© 2018 JETIR September 2018, Volume 5, Issue 9 www.jetir.

org (ISSN-2349-5162)

Effects of Social Media on Youth: A Review Paper

Anjali Verma
RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab
Email id- anjaliverma@rimt.ac.in

ABSTRACT Social media is a computer-based technology that facilitates the interchange of ideas, views, and information via the
establishment of virtual networks and communities. Social media is designed to be internet-based, allowing individuals to exchange
information quickly and easily. The material includes personal information, papers, videos, and photos. Web-based software or
programmes on a computer, tablet, or smartphone are used by users to connect with social media. While social media is commonly
utilised in the United States and Europe, it is not generally used in the rest of the world., Asian nations such as Indonesia are at the
top of the list. Social media is used by over 3.8 billion people worldwide. Utilizing social media Web surfing is one of today's most
popular activities for both children and adults. teenagers. Such websites provide the most up-to-date information. Youth have grown
up with the internet as a source of entertainment and communication. In recent years, it has grown at an exponential rate. Parents
and teachers are made aware of the situation. Because of the nature of social networking platforms, kids are unaware that not all of
them are safe. This paper provides a detailed overview on effects of social media on youth. In future, there is a pragmatic scope of
more research to explore the positive as well as negative impacts in a more pragmatic manner on the youth globally.
KEYWORDS: Social Media, Networking, Facebook, Impact, Youth.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the twenty-first century, social media has been extensively used, with a high level of excitement among young
people. . According to the most recent Pew Internet Project poll, 89 percent of Internet users between the ages of
18 and 29 in the United States utilise social media. While there is little information available on teen use of social
networking sites in Ghana,. Internet World Figures' 2014 statistics on African Internet usage indicate that around
1,630,420 Ghanaians use Facebook. This accounts for around 6.6 percent of the overall population of 24,658,823.
This article presents the results of a survey performed with 150 young people aged 11 to 19 from two Accra areas.
The poll was performed in five Internet cafés, with an adult operator from each participating location. The study
evaluated the goals of adolescents' social media usage, utilising the Uses and Gratifications theory as a framework,
as well as their access to social media, how social media use satisfied their developmental needs, and difficulties
they encountered when using social media.The author discovers that these youth's use and access patterns are very
comparable to studies from other nations.
The growing social media use, also known as social network sites (SNS), by adolescents throughout the world
comes with a number of hazards and repercussions. They include issues like revealing too much information,
presenting incorrect information about oneself or others, being exposed to scammers, and so on. Marketers, as well
as Internet or social media addictions that may have a detrimental influence on their business. Well-being on social,
psychological, and emotional levels. Exposure to cyberbullying, providing others gaining access to personal
information, improper material, sexting, and third-party advertising influences organisations are all possible
negative effects, as is sleep deprivation, which can lead to contribute to poor academic performance
productivity[1].
The most recent kind of social media, media, has a variety of traits and characteristics. It on the same channel,
there are several features., such as chatting, messaging, Image sharing, audio and video sharing, fast publishing,
worldwide linking, and direct links are all available. connection[2]. It also provides the cheapest and quickest link
to the rest of the globe, making it essential for individuals of all ages. Its popularity is growing at a rapid rate all
across the world. The vast majority of young, across all age ranges, are quickly increasing migrating from electronic
media such as television watchers and radio listeners to social media. Because the young population is rapidly
migrating to social media, it has a significant impact on youth. This social media craze has raised a host of concerns
about the influence it will have on society. While it is commonly accepted that social media impacts people's
lifestyles, determining the nature of these influences in every community and nation, particularly among young
people, is still a work in progress. The impact of social media on young people's lifestyles, trends, educational and
political awareness, physical activities, social lives, and learning were also investigated in this study. [3][4].
Social media has a range of affects on young people's lives, some of which are beneficial to their social life and
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others of which are detrimental. Social media may appear to be nothing more than a new set of fun tools for
engaging young people.. You may want to utilize it in this manner on occasion, which is OK because there are
some really amazing new features available. However, the development of social media may have a greater
influence than that. It has an effect. Young people who are growing up in a world where media is no longer focused
on broadcast material. It's not about watching TV anymore, but about engagement, multimedia, and multitasking.
It also has an influence on businesses that need to stay relevant to a new generation, and who discover that changing
communication technologies and patterns are affecting their own work and structures[5]. Social media has a
positive and negative influence on kids. People all around the globe, including Pakistanis, are influenced by social
media, which has increased people's exposure and created greater awareness among the youth. Social media is
quite popular among teenagers.
Young people in the United States use social media sites for a variety of purposes, including sharing personal
information such as birth dates, e-mail addresses, school names, cell phone numbers, and pictures; and posting
profiles, videos of themselves, relationship statuses, personal interests, and comments on friends' content.
Maintaining contact with pals, creating contacts, consuming material (such as music videos and ads), perusing
profiles, discovering self-identities, sending instant messaging or text messages, and joining groups are all
examples of additional uses.
1.1.The Positive Impact of Social Media on Youth:

 It enables them to maintain contact with their friends even if they are unable to see them as frequently as
they would want..
 Social media keeps you up to date on important events happening across the world as well as in your local
neighbourhood . Knowing everything with a single click of your finger is a huge advantage.
 The youngsters have the ideal environment in which to express oneself in ways they wouldn't be able to in
public. This is something that improves young people's self-esteem and provides them a sense of social
acceptance.
 It aids in the development of social skills, and the greatest part is that it may lead to the formation of
numerous friendships. Young people like meeting new people and learning as much as they can about them.
With the social media platform, all of this is feasible.
 Another intriguing Interacting with friends via social media is more pleasurable than speaking with them
face to face, according to the influence of social media on teens..

1.2. Social Media's Negative Effect on Youth:

 People of today's age place such a high value on social media that it has become a priority for them. They
are addicted to social networking sites and neglect all of the important things in their lives, such as family,
sports, and school.
 We can only see the virtual aspect of a person on social media sites. This implies that we can only see the
aspect that they want us to see. Many people strive to project an image of themselves to others that they are
not.
 Bullying is a regular occurrence among teens, and it is to some extent tolerated. Cyberbullying, on the other
hand, has a major influence on the other peer since it may show on anyone's newsfeed and spread rapidly.
Despair and suicidal thoughts are occasionally triggered by such situations..
 Some young people are more receptive to being persuaded than others. They may feel pressured to change
their physical appearance in order to compete with the next person they encounter on social media.
 In social media, there is a lot of temptation. It may become an addiction for teenagers and cause them to
get distracted.

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1.4.Social Media Positive Effect on Education;

 By allowing children to study and then perform the same on their own, social media aids in the development
of creative abilities in children. When a student starts taking pictures and using internet editing software to
make them more visually appealing, his or her hidden talent is usually revealed.. Many students have
intriguing interests that they document with films and photographs, which allows them to see their potential
as a profession.
 Another important effect of social media is that it improves student academic performance and
understanding by allowing them to acquire facts and information. When students are given projects in
school, they use a variety of internet resources to gather knowledge and discover answers to their problems.

1.5. Social Media Negative Effect on Education:

 The use of social media platforms is a major factor that is beginning to agitate and impede the mind's capacity
to think properly. Students nowadays are prone to losing focus when studying and choose to spend their time
on social media instead. All of this amounts to a waste of time with little return on investment. Students are
usually unable to submit their work withi because they are more interested on surfing social networking
platforms..
 Students are increasingly depending on social media platforms to get information and knowledge rather of
seeking for it in books, journals, or notes, thanks to the widespread use of social media. As a result, students'
reading habits are worsening, as are their learning and research abilities. of the ease with which data may be
obtained online.
 Adoption of social networking sites with a casual attitude might have mental and bodily consequences.
Students do not eat on time, do not get enough sleep, and are always on their phones or laptops, which can
be harmful to their eyes. Students become sluggish and unmotivated to study or even go out and meet new
people as a result of such behaviours. It is recommended that parents and schools keep a close check on what
their children are doing on the internet. Too much social media use can harm kids' minds, and they may be
subjected to improper posture, eye strain, and physical and emotional stress as a result.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
S. Juszczyk,[6] Propose that Making use of social media Web surfing is one of today's most popular pastimes for
kids and teenagers. These services, which provide amusement and communication to today's young, have exploded
in popularity in recent years. Because parents and teachers are becoming more aware of the nature of social media
sites, many are unaware that not all of them are safe for children and teenagers. This area is essential because
pedagogists, psychologists, and paediatricians need to understand how children and adolescents navigate a new,
huge, and complicated virtual environment while continuing to live their lives in the actual world.
A. J. Kulandairaj [7] Propose that Humans are social creatures by nature, and how we communicate is an important
element of our existence. More significantly, communicating across vast distances was formerly a challenge, but
owing to recent technological advancements, this is no longer the case. Today, thanks to technological
advancements, it is lot easier for us. We used to rely on smoke signals and even carrier pigeons to communicate.
Pigeons, we now have a lot more alternatives. Inventors rushed to produce fresh inventions throughout the 1800s.
and more effective methods for long-distance and mass communication There was an explosion in the ways people
communicated in the 1800s. We communicated on a worldwide scale.

S. K. Ocansey [8] Propose that Social media has had a tremendous impact on our culture, in business, on the world-
at-large.\r\nSocial media websites are some of the most popular haunts on the Internet. They have revolutionized
the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. Using social media Web sites is among the most common
activity of today's children and adolescents[9]. Any Web site that allows social interaction is considered a social
media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Tumblr,\r\nMySpace, Google+ , Yahoo
and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; Chatting & Calling
Apps such as Whatsapp, IMO, Instagram, Skype etc; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs[10].

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3. DISCUSSION
All programmes, websites, and blogs that allow people all over the world to connect, speak, and exchange
information through the internet, as well as a range of other features, are considered social media. A person must
first sign up and then sign in to access content and connect with other users of a social networking site. Facebook,
Twitter, WhatsApp, and Snapchat are just a handful of the most well-known and widely used social media
platforms.. Social media has recently become a popular media channel for young people, including the participants
in this study. According to the findings, 85 percent of respondents utilise social media sites. This success can be
attributed to the fact because There are several advantages, or uses and gratifications, that adolescents receive from
it, such as forming connections and learning new skills. They can communicate with their pals both offline and
online, occupy themselves, and create their own material. They're figuring out who they are and building self-
esteem. We discovered from our research that young people from low-income familie with little chances at home,
Many people attempt to make the most of the chances that social media provides for personal and intellectual
growth. The present study's findings on the popularity of social media use among youngsters are consistent with
those of earlier research. According to a 2010 Pew Internet Project survey, 73 percent of internet teens utilise social
media.
Participants' preferred social media platforms were Facebook and WhatsApp, according to our data. This is likely
due to the fact that participants utilise these two platforms to keep in touch with friends, since research shows that
Facebook and WhatsApp are quite popular among young people. It is also found that 81 percent of online teenagers
in the United States have WhatsApp profiles, which is significantly less expensive than buying phone units to make
calls or send text messages. Because of its free chat and phone function, users in the research prefer WhatsApp
over other social media platforms. The data also show that 8% of respondents spent 79 hours each day on social
media, with 15% spending more than 15 hours. This conclusion is concerning since the majority of the participants
are students, and spending so much time on social media will leave them with less time for homework, perhaps
affecting their academic performance. According to a Ghanaian research on the impact of social media usage on
school performance, extended use leads to less time spent on academics and delay in finishing tasks, especially at
tertiary schools where parental oversight is limited. The majority of the adolescents in our research had experienced
some form of cyberbullying while using social media, such as rude or cruel comments, name-calling in a chat
room, false accounts, and the propagation of misinformation on social media. If not addressed, cyberbullying may
have a negative impact on a child's self-esteem and lead to despair.
We believe that the youth should be trained on how to use social media more effectively in order to reduce time
spent talking and engaging in other non-essential activities. Stakeholders and network providers must also devise
methods for screening material that reaches young people via social media platforms. This will reduce their
exposure to pornographic and other inappropriate items. We propose that schools and government entities use
social media as one of their communication tools to successfully engage with youngsters. Figure 1 illustrates the
impact of social networking cites on youth.

Figure 1: Illustrates the impact of social networking cites on youth.

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In reality, social networking sites are quickly establishing themselves as powerful and unrivalled instruments for
sharing knowledge, shaping ideas, connecting individuals across disciplines and cultures, fostering engagement,
and, most importantly, communicating like never before. This is only the start. Communities and social networking
sites are still in their infancy. People all around the world are only now realising the power of this medium to
influence debate and decision-making. Communication The advantages, positive and negative effects of social
networking sites, and how social networking sites influence youth's lifestyles were examined in this study. Youth
may use social networking sites to speak out about social concerns and share or post information for the betterment
of society. Young people must explore the potentialities of Social Networking Sites since they may give all of the
ways and means to develop personal and social elements. Despite the fact that it has certain detrimental effects on
kids, we cannot imagine a world without these sites today. As a result, remedial and preventative steps should be
made to address these harmful impacts, and young people should be properly informed and aware of the issues
with Social Networking Sites. Brands and corporations may use the space of Social Networking Sites to develop
loyalty among young by using the space of Social Networking Sites. The development of a healthy young
population will be aided if Social Networking Sites encourage a healthy lifestyle through their postings, videos,
and messages.
The research participants use social media extensively, with over 70% having profiles on social networking sites
such as Facebook and WhatsApp. The study's findings on young people's usage of social media are broadly similar
with previous outcomes. Other studies have been conducted in regard to prominent social media sites, their extent
of usage, and the objectives for which they are used. Manner of access, as well as the difficulties experienced when
utilising these sites, as well as the numerous advantages to their growth, which includes self-identity, connection
formation, and maintenance new information and social, communication, and technical skills gain because young
people use internet to access social media, it is critical for the government to develop and execute rules that
guarantee that Ghanaian youth get the most out of their use while also being safeguarded from the hazards that
come with it.
4. CONCLUSION
This study uncovered important information on the extent to which adolescents in two Accra suburbs, Nima and
Maamobi, use social media, the objectives for which they use it, the means of access they use it, and the issues
they face as a result of their use. The primary restriction is that the findings can only be applied to the 150
individuals who were chosen for the research using non-probability sampling (convenience sampling). More
research with teenagers from various parts of the nation and in other contexts is needed to validate the findings.Our
young have been shown to have both beneficial and bad consequences from social networking. Individuals must
select whether or not to use the sites in the future, or whether or not to use them at all. Parents should counsel and
teach their children on current topics such as social media use, as well as the hazards of abusing or overusing it.
Social media studies should be added to the education curriculum so that students understand the necessity of being
cautious when using social media..
Conclusions and Suggestions for the Future During the previous two decades, new media has become a more
important presence in the lives of teenagers, presenting both new challenges and new opportunities. A rising body
of research is uncovering social media experiences that may have an influence on teens' mental health. However,
because the digital media environment is rapidly evolving, further research is necessary. Much of the existing
research is based on self-report measures of adolescent media use and is conducted at a single time point, making
it difficult to make definitive conclusions regarding whether media use precedes and predicts mental health effects
or vice versa. Future experimental and longitudinal research, especially those that use objective measurements like
direct observation of teenagers' social media sites, are required. Furthermore, future research must consider the
specific social media experiences and individual characteristics that may make certain adolescents particularly
vulnerable to social media's positive or negative effects, rather than previous notions of "screen time" as a primary
contributor to mental health.

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