The negative impact of social media on teens

Social networks in the virtual world are sites and applications that operate at different levels – for example, at the professional level, the level of relationships, etc. They allow the exchange of information between people or companies.

Entertainment social networks are those in which the main goal is not to interact with people, but to consume content. You might think that all social networks are the same, but they are not.

COLADY will talk about the negative impact of social networks on adolescents.

Instagram hurts girls

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Instagram was one of the first social networks for mobile access. According to Pew Research, 81% of young people in the US say social media connects them with their friends, and 26% say it makes them feel worse psychologically.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an internal investigation on Facebook, which revealed that the company knows that a social network with photos and videos is harmful to teenage girls, and “32% of girls say that when they are in a bad mood, Instagram makes them feel even worse.”

Psychologists say that the use of social networks negatively affects the mental health of young people, negatively affects their life habits, and they cause anxiety at the level of self-satisfaction.

Social media such as Instagram, for example, give rise to the false idea of ​​an ideal life, that the life of others is beautiful and their life is not. The relationships that are woven on social media are empty and do them more harm than good. The symptoms that girls who use Instagram develop are high levels of anxiety and depression, dissatisfaction with their lives and irritation. There is a constant comparison with the lives of others, they look not at what they have, but at what they do not have.

Instagram can also be a place where people can have negative experiences, as detailed in the Wall Street Journal.

China limits the time children use TikTok and video games

The Chinese version of the TikTok short video app (Douyin) will restrict its use to those under the age of 14 to 40 minutes per day. This group of users will be able to use the platform from 6 am to 10 pm.

They will have to register using their real name in order to gain access to their designated “youth regime”, which includes a specified time limit.

Douyin explained that they would recommend these minors “history stories, scholarly explanations, and museum exhibits” to pique their “interest in a particular area,” and that they would “learn” while using the app.

According to data provided by Douyin, which, like TikTok, is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, this year the number of active users has exceeded 400 million.

Recently, the Chinese authorities have introduced new rules in another popular video game sector. They restricted minors’ access to online video games to three hours a week after being labeled as “spiritual opium” and “electronic drug” for young people by official media.

Under this rule, online video game companies can only allow access to minors between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Commentary by psychologist Marina Rey

Man is developing – the world is changing at a tremendous speed. Our psyche, perception does not have time to get used to one, when another appears. First of all, I’m talking about the flow of information – it is both happiness and punishment in the modern world. Each coin has a reverse side and gadgets, social networks, digital devices, among other things, bring undoubted benefits and cause a certain addiction. And what if we have not yet learned how to live and perceive it as naturally as hot water from a tap, like a light in an apartment or like electricity in an outlet!? … Maybe that is why now people, in particular teenagers, develop addiction.

There is a lot of information, social. networks, forums, chats are endless, it is important for a child, teenager not to “drown” in this whirlpool. Yes, social networks are different, but remember, we used to replace them: benches on the street, “painted” entrances, “parties in the hut”, grandmothers on the benches. They expressed their sympathy not by “likes” on the page, but in the form of a textbook on the head and twitching of braids, etc.

Human needs have remained the same, just the shape has changed. Agree that “hooligans”, “shantrap”, “gopota”, “racketeering”, “courtyard”, companies have always been, just like “decent companies”, “good guys” etc. Parents have always, regardless of the political system and economic development of the country, feared for their child that he would fall under bad influence and “roll downhill”, quit studying, learn to smoke and drink.

Now these companies have moved to social. networks, the time of benches and entrances is gone, but the meaning remains the same, hooligan behavior and the involvement of young people in the addictive philosophy of life. The format has changed, but some children continue to be influenced by social media. networks, and the parents are still worried that the child will quit school, learn to drink, smoke and “roll downhill”, just like there are teenagers who do not react to negativity, who are not “attracted” by the spirit of the adict who are interested in learning, grow and strive.

It is much more important to think about the atmosphere in the teenager’s family, about his relationship with his parents and loved ones. It seems to me that depending on a healthy relationship in the house, on the correct communication between a parent and a teenager, his perception of the world and, most importantly, to himself, is formed.

Caring not only in a “clean” collar and borscht in a plate, but also in communication in the ability to listen to a child, teenager, and try to listen to his opinion, then there is no social. the network will not become an addiction.

Commentary by child psychotherapist Maya Makieva

Social networks are more and more included in our life and in our reality. In recent years, they have been the main place of interaction with each other, and most importantly, it became possible to communicate with completely strangers. And teenagers are more influenced by them than anyone else.

Here you can register under any nickname and set any avatar, and then, with a feeling of complete anonymity and impunity, write whatever you want to anyone. It seems to the teenager that he has now acquired the freedom to express his thoughts. But if you get carried away with this, then in the future you can lose part of yourself, hide behind the so-called “mask”, and if this becomes a habit, a teenager risks finding himself in his own world, where a lot is invented and does not correspond to the truth, he may lose the opportunity to learn fully communicate with people in a live format, communication skills are simplified. And then it is difficult for an adult to adapt in society, it is difficult to be himself. If on the Internet he feels like a hero without much difficulty, then in everyday life this is not so easy to do.

But at the same time, social networks have greatly simplified our life, and it seems that it will not be possible to completely abandon them. Therefore, the main thing is to find a middle ground in this. Being in this space can be quite safe if you dose the time, and if at the same time develop the habit of defining goals, know exactly why he is entering there now, for what purpose, with whom he is going to communicate, and with whom it is not worth communicating, how much time is the maximum ready to spend. And parents should play a role in this, set an example for him, explain the importance of timing and even teach him to conduct a conversation, it is also worthwhile to interest the teenager in something else that involves communicating directly with people, perhaps it will be games, competitions with peers, volunteering, or simply family walks.