The Effects of Social Media

The Effects of Social Media
The internet particularly, social media and all other forms of technology are common in our society today. As evidenced in various ways, the use of technology has both positive and negative effects in our day to day life, especially to the young generation who are fond of the internet and other social media platforms. These effects have been elaborated by Jim Taylor and Larry Rosen in their studies.
According to Jim Taylor, the ugly side of children’s’ use of social media is internet addiction. He describes this situation as characterized by excessive use of the internet, which hinders the day to day functioning and this can lead to distress. Past research shows that internet addicts portray compulsive behavior, depression, attention deficit among others (Psychology Today). Larry Rosen further affirms this statement by stating that students were only able to concentrate on a task on an average of three to five minutes. Their distractions stemming from the excessive use of internet related devices (“The Colorado Daily,” n.d).
Larry Rosen also explains how social media not only impacts negatively on the children’s temporary focus and attention but also impacts on their overall performance in school (“The Colorado Daily”). The students in Jim Taylor’s study proved beyond doubt that internet addiction is real, certainly passing the duck test as he quotes “if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it is probably a duck (Psychology Today).” Students explained their obsession with the internet as scary stating that they cannot imagine themselves in a world without technology.

Jim Taylor goes on to describe how social media steals one’s self-identity. Jim Taylor in the article named ‘Is Technology Stealing our Self Identities?’ explains that we get our self-identity through having an outward look of the society as well as self-awareness. However, due to the increase and the expansion of the social world, it has become difficult to see the effects the expansion has on our self-identities. In the current world, the shaping factors of the individual’s self-identity rely on the social media compared to previous generations whose factors were the media, parents, teachers and friends. Jim Taylor explains that the popular culture, no longer holds a mirror to reflect our self-identities, it rather portrays how it wants us to be. This new self-identity serves its interests instead of focusing on what is good for us. Social media makes us shift from expressing what we are to focusing on how others think we should be (Psychology Today, n.d).
However, in this article unlike the other one called the Bad, the Ugly and the Good of Kid’s Use of Social Media, Jim Taylor does not cover the benefits social media may have in developing our self-identities. This article like the article by Larry Rosen called Driven to Distraction: Our Wired Generation both cover on the negative impacts on children. However, in Larry Larsen’s article the study subject is high school and middle school kids compared to this article while Jim Taylor does not state the age of the kids or rather give the reader a hint on the age of the children the article’s assertions are based on thus making it hard to identify the age of the children on which Taylor studies so as to reach his or her conclusions.
In summary, both Larry Rosen and Jim Taylor concur that excessive use of social media without effective monitoring can negatively impact children’s development. However, on the flip side, social media, if properly used can help shy individuals to gain confidence and improve family relations through the frequent connection. The three articles help the reader to understand the dangers social media such as Facebook poses to children such as poor performance in school, lack of self-identity, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and paranoid behaviors. The article’s main idea is that parents should understand the positive effects and negative effects of the overuse of social media on their children and thus take control measures.
Works Cited
“Driven To Distraction: Our Wired Generation.” Coloradodaily.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
“The Bad, The Ugly, And The Good Of Kids’ Use Of Social Media.” Psychology Today. N.p., 2016. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
“Technology: Is Technology Stealing Our (Self) Identities?”. Psychology Today. N.p., 2016. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.