Social Media Influence – Term Paper

Influence of social media on teenagers

The social media influence the youth in various ways. Even though it came to help people to interact and to learn, there are some negative impacts that it poses to the youth. In regard to these negative effects, the youth ought to be aware so that they can properly regulate the manner in which they use the social media. In this article, the discussion is on the negative impacts of the social media on the youth. 

The first influence that the youth can get from the social media is cyberbullying. As the youths interact with one another on the social media, they tend to give out their personal details that sometimes are used against them. It is not only their personal details that are used against them but the photos they post can also be used to bully them. For instance, someone may take a photo posted by a given youth on the social media and then use the photo to jeer at them or abuse him/her based on his/her looks or shape.  Cyberbullying is on the rise these days and the youths should beware of it. 

The other influence the youth can get from the social media is pornography. The social media contains all manner of stuff including pornographic materials that can have a negative influence on the youth. When the youth watch these pornographic clips online, they can be influenced negatively and acquire behaviors that are unacceptable in the society.  For instance, because of the influence of watching pornographic clips and photos, a youth may want to practice what they see and attempt rape. It is thus imperative for the youth to avoid visiting the sites on the social media that may make them come into contact with pornographic materials. 

The other negative influence of the social media on the youth is criminology. Because there are various people with various intentions on the social media, these can influence the youth in one way of the other. Some gang groups on the social media may want to convince the youth to join them. They can do that by trying to lure the youth through attractive offers like money; something that it will be hard for the youth to object since they lack the money. Several youths across the globe have been joining these criminal gangs due to this influence of the social media. Therefore, the youth ought to beware of such criminal gangs and desist being lured by them. 

The other negative way in which the youth can be influenced by the social media is through wastage of their time that in turn can make them have poor grades. The Social media, for instance, Facebook and Twitter are very addictive. When one has registered and joined any social media platform, they are tempted to spend most of their time on the same as they post and read their friends’ posts. In the process, the schooling youths risk poor grades because they will not have enough time to study the books and prepare for their examinations.; It is thus paramount for the youth to regulate the time they spend on the social media because spending most of their time on it can make them risk poor grades in school.;

Based on the discussion above, it is clear that the social media can have a great influence on the youth. The paper has looked into four areas where the youths can be influenced by the social media. These areas include cyberbullying, pornography, criminology, and the risk of poor grades. Therefore, it is high time that youth be counselled on how to use te social media reponsibly to avoid these negative imapcts on them.