This can cause addiction for some youths. Also, we have a reward system according to the Pavlovian response (Yang). This is when we realize that we have experienced some joy from an action or event so when it happens again, we begin to have a reflex reaction for whatever gives us this joy or adrenaline rush. When youths see the phones that they have readily available to them they can have a conditioned reflex to reach for it and go on social media (Yang). They can also be addicted because of the desire to build social connections. Receiving a lot of likes from their peers causes them pleasure and raises dopamine levels (Yang). There are many reasons why social media is addicting but is that a bad thing are there any negative effects of social media use?
Social media can have a negative effect on the body image and self esteem of children. Digital wellness lab did a survey that reports that 46% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 said that social media makes them feel worse about their bodies (Cleveland). Young people see perfectly curated pictures of the appearance of others, and it can cause them to feel like there is something wrong with their bodies. American psychological association found that the way youth view themselves is directly connected to how often they use social media (Catchings). When a young person decreases the amount of time spent on social media it makes them feel better about how they look. Young people build their self-esteem as they grow up. It is very important for them to see realistic examples of how people truly are. Although it is hard to regulate celebrities and influencers appearing online as their authentic selves it is easier to regulate the amount of time children can use social media daily. Kids can spend more time focused on the reality of the world around them.
Kids can also be exposed to online predators, cyber bullying, harmful content and dangerous trends while on social media. Cleveland clinic talks about statistics that show that almost 6 out of 10 teenage girls have had uncomfortable experiences when a stranger has contacted them. Online predators are searching for inexperienced young people. Our children need to be protected by having an option for social media that is regulated and geared towards them. Children are also exposed to content that is full of hate. Chats during lives often have commenters who bully the streamer. 64% of teenagers have said that they often or sometimes encounter content that is full of hate (Cleveland). This is a very high percentage of teenagers. Something should be done about spreading hateful emotions to developing children. Their belief systems are still being built and they should be given the best opportunities to grow up as positive and loving adults.
There are also dangerous trends that are spread in social media that kids shouldn't be exposed to. Most people have heard of viral trends. Some examples are when people were eating tide pods laundry detergent or eating large amounts of cinnamon powder. The danger with kids being aware of these trends is that it appears to be safe. The people that post these trends are still ok enough to post so kids think that it is safe. Kids' thinking ability and decision making haven't been fully developed (Cleveland). If social media made a separate app that is specifically for kids, they could monitor the viral trends that are spread on their app by their algorithm.
A solution that can be implemented right now would be to regularly inform the public of the risks of social media. There are ads about other addictive behaviors like warnings against smoking. There can also be ads that show the risks when it comes to social media. Parents will then be well-informed about the dangers of social media. There are many statistics that parents may not be aware of when it comes to the dangers of social media. Ads can make the parents familiar with the risks. These ads can also help parents to know about different methods to help their child to be safe on social media. Some examples of what they can learn is that right from the start parents can begin to have conversations with their kids about social media. They can find out the reasons why their child wants to use social media (Cleveland). Parents can learn how to regulate and supervise their child's use of social media, and they can set limits from the beginning. Showing ads that help parents be well-informed and give them strategies to help their children would be very useful. This would be a temporary solution since it is still hard for parents to fully know what their child is doing online.
There is a solution that can provide a more stable, permanent outcome. Major social media companies can create apps that are specifically for children. If they provide these kinds of apps, it will be appealing to kids because it is still social media, but it would also be strictly regulated. The social media app can be split up based on age so that it will be appropriate and interesting for all age groups. Teenagers wouldn't be given the same content as preteens as an example. All posts can be screened before being published on the app. This will allow children to be safeguarded from viral trends and harmful ideologies. YouTube has an app for kids, so this is possible. Other social media companies can follow their example but still make it better than YouTube. They can also set screen time limits that can only be bypassed by using a password set by a parent. This would mean that after a certain time they will need to check in with their parents about what they have been doing on social media. Social media companies can also eliminate direct messaging capabilities and screen the comments as well so that hateful comments aren't allowed on the platform.
In conclusion, there is a serious issue happening right now when it comes to kids and social media. Children are being affected by the amount of time they spend on social media and the content they are exposed to. It affects their body image, their safety and their mental growth. Parents and children need to be well-informed on the issues that can come about because of social media. The best solution would be to have a highly supervised social media specifically for kids split up by age group.
References:
