How Does Social Media Affect Teens

The Effect of Social Media on Today’s Teens Smart phones and social media are quickly taking over the world. Living life in front of a screen has become the ‘norm’ for many teenagers, but most people, teenagers and parents included, do not understand the risks associated with the usage of social media. This generation of teenagers is statistically more depressed than past generations and the rise of social media can be to blame because of the associated feelings of jealousy and disconnectedness with others, which causes many mental health stipulations. The majority of teens who regularly use social media believe that the online communication with others may be beneficial to their social skills; however, interacting through a screen can be debilitating for face-to-face conversations. Because the majority of communication is now online, “body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions are rendered invisible” (Ehmke). To

The main issue with this is that people typically use social media to highlight the best moments of their lives. Additionally, social media can show all the good parts of distant friends’ lives, which can cause jealousy or cause people to feel left out. Because other peoples’ lives seem perfect, “social media can cause people to become depressed because they believe that everyone else’s lives are more interesting and accomplished than theirs” (Durlofsky). One must be careful about how often they use social media to keep up with others as their only source of information. Because of the fragile mental state that social media has already caused, it can seem as though no one else has struggled. Often, social sites glamorize life and create the illusion that problems no longer exist in the world. When a person believes their life is not as successful as others’ appear, depression begins to set