Social Media Introduction and Overview

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Certain words and phrases have crept into our vocabulary that are so common to adolescents while some adults are still trying to figure out what they mean.  Words like tweet, meme, hashtag, swipe right, and regram are part of a daily conversation in the new social norm. Socializing is far more than just being at school, on a sports team, or playing with neighbor friends.  Socialization has dramatically moved to a 3x5 inch screen, or whatever the size of your latest iPhone upgrade is. Are parents fully aware of what their child is looking at in this new social world?

To give you an idea of how involved adolescents are in social media, the following statistics were taken from a study done in December 2016 of 790 teens ages 13-17 throughout the United States (NORC, 2017). The following are percentages of teens who had an account on these apps:

              • Instagram: 76%
              • Snapchat: 75%
              • Facebook: 66% (down from 71% in 2015)
              • Twitter: 47%
              • Tumblr, Twitch, LinkedIn: Less than 30%

Social media isn’t going away anytime soon and that’s okay.  The key is for parents to have a better understanding of the positive and negative effects that social media has on an adolescent’s mind and to encourage their children to have positive social experiences, even if it is on a small screen.

Development
Adolescence is a pivotal time for development mentally, physically, and socially. Parents are allowing more autonomy which allows teens to explore, discover, and become who they want to be.  Dallin H. Oaks, a prominent LDS leader has said about the need for teens to discover and become who they want to be: “we should remember that our family relationships...are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur” (Oaks, 2000, p. 4). Yet this developmental stage is being taken over by likes, loves, comments and follows which are a measurement for popularity and self-esteem. The part of the brain that helps us make rational judgements and decisions, the prefrontal cortex, is still underdeveloped in adolescents. Since they are still developing this part of their brain, adolescents are making irrational judgements and decisions due to social media pressures (Homayoun, 2017).

Positive Effects
A few of the positive effects of social media in the hands of a child are more opportunities for socialization, enhancing creativity, more community involvement, and fostering individual identity (O'Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011). Social media is also enhancing educational opportunities.  It allows students to stay connected in their formal schooling and helps students hone skills and talents they are interested in outside of their formal education. YouTube is full of tutorials from things like guitar lessons, cosmetology tips, learning Photoshop, or cooking skills (Austin, 2016).

Negative Effects
Though the negative effects could be many, we will focus on 3 main risks that could come with an adolescent’s use of social media.
  • Pornography
    • A recent addition to the app Snapchat is a page with featured stories that are curated with popular content.  What seems to be a harmless new feature has turned into content from contributors like Cosmopolitan, MTV, and Vice that display inappropriate images that catch the viewer’s eye quickly (Fight The New Drug, 2017a). As stated earlier, 75% of teens have a Snapchat account and could possibly be viewing this featured page. It has been proven that viewing a pornographic image triggers the brain the same way cigarettes, alcohol and drugs do (Fight The New Drug, 2017b). Pornography creates addictive behavior. Even a single view can open the doors to a need for more.
  • Mental Health
    •  A new acronym or phrase has emerged with the rise of social media: FOMO. This stands for the fear of missing out.  This phrase is often heard in joking tones, or as a reaction to seeing an Instagram picture, but the fear of missing out is often an underlying symptom of an increase of depression and a decrease of self-esteem. Overuse of social media can lead to several psychiatric disorders such as anxiety or depression (Pantic, 2014).  
  • Body Image
    •   Theodore Roosevelt is credited in saying: “Comparison is the thief of joy” (Dachis, 2013, pg. 1). Comparison is everywhere, especially in social media. On Instagram, for example, you can go through a never-ending feed on the popular page with pictures of celebrities or models, perfect looking homes and families, or even your friend’s pictures that highlight the perfect night out, though it may not have been so perfect.  Pictures on social media often portray an ideal life, body, or day spent with friends, but it’s just a portrayal. Adolescents are making comparisons to maybe their not-so-perfect life, body, or day spent with friends. Adolescent minds are being filled with unrealistic and unhealthy images of body image (Naylor, 2015).

Parent Involvement


Children are taught at an early age how to read, write, ride a bike, and play nice to name a few. Parents take on the responsibility to rear their children in love and righteousness (The Church of Jesus Christ, 1995). It shouldn’t be any different when giving your child a personal computer or smartphone. It’s vital that parents teach their children loud enough to cut through the noise of the world and the noise of peer pressure (Beck, 2009). Laurence Steinberg, an American university professor specializing in child and adolescent psychological development, suggested 10 ideas in the graphic below on how parents can be more involved in their child’s media use (Patrikakou, 2016, p. 18):

What Now?
This blog will expand on the risks and the rewards of adolescent social media use and how parents can take more action. Here are some questions to consider:

  • As a parent, how involved are you in social media?
  • Do your children see you on your phone more than face to face?
  • Do you know what apps your children are using?
  • Have you had recent conversations with your children about social media?
  • How often are your children on their phones or computers?
  • What boundaries and expectations have you set in your home for screen time?
This is an opportunity to assess where you are in your knowledge of social media and your child’s involvement.  Social media can be wonderful tool for many but the risks are there and could be harming your child.

Challenge
Make a plan to be more aware of your child’s phone and social media use. That could be better communication, setting boundaries, establishing a new screen time rule for certain times of the day, or something that is more personal to you and your child.

Blog Discussion and Improvement
Comment below with any thoughts, questions or ideas you may have.

To help us better understand the needs and value of these articles and this blog, please take this 6 questions survey found here:


References:
Austin, K. (2016). Social media affects teens positively. Retrieved from http://www.teenshield.com/blog/2016/06/28/positive-effects-of-social-media/

Beck, J. B. (2009). Teaching the doctrine of the family. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/03/teaching-the-doctrine-of-the-family?lang=eng

Dachis, A. (2013). "Comparison is the thief of joy". Retrieved from https://lifehacker.com/comparison-is-the-thief-of-joy-499152017

Fight The New Drug. (2017a). Exposing the massive porn problem on popular social media sites. Retrieved from http://fightthenewdrug.org/porn-problem-on-social-media/

Fight The New Drug. (2017b). How porn can become addictive. Retrieved from http://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-become-addictive/

Homayoun, A. (2017). The secret social media lives of teenagers. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/well/family/the-secret-social-media-lives-of-teenagers.htm

Naylor, L. (2015). Am I pretty or ugly? Alive: Canada's Natural Health & Wellness Magazine,
23(395), 16-22. doi:10.1080/10304312.2015.1022953

NORC at the University of Chicago. (2017). New survey: Snapchat and Instagram are most popular social media platforms among American teens.  Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170421113306.htm

Oaks, D. H. (2000). The challenge to become. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/the-challenge-to-become?lang=eng

O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Retrieved from http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2011-0054

 Pantic, I. (2014). Online social networking and mental health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183915/

Patrikakou, E. N. (2016) Parent involvement, technology, and media: Now what? School Community Journal, 26(2), 9-25.

Steinberg, L. (2004). The 10 basic principles of good parenting. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1995). The family: A proclamation to the world. Retrieved from https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng.

Comments

  1. sarahgurlOctober 30, 2017 at 5:43 AM

    Thank you for the parent resource links and I'm looking forward to the next post

    ReplyDelete

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