What does being an adolescent growing up in a world saturated with social media mean? This is new and uncharted territory, and parents have little data to understand its impact—both negative and positive.
Adolescence is a time in lifespan development that brings dramatic physical, intellectual, emotional, and social changes. While these changes occur throughout life, they can be particularly daunting during the tween and teen years.
Social media has become part of this passage into adulthood, and while there are benefits to its use, its pitfalls can cause emotional distress to individuals and their families. For parents and primary caregivers who did not have this same rite of passage into adulthood, it is necessary to understand new media's impact to navigate its complexity.
Social Media Use and Adolescent Development
Social media is ubiquitous: for virtually all young people, it is how they connect and communicate. In fact, 81% of adolescents report that using social media makes them feel more connected to their friends, which is an obvious benefit of using social media among adolescents.
Yet this is new terrain for many parents raising a generation of children who only know a world with social media. It is especially critical as teens feel tremendous pressure to "fit in" with peers as they leave childhood and move toward adulthood.
Risks Associated with Social Media
Impact on Mental Health: Adolescence is a time of social pressure, identity formation, and emotional ups and downs. Social media is a point of connection and positivity for those who can seamlessly develop and maintain friend groups and a sense of belonging. However, we know that peer rejection and lack of close friendships increase the risk of developing depression and low self-esteem. Research shows that some teens who use social media excessively are often bored and unhappy and risk getting into more trouble than their peers. The emotional toll of social media on young women's and girls' self-image can be exceptionally high.
Cyberbullying: While bullying has been going on for many generations, tech-savvy or otherwise, the prevalence of social media as the primary medium of communication opens up what can be an abyss of emotional distress for teens. It is a new level of bullying that has potentially fatal consequences. It is incredibly daunting for LGBTQ teens, as well as young women, as they are most often the targets of this kind of bullying. And those who are victims of cyberbullying are likely, in turn, to perpetuate it. It is a vicious cycle and can happen to anyone in this age group, leading to outcomes such as depression, anxiety, isolation, and suicide.
Text and Picture Messaging: One of the inherent problems with text messaging is the absence of visual cues. Text messaging (or video-gaming, e.g.) replacing face-to-face interactions creates a two-fold problem that can impact empathy and accountability. Teens are now, in a way, more deprived of visual cues than previous generations were, who could see the emotional impact of a specific type of communication. When a message is sent without seeing the recipient, it is easy for miscommunication to occur, which in turn diminishes accountability. Because of their still-developing capacity for self-regulation and their susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and experiment with social media.
The exchange of photos and videos in this demographic is lightning-quick. Tweens, teens, and their parents must understand that others can easily misuse any personal information put out into the ether. Young people must understand the potentially damaging consequences of what they exchange with their peers. Messages, especially pictures and videos, can last longer and thus be more injurious than a face-to-face interaction or event. Sexting, for example, can leave a lasting negative impact on a young person's life. It is estimated that 20% of teens have sent and received sexually explicit images or messages. Often, teens engage in sexting without thinking about the consequences.
To summarize the risks, the adolescent brain is still developing, and one impulsive move can significantly alter young lives. Some of the emotional consequences include bullying, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of friendships, and feelings of guilt and shame, all of which increase risks for depression, anxiety, and suicide.
The Benefits of Social Media
Socialization, Communication, and Enhanced Learning Opportunities: Social Media is a primary source of connection among tweens and teens. Because most young people use these platforms to stay connected with friends and family and make new friends, the benefits of their use are systemic and extend to self-esteem, community, and the world at large. Other benefits include increased community engagement through fundraising and volunteering for local events.
Online exchanges can also help foster individual identity and creativity by building on social skills. Teens have the opportunity to learn from each other. By broadening online connections, teens have a chance to learn about differences. These types of communication can enhance respect, tolerance, and access to a broader understanding of different social and cultural backgrounds.
For many middle—and high school-aged children, social media is also a way to connect on homework and group projects. These platforms can be excellent tools for collaborating and sharing ideas about assignments. In some instances, schools have successfully used blogs to enhance writing skills and creativity.
Support and Comfort: Social media can offer support in different ways. It can be positive for those who want to explore romantic relationships, friendships, and social status. Properly curated, such platforms can be especially helpful for marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ youth, those with chronic illness or disability, or teens with low self-esteem and social anxiety.
As we see, social media—as any complex part of life—has pros and cons. For tweens and teens, the risks and benefits can often be intermingled. The negative consequences of social media are systemic in that they affect our most intimate relationships. We know that cyberbullying, for example, can have a significant psychosocial impact on adolescents. Harmful outcomes include depression, anxiety, isolation, and tragically suicide.
Everyone in the family unit feels the impact of such outcomes. Therapy can be a valuable resource for helping families navigate the challenging impact that social media can have on young people. If you find your family struggling to navigate social media's ins and outs, consider finding a therapist to help you untangle things.
Some tips for parents:
Set clear boundaries around the use of social media
Be proactive and educate your children about the negative consequences associated with social media, especially when it comes to sexting and cyberbullying.
Be mindful of how you use social media and set good examples for your kids
Protect time for the family to be together without screens being part of the equation
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