Social Media's Detrimental Impact on Youngsters' Well-being

This essay critically examines the detrimental impacts of social media on young people. It highlights how excessive use of social media negatively affects social skills, leading to reduced face-to-face interaction and social anxiety. The essay further explores the negative consequences on education, citing distractions, reduced academic performance, and potential for exam failures. Cyberbullying, facilitated by social media platforms, is presented as a significant concern, causing mental health issues, and, in extreme cases, suicide. While acknowledging the benefits of social media, such as global connectivity and access to information, the essay emphasizes the need for awareness, moderate usage, and parental guidance to mitigate the harmful effects on the younger generation. The conclusion reinforces the importance of balance and responsible social media use to protect the well-being of young people.

Running head: DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUNGSTERS
DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUNGSTERS
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIAL ON YOUNGSTERS
INTRODUCTION
Social media is the way to communicate and share information through internet
connectivity (Obar and Wildman 2015). This media enables ones in expressing self, reach the
people in seconds, and communicate with people in distance as well as to reduce the stress
and provide the entertainment. Social media is constantly surrounding the everyday life of
people and especially the young generation. They always remaining engaged with their
phones, laptops or other gadgets all day long. They are literally got addicted with it which
leaving a detrimental effect on their ability to interact with others or being sociable , study,
mental as well as physical health and causing cyber bullying.
Detrimental Impact on Social Skill:
Verbal communication is an inevitable part of daily life. Nowadays the people
especially the youngsters prefer to interact with the peers, friends through e-devices without
being engaged in face-to-face communication. Even when they are in public place without
concentrating on the people present in their side and sharing feeling, view or discussing any
other information they just used to look on their device and prefer texting as well as
interacting in the virtual world. Thus, the excessive use of the social media makes the people
to interact less in person and more through social network. This trend gradually creates the
social anxiety which instilling the fear among the young people, as they are unaware about
the proper way and techniques to speak in person. They are unaware about the way to
approach anyone, how and where to hold and give smile. This inability leaves them isolated
(Griffiths 2013).
Detrimental Impact on Education:
The consequences of social networking for the students proved to be very devastating.
The students generally carries phone with them and become busy in surfing the internet even

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when they are in the classroom and be inattentive to their study. The students get distracted
from their study and prefer to waste their time on social networking. Nowadays the students
are becoming less attentive to study or research about something. They just used to surf the
internet and take the available information provided there. They do not sleep properly just
stay awake late night only to go through the social network and even after waking up; they
are habituated to check their social account. This makes their brain dull and leaves depressed
as well as unproductive with minimum score in assessment (Pieters et al. 2014). Sometimes it
can also make the students got fail in exams. (Samaha and Hawi 2016).
Reason of Cyber bullying:
Cyber bullying refers to the act of using the electronic devices to threat someone,
create fear within the person intentionally. Social media works for cyber bullies as an
opportunity or a platform to disturb and threat the targeted one easily than doing it physically.
They used to create insecurities within one through insulting on look, specific race and social
status and many other things. This can lead to serious mental problems like, depression,
stress, anxiety. This can make life unhappy and sometimes it can lead to death or suicide
attempt, which is evident in case of Dolly Everett, the 14-year-old girl who committed
suicide due to cyber bullying (Thompson 2018). There was another 13-year-old girl called
Emily Stick, who committed suicide due to constant physical and verbal cyber bullying as
well as peer abuse in her school (NewsComAu 2019). Thus, the youngsters’ immature
handling of social media increasing the rate of cyber bully and creating other harmful
consequences.
Admittedly, the social networking has many beneficial aspects like, it enables people
to reach and connect with the people worldwide. It enables the long distance relationships to
sustain. It makes the people specially the teenagers or the students able to search, gain

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knowledge and remain updated with the information of on-going affairs. This platform
provides the students with the opportunity to study get informed as well as help each other to
grow knowledge (Mazman and Usluel 2009). This platform also provides the teens with the
opportunity to express their concerns, views and feelings freely which in turn increases their
self-confidence, develop personality and develops personality. The youngsters get idea about,
access, embrace to the new advanced technologies available in global world, and become
technologically aware, smarter and advanced (Baruah 2012). However, apart from all these
advantages the social site has proved itself more harmful than doing well with its more
detrimental effects not only on the life of youngsters but also on life of every people, which
demands the immediate attention and needs special concern to be addressed and controlled.
Otherwise, the broken communication with family as well as the other community people not
only break the relationships or connectivity but also omit the support required in time leaving
the people specially the youngsters lonely. This state creates the sense of anxiety, insecurity
and frustration. The insufficient sleep day by day can defect the mental as well as physical
health. The long-time spend in virtual world causes degradation in education and causes
failure in academic life of the most addicted students or the youngsters. Thus, it makes their
life more difficult for the coming years. Moreover, one the most negative impact of social site
is the rising trend of cyber bullying which is taking multiple blooming lives. If there is no
life, there is no use of advanced technology. Thus, the science and technology has proved to
be a curse rather than the blessing for life with its immoderate use.
Conclusion:
Apart from all the advantages social media undoubtedly proved itself as more harmful
with its multiple detrimental impacts on young life such as causing the inability to
communicate in person, the degradation in academic performance of students with constant
engagement and time spending in sites, making them dull and unhealthy both physically as

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well as mentally. Above all these it is causing the increased rate of suicide attempt due to
cyber bullying. The moderate use and well awareness can save the young generation from
these harms. They must specify their time for spending in media, avoiding respond in every
minute, to limit the use of social media and the number of apps. They should focus on present
time and people and participate in communication with beings around. Thus the young people
can get rid of its negative impact and take the advantages within it.

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REFERENCES
Baruah, T.D., 2012. Effectiveness of Social Media as a tool of communication and its
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