How does dependence on social media affect young people?

Social media has become a part of almost everyone's life. Young and not so young have accounts on networks such as Instagram or Twitter, sharing photos, comments and opinions.

These networks have made it easy for us to share information and points of view very quickly, reaching millions of people and making a huge difference. This can be positive but also negative, especially if it is misused.

The most vulnerable people to a little responsible use of social networks are adolescents and young adults. Next we are going to see how dependence on social networks affects young people.

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This is how dependence on social networks influences young people

Today's adolescents were born during the 2000s, a generation that has come into the world with a mobile phone or a tablet under their arm. Their mastery of the Internet is almost instinctive, more than that of previous generations and only comparable to the so-called Millennials. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat are just some examples of the social networks in which young people, both adolescents and adults under 25, spend more time.

There is no doubt that social networks connect us and bring us closer to each other, but in the same way that can offer certain advantages also bring problems in case they are not used with moderation. Nobody disputes that today's adolescents are digital natives and that they have a skillful use of new technologies and social networks, but this does not prevent them from misusing and having negative consequences on your health. How dependence on social networks affects young people is what we are going to address in the following paragraphs.

Among the effects of the abusive use of social networks in young people we find the following.

1. Obsession and risky behaviors

One of the dynamics for which social networks are best known are the interactions between the “influencers” (influential characters) and their “followers” ​​(followers). Following or being an influencer can determine the status of young people in your reference group. Most teenagers want to be famous in one way or another and social networks have become that space where it does not take a lot of talent to become known.

So that, getting likes, views and shares on their social networks or comments can be seen as a sign of relevance and notoriety among young people, putting them at risk of becoming obsessed with it.

When a young man sees that someone has liked or shared his comment on her profile, he feels happiness, something that he knows. It explains neurobiologically since it has been seen that social networks can cause the hormone of the dopamine.

There is also the influence of those who follow. Influencers can be very relevant to young people, for better and for worse. On the positive side, there have been some influencers who have transmitted messages in favor of mental health and personal care, especially in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. However, there is also the other side, that of influencers who have shared pseudoscientific messages, harmful to mental health and who have put their followers at risk.

What we can say from this point is that social networks make their users obsess over, seeing who follows them and what they say about them, in addition to also being aware of what their characters say about reference. If the messages shared by your influencers is harmful, it can cause less critical followers to carry out behaviors that endanger their physical and mental integrity.

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2. Interaction with strangers

Young people are vulnerable to meeting people they have met online and who do not know what their real identity is. Young they do not have the necessary experience to detect the risks that exist in the world and, motivated by the idea that this happens to other people, they establish contact with unknown people on social networks. They can accept friend requests from Facebook, new WhatsApp contacts, Instagram followers and other social networks that they don't know just for the simple fact of feeling more popular.

It is this same inexperience that makes them feel attracted to networks as dark and murky as Only Fans, a platform where their users pay monthly to access content such as photos, videos or live broadcasts of any kind, although in practice it is a content page adult. As they have very internalized the idea that the more people the better they are not reluctant to let a stranger know about their intimate life. The problem is that they are not aware that they are exposed to all kinds of risks.

It is possible that the youngest are hidden with people they have met through the networks, individuals who say that they are something that in reality they do not have to be. It may be that they have "fallen in love" with a person with whom they have not even spoken on the phone, only interacting by instant messaging. It is in these cases that they risk falling into a "catfish", a person who claims to be who they are, with a false identity and who, if they meet in person, could harm them.

3. Cognitive problems, social isolation and family conflicts

Sometimes young people abandon activities that previously gave them pleasure and contributed to their personal, social and family development simply because they were hyper-connected. It is known that the abusive use of electronic devices and of social networks in particular can induce cognitive problems, altering the capacity of attention, concentration, problem solving and impulse control of young people, which translates into academic and relational problems.

One of the most notable effects of social networks is that it can cause social isolation. The reason for this is that since they already interact with other people online that they find more interesting, leaving their friends and family apart and even fighting with them. The virtual world offers the possibility of creating a parallel reality, a world in which young people can create an ideal avatar of themselves in order to attract the attention of other teenagers and hide their true identity.

4. Anxiety and emotional instability

One of the reasons why young people develop dependence on new technologies is that they have access to social networks. They need to check every so often to see if someone has written or 'liked' them, and this causes anxiety. This anxiety is evident at the moment when they hear that they have received a message.

It also manifests itself when they do not have access to their mobile or device with which they connected to the networks social, either because they have left it at home or because they are in a place where they cannot consult it.

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5. Sleeping problems

There are many young people who recognize that they wake up at dawn to check if someone has sent them a WhatsApp message or if they have commented on their latest Instagram post. Related to the previous point, since they feel anxiety because they do not want to miss anything (FOMO syndrome), their sleep patterns are altered.

They go to sleep later than they should and, when they are already lying down, they check their mobile, which delays sleep time.

Blue light from cellphones and other electronic devices is believed to delay sleep, basically because makes our body believe that it is still daylight, waking us up more despite being tired and, consequently, makes us fall asleep later. Because of this, many young people begin to see their sleeping habits affected, beginning to have difficulty sleeping. As they sleep worse, their concentration and performance suffer.

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6. Body complexes

Another effect of dependence on social networks in young people is insecurity regarding their physical appearance. Body image is something that matters a lot in both adolescence and early adulthood. The canons of beauty have always exerted an important socializing influence, establishing who is valid and who is not in their culture based on how they look and what their silhouette and sizes are bodily

Now, with the widespread use of social media, this has increased its influence. The pressure to comply with the imposed beauty canon is increased when your image is exposed constantly at the discretion of others, to the comments of both friends and people who barely know. There is also the fact that they are constantly compared with photographs of influencers of "perfect" bodies, which mark how a body should and should not be.

Young people do not stop to think that many of the images they see on social networks are false, the product of photographic retouching and playing with perspective. They perceive that perfection as natural, and internalize the idea that to be valid among their peers is It is necessary for them to have those bodies that, in most cases, it is practically impossible achieve it.

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7. Cyber ​​bullying

Anyone can receive cyberbullying regardless of age. Many individuals hide behind anonymity to pour their acid in the form of hurtful comments to others (Internet trolls). Exposure to social media makes young people very vulnerable, susceptible to comments from malicious people of all ages.

Young people do not digest cruel comments in the same way as adults do. Because his handling of the comments of others is worse than that of an adult, what they can receive on social networks in a very personal way, inducing them to all kinds of emotional problems and even suicide in the most serious cases.

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How to avoid these effects?

There are several tips that adults, both family members and more mature friends, can follow to prevent young people from misusing the networks and suffering all the effects that we have just seen. Although these tips are more oriented towards those families with teenage children, they can be applied also with a young adult such as a college classmate or friend who is concerned about the use he is making of mobile.

1. Lead by example

It cannot be expected that our son or brother stops being connected 24/7 to social networks if we also do the same. The best thing is to lead by example, so the time has come to park your mobile and enjoy some time with our adolescent, a family time in which we can create a memory where it was not necessary to be connected to have fun.

2. Enjoy the moments for yourself

In today's culture, that impulse that makes us take out our mobile to photograph a “unique” moment is almost irresistible: having dinner with friends, celebrating a birthday, going out camping, going on an excursion... These and many more are the moments in which young and old feel the need to immortalize the moment to share it with the the rest. There are people who feel that if they do not expose this to their acquaintances, it is as if they had not lived it.

Whether the happy photo is taken or not, if it is a good moment, it will be enjoyed the same. It is therefore important to instill in the youngest the idea that it is not necessary to be photographing everything, that what matters is the moment, not how many people see and know what we have done and what we have stopped do. Pleasure must be found in the very fact of living in the moment, not looking for it in the recognition and envy of others.

3. Set limits

If as adults it is difficult for us to control our impulses on our own, as young people even more. It is essential to establish limits, impose rules that are never broken by anyone in the family so that we can set an example and become well internalized. A good tip is to seize all electronic devices, such as tablets or mobiles, at night to prevent anyone from connecting to social networks when it's time to sleep. During the day it is also advisable to restrict the use of these devices, as far as is reasonable.

4. Be critical of networks

Finally, it is very important to talk with the youngest about the need to be critical of what we see on social media. Teens and young adults should be taught that many of their reference influencers' photos, where they exhibit ideal bodies like those of an Olympian god, they are mere illusions, they do not correspond to the reality.

You should also talk about the importance of not believing any comment they see written on the networks Nor should an unpleasant comment made by someone hiding behind a avatar. They should not allow the opinion of people they have not seen in person to influence their feelings. You must learn to be critical of the messages that reach your profile, and put an end to chain messages or videos that border on crime or are in bad taste.