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Introduction
Nowadays, it is rare to find a person who does not have a registered personal page, at least in one of todays popular social networks. Through these resources of the Internet, people have become accustomed to communicating. A social network is a platform, online service, or website designed for the construction, reflection, and organization of social relationships in the global computer network of the Internet. However, the active use of social networks harms adolescents.
The Negative Effects of Social Media on Teenagers
Adolescents spend more than half of their free time on the Internet (social networks). These sites and messengers are significant for kids. They form their opinions about what is going on in the world, make new acquaintances, self-actualize, and share their innermost feelings. Virtual communication is replacing real contact and becoming predominant in peoples lives. There is no facial expression, movement, eye contact, the language of postures and gestures, and no real emotions.
A person, being in a network for a long time, communicating virtually, becomes unaccustomed to simple human contact, and becomes dependent on the computer and the network itself. Teenager loses the skill of real connection with their peers in life, which they cannot do without it; they will find it complicated to get acquainted with humans. This is a direct path to autism and alienation from the real world. This is a serious problem in todays society, especially for young people who gradually become addicted and do not want to admit it. For some individuals, visiting their page becomes a daily rite of passage; a person may enter their page several times during the day in the hope of observing some changes in it (Valkenburg et al., 2022). Therefore, the destructive influence of social networks is also explained by the waste of a huge amount of time. After all, this time can be spent with much more significant benefits: meeting with friends, cooking a delicious dinner, or engaging in self-education.
In addition, there is a degradation of personality through the active use of social networks by adolescents. If to pay attention to the speech of excessively active users of social networks, it is possible to notice the senselessness of the majority of their conversations and the presence in them of words incomprehensible to ordinary people. Thus, teenagers use vocabulary and abbreviations instead of trying to learn foreign languages or the grammar of their native language, which adversely affects their learning in school. Moreover, the constant use of social media can be addictive (Valkenburg et al., 2022). Especially teenagers, whose absence of access to the Internet can cause real mental withdrawal.
On social networking sites, there is always a risk to come across harmful information, encouraging the use of drugs, suicide, information about pseudo-religious and mystical activities, sects, etc. Similarly, teenagers in the network can be confronted with various services, which are offered after paying for a call to a small number. That is, social networks are a field of activity for scammers and malcontents. Not many people think that by posting excessive photos, the most detailed data about themselves can turn against them; criminals may steal identities and intimidate adolescents. At the same time, propaganda of violence, prohibited ideas, and distribution of pornography takes place on social networks. Despite monitoring and blocking such pages, they reappear and hide their orientation in every way. Therefore, the influence of social media can be detrimental and lead to changes in the behavior of adolescents.
One of the negative influences of social media is aggression, particularly bullying. Cyberbullying can take many forms, including posting hateful comments on photos and abuse in private messages. Almost all social media sites have a clear stance against bullying. Victims of cyberbullying experience poor academic performance, depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness, and changes in sleep and eating patterns, all of which can interfere with personal and social development.
The use of social media for more than two hours a day is associated with poor mental health self-efficacy, increased levels of psychological stress, and suicidal ideation. Young people who are constantly in communication face the pressure of unrealistic perceptions of the world around them and peer pressure on the Internet. These factors may be responsible for the onset of depression. Another component of mental health is sleep. Napping is necessary for people to function normally during waking hours. Many studies have shown that increased use of social media in the evening and at night before bedtime significantly impairs sleep quality in young people years (Valkenburg et al., 2022). It is believed that the use of LED lights before bedtime can interfere with and block the natural processes in the brain that cause feelings of sleepiness and the release of the sleep hormone melatonin. It requires more time to sleep, and people receive less rest each night. Consequently, there are health problems in adolescents and physical fatigue.
A study by scientists at the Medical University of Pittsburgh found that the more social platforms people actively use, the more likely they feel depressed and anxious. In a small research study of a group of young individuals in the United Kingdom, experts concluded that Instagram was most associated with negative feelings, specifically depression, anxiety, loneliness, sleep problems, and worries about ridicule (Keles et al., 2020). The American Psychological Association has called it an epidemic of loneliness it increases the risk of premature death in the same way as obesity. Social media has become a fruitful ground for people with a tendency toward narcissism. A 2010 study by psychologists at a Canadian university found that individuals with low self-esteem and signs of narcissism used Facebook more often than others (Keles et al., 2020). They likely use social media to feed their ego and also to replace feelings of low self-esteem with an online presence.
Adverse Impact on the Mental Health of Adolescents
The modern teenager in todays society cannot live a day without the global network. The main challenge is that the younger generation spends more time on social networks. For teenagers, the social network has become a tool for self-expression. Social network has become a tool of self-expression for adolescents. They stop communicating with their peers and withdraw into themselves. If a young person has trouble communicating, the complex develops with greater force. As a consequence, there are difficulties in adapting to real life. Leading scientists in the field of psychology and neurophysiology have stated the detrimental effect of social networks on the minds of individuals. According to their data, teenagers communicating on social networks receive more negative (Valkenburg et al., 2022). There are several reasons for Internet addiction: working in social networks irritates the pleasure centers in the human brain.
A teenager experiences positive emotion every time he reads a friendly comment under his photo and receives approval for the pictures. The desire to get such feelings again pulls them back to social networks, forcing them to spend more time there. Another reason lies in the peculiarities of information assimilation when working in multi-user web platforms. An adolescent receives a lot of heterogeneous information in small portions in a short period. A young person has some problems: decreased concentration, information dependence, stress, overwork, reduced intelligence, and alienation.
Additionally, social media contributes to a persons anxiety and depression. One in six young people experiences an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, with identified rates of anxiety and depression among young people increasing by 70% over the past 25 years (Valkenburg et al., 2022). Feelings of overwhelming fear and panic can have an extremely detrimental effect on young peoples lives. It can overpower them and make it difficult for them to leave home, attend classes, and lectures, or perform professional duties at the workplace. Anxiety can be diagnosed as a specific mental health disorder such as generalized anxiety, panic, social, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Conclusion
The rapid spread of the Internet and cell phones since the beginning of the 21st century has raised many fears among people, from identity theft to damage to mental health. Besides, because there is a large amount of useless information in social networks, the time spent on the Internet increases several times. All this harms well-being, physical, and psychological health. The volume of information negatively affects the nervous system, irritability, and aggressiveness.
References
Keles, B., McCrae, N., & Grealish, A. (2020). A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 79-93.
Valkenburg, P. M., Meier, A., & Beyens, I. (2022). Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. Current opinion in psychology, 44, 58-68.
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