The Effect of Social Media on Adolescents - Research Proposal Example

The effect of social media on young adults is of key importance not only due to the developmental vulnerability of this group but also because they are the most users of networking sites. A report published by Common Sense Media revealed that 75% of American teenagers have profiles on social media sites, of which 68% rely on Facebook as their primary networking site. Although social media plays a significant role in connecting people and sharing of information, difficulties in self-regulation, susceptibility to peer pressure and vulnerability to cyberbullying, sexting, depression, internet addiction, social network-induced obesity, and sleep deprivation have affected adolescents negatively.

Thesis

Although social media plays a significant role in connecting people and sharing of information, difficulties in self-regulation, susceptibility to peer pressure and vulnerability to cyberbullying, sexting, depression, internet addiction, social network-induced obesity, and sleep deprivation have affected adolescents negatively.

Sources

Ahn, J. 2011. The effect of social network sites on adolescents' social and academic development: Current theories and controversies. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62(8), 1435-1445. doi:10.1002/asi.21540

Best, P., Manktelow, R., & Taylor, B. 2014. Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children and Youth Services Review, 41, 27-36. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.001

Ferguson, C. J., Munoz, M. E., Garza, A., & Galindo, M. 2013. Concurrent and Prospective Analyses of Peer, Television and Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(1), 1-14. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9898-9

Huang, G. C., Unger, J. B., Soto, D., Fujimoto, K., Pentz, M. A., Jordan-Marsh, M., & Valente, T. W. 2014. Peer Influences: The Impact of Online and Offline Friendship Networks on Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54(5), 508-514. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.07.001

O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. 2011. The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. PEDIATRICS, 127(4), 800-804. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-0054

Vaterlaus, J. M., Patten, E. V., Roche, C., & Young, J. A. 2015. #Gettinghealthy: The perceived influence of social media on young adult health behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 151-157. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.013

Narrowed Sources

Best, P., Manktelow, R., & Taylor, B. 2014. Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children and Youth Services Review, 41, 27-36. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.001Ferguson, C. J., Munoz, M. E., Garza, A., & Galindo, M. 2013. Concurrent and Prospective Analyses of Peer, Television and Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(1), 1-14. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9898-9

Huang, G. C., Unger, J. B., Soto, D., Fujimoto, K., Pentz, M. A., Jordan-Marsh, M., & Valente, T. W. 2014. Peer Influences: The Impact of Online and Offline Friendship Networks on Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54(5), 508-514. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.07.001

Understanding the Research

Source 1

Title:

Peer Influences: The Impact of Online and Offline Friendship Networks on Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use

Topic

Effect(s) of online social technologies on adolescent wellbeing.

Main Idea/Thesis

Social media has both harmful and beneficial effects on the well-being of young adults.

Main Ideas Proven by Authors in their Argument

Online friendships which are supported by social media have beneficial effects such as opportunity for emotional relief and wider social connections outside local networks (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014. p32).

Social networking through blogs and forums leads to increased emotional support, decline in social anxiety, and a sense of belongingness. However, some of the websites promote negative attitudes by discouraging the users to seek professional assistance (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014. p32).

The benefits of social networking are indirect fueled by perceptions about social support. As such, social networking increases a teens self-esteem hence increasing the feelings of well-being. In addition, empathic and emotional support on social media eliminates the inhibitors of self-disclosure thus promoting help-seeking process (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014. p33). As a result, these processes contribute to direct well-being of an adolescent.

Social media is a weak form of interaction and could lead to increased depression, social isolation, and decline in the overall well-being. However, this negative is only noted in girls (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014. p33).

Usefulness of this Source to the Study

This article will significantly help propel my research forward by providing evidence that supports my thesis. My research argument is that although there are positive impacts of social networking on adolescents, there are negative impacts. The distribution of these impacts whether positive and negative largely affects the understanding and perception of social media not only by parents and guardians but also academicians. Specifically, the article highlights how cyberbullying has emerged as a negative impact of social media (Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014. p33). While on one hand the article shows that social networking and creating friends increases ones self-esteem, the article also shows how cyberbullying lowers the mental well-being of the victim.

Source 2

Title

Concurrent and Prospective Analyses of Peer, Television and Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls

Topic

Effects of Social Media on body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in teenage girls

Main Idea/Thesis

Does social media affect the degree of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in teenage girls?

Main Ideas Proven by Authors in their Argument

Social media affects the degree of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder in adolescent girls. However, the effect of social media was to a small proportion compared to peer pressure in the absence of media (Ferguson et al., 2013. P10).

Peer competition/influence has more influence in causing body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in teenage girls than social media and Television. However, it should not be interpreted that social media does not cause body dissatisfaction only that peer influence had more influence (Ferguson et al., 2013. P10).

The effect of social media on body dissatisfaction and eating disorder is indirect. Social networking is the largest arena where there is peer influence and competition. As a result, the two variables significantly affect body dissatisfaction of a teenage girl (Ferguson et al., 2013. P10).

Usefulness of this Source to the Study

This article will prove valuable to my research by providing a different dimension of the effects of social media on adolescents. While many scholars focus on direct and immediate effects such as cyberbullying, Ferguson et al. (2013) article takes a different approach and examines how social media affects body dissatisfaction and eating disorders (p 5). The article shows that social networks can be used to predict later peer competition which results in negative effects. In addition, the article shows that social media on its own has no significant negative outcomes but has drastic negative effects when tested concurrently and prospectively with peer pressure. Since social networks provide a platform for peer competition, this article will help in demonstrating how social media directly and indirectly causes body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in teenage girls.

Source 3

Title

Peer Influences: The Impact of Online and Offline Friendship Networks on Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use

Topic

Effects of Social media on adolescent health behaviors and risk behaviors

Main Idea/Thesis

What is the degree to which social networking relates to face-to-face adolescent risk behaviors?

Main Ideas Proven by Authors in their Argument

Social media interaction increases the risk of an adolescent engaging in risky behaviors such as drinking alcohol to a level higher than face to face interaction. The scholars established that although adolescents with friends who drink alcohol were at a higher risk of drinking, social networking through exposure to risky shared pictures posed a higher risk to teenagers whose friends do not drink (Grace at al., 2013. P512).

Exposure to friends risky pictures of smoking significantly contributes to an adolescent smoking (Grace at al., 2013. P512).

The frequency of use of social networking sites and the level of online friendship interaction on its own does not contribute to risky healthy behaviors (Grace at al., 2013. p512).

Usefulness of this Source to the Study

This article will significantly help in propelling my research forward by presenting the effects of online friendship interaction from a different perspective. Many studies in this field focus holistically on the effects of social online interaction on adolescents. Such approach presents results that are misleading since many contributing factors are considered as one. That assumption is flawed since not all factors have similar effect/weight/influence in the life of an adolescent. However, this article eliminates the inadequacies of such studies by focusing on specific factors, how they relate to others, the effect of other factors on them and the outcome (Grace at al., 2013. P 509-510). As a result, the article presents concise and specific data hence illuminating the researcher on the weight of each factor on the outcome.