THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS (REVISED)

A.Y. 2019-2020

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in the

Junior High School Department of Academy of Jesus

Presented by:
YASHMIR S. SACBAYANA
Grade 9- Overcomers
 September 2019

INTRODUCTION
Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create,
share, exchange and comment contents among themselves in virtual communities and
networks. Social media or “social networking” has almost become part of our daily lives and
being tossed around over the past few years. It is like any other media such as newspaper,
radio and television but it is far more than just about sharing information and ideas. Social
media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have facilitated creation and exchange
of ideas so quickly and widely than the conventional media.

A. WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

SUCH AS FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER ON THE
BEHAVIOUR OF STUDENTS?
At first glance, it may seem like a surprising notion that social media can affect the
behaviour. When we consider how much time students spend engaging on sites such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, however, it really makes sense.

Anything that takes up large amounts of time, including school, watching TV,
exercising doing extra-curricular activities, has some impact on the health and behaviour .
The question is whether social media is good or bad for students. The simple answer is that it
can be both. (Alex DiRenzo, 2018)
Social networking sites can exacerbate feelings of disconnect, and put children at
higher risks of depression, and low self-esteem. Social media platforms has a damaging effect
on the behaviours of students since it can negatively affect the relationship with others, cause
them to be inattentive and can get cyberbullied. Students will always have the choice of how
well they in school. They’re in control of their own grades, and what they want to retain.

Many people can say that social networks is one of the common ways of a distraction
for students. It has an effect that is both harmful to the productivity of students and has been
proven to decrease the students grades academically. Networks like Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter are very hard to ignore since there are constantly new information being updated, like
pictures being posted and status updates of friends. Now, many students admitted that social
media networks are the cause to their grades to suffer.

Social Media is often described as being more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol.
With the worst social media apps being Facebook, Instagram and Twitter when it comes to
addiction. (Anya Zhukova, 2018)

It’s no secret that the comparison factor in social media leads to jealousy—most
people will admit that seeing other people’s tropical vacations and perfectly behaved kids is
envy-inducing. Studies have certainly shown that social media use triggers feelings of
jealousy. (Alice G. Walton, 2017)
 B. HOW DO THESE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AFFECT THE
BEHAVIOUR OF G9 AND G10 STUDENTS IN TERMS OF:

 TYPE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

FACEBOOK
With more than 350 million active users, Facebook is one of the most popular social-
networking sites in history. While it may have benefits such as connecting one with friends, it
may also have very negative effects that could be irreversible. Three main negative effects
that could arise from using Facebook include loss of sleep, depression, and putting one in a
dangerous situation. At a quick glance, Facebook may be perceived as an intriguing and
enjoyable website, but the addictions that sometimes arise from overuse correlate to fatal
effects. These effects could be small, easy to cope with, unhealthy, or life-changing. The first
critical effect, the distractions that are caused by addiction, links to areal loss of sleep. If
teenagers could cut the amount of time spent on Facebook, the less likely they are to become
addicted, and (omit) the less likely they are to suffer from these horrible effects. Working as a
chain reaction, if teens do not suffer from the effects, they will probably get more sleep. The
second negative effect caused by addiction to Facebook is depression. A popular feature that
Facebook has to offer is the ability to add friends with whom you are familiar. Often times,
users may feel as though the number of friends that their account has is unsatisfying, leading
to insecurities. In today’s society, teenagers have enough to deal with on their own, and do
not need to suffer from anything else. A low friend count can make addicts feel worthless,
which can lead to severe depression. Not only could this diminish one’s self-esteem, it could
potentially be dangerous because he or she might add people that he or she does not know to
feel better. Also, another feature that Facebook offers is the ability to create events, such as
parties, and invite people. However, these events are public for everybody to view, and if
somebody is not invited, it could make him or her feel left out, leading to social upsets.
INSTAGRAM
Instagram was found to have the most negative overall effect on young people’s
mental health. The popular photo sharing app negatively impacts body image and sleep,
increases bullying and “FOMO” (fear of missing out), and leads to greater feelings of
anxiety, depression, and loneliness. The positive effects of Instagram include self-expression,
self-identity, community building, and emotional support. Whereas once people worried
about the body-image expectations created by fashion magazines, Instagram now offers
millions of new photos an hour for young girls to compare themselves to swimsuit models,
wannabe swimsuit models, scantily clad yoga instructors, and celebrities (who have a team of
make-up artists, hair stylists, personal trainers, and Photoshop gurus working behind the
scenes). (Lena Firestone, ND)

TWITTER
A common social media activity is viewing others people’s profiles. But these
frequently portray edited versions of people’s lives, such as only displaying images in which
the person looks attractive or is seen enjoying themselves. So young people may develop an
impression other people’s lives are preferable to their own. This can be made worse by the
social endorsement provided by the number of “likes” a post might get. In one study nearly
one fifth of respondents said they’d delete a post if it didn’t receive enough “likes”. (Jo
Robinsons, Eleanor Bailey, Sadhbh Byrne, ND)
  NUMBER OF HOURS IN THESE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
According to the study of (Aleksandar S., 2019) the number of hours wasted in these
social media platforms in 2019, 3.48 billion people use social media, and 2.23 billion of them
are active monthly users on Facebook. The biggest social media platform is mainly used for
networking. However, media watching has always been a part of Facebook – be it uploading
a photo or streaming a video, we still spend a lot of time on the site.

(Aleksandar S., 2019) claimed that, In June 2018, Instagram users worldwide
reached 1 billion. For those of you not counting, that was a 200+ million jump since
September 2017. 63% of all people connected to the internet have a registered Instagram
account. 58% of those are active users, making it more used than Messenger on a daily basis.
However, Instagram stats from June 2018 shed light on the astonishing app progress. 400
million active daily users spent 53 minutes per day on the platform – just a 5-minute
difference compared to Facebook.

(Aleksandar S., 2019) showed that In January 2019, 326 million users were active on
Twitter on a monthly basis. Some 9 million less than the summer of 2018, which can be
worrisome for the platform. A 2019 survey shares Twitter users only set aside 2.7 minutes a
day to use the site. Most visits are done via desktop (82 million users), while mobile falls
behind with 31 million.In addition, three-quarters of Twitter visitors claim to use it to check
the news. In a sense, we can say this social media focuses on adult users as a main
demographic.
  DIFFERENT ATTITUDE/BEHAVIOUR DEVELOPED OVERTIME
DEPRESSION
From the above literature it is clear social media is the basic agent that not enhances
but also nourishes the mental health problems. Excessive use of Social media leads an
individual to disastrous results that starts with anxiety and leads to the depression. In (Pantic
et al, 2012) it is revealed that depressions and time spent on social media by students is
positively correlated. Rosen et al., (2013), mirrored these findings and revealed that
symptoms of major depression has been found among the individuals who spent most of their
time in online activities and performing image management on social networking sites.
Similarly (Lou et al., 2012) asserted that students who use social media like Facebook,
Twitter or Instagram intensely reports enhanced loneliness. It is also found that social media
usage also enhances the psycho-social problems like adjustment and self-esteem (Kalpidou et
al., 2011). Research conducted by Davila (2012) reflected severe depression symptoms
among younger generation with less positive and more negative social interactions. In
contrary evidence of inverse relation between internet usage has been reported by the Kraut et
al,. (1998) and Shah and Grant (2002), they further suggest that various forms like gaming
and chatting diminish the depression risk.

NARCISSISM
In a special case, Rosen (2013) found that for people with high levels of narcissism,
high levels of Facebook activity were associated with lower levels of depression. Although
lower levels of depression were found, this still can’t be counted as a positive effect.
According to the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), narcissistic
personality disorder is marked by a grandiose sense of self-importance, fantasies of unlimited
power, self-promotion,vanity, and superficial relationships. Furthermore, according to Rosen
et al. (2013), many studies Show that social networking sites exacerbate narcissism. The
researchers themselves found that More time spent on Facebook and a higher frequency of
checking Facebook predicted higher Narcissism scores.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION
Social media is among the leading causes of sleep deprivation in teens today. They
are constantly worried about what their friends are posting and sharing. Adolescents can stay
active on social for longer durations if not prompted to stop. And if they do these especially
during sleep time or just before sleep, then there is a high possibility of their sleep being
disrupted. The readings can help you understand the importance of sleep and the associated
risks of sleep loss. (Vinay Prajapati, 2019)

POOR CONCENTRATION
Today negative effects of social media on students can be seen easily. Different tasks,
such as schoolwork, classwork or homework, require more concentration to deal with
something important but now teenagers have a habit of simultaneously using social media.
Most of them consider it multitasking but it is not. Researches show constant interruption has
an adverse effect on the attention and reduces learning and performance. (Vinay Prajapati,
2019)

 LIFESTYLE AND STUDY HABITS

Students are depending more on the information reachable easily on these social
networking sites and the web. This reduces their learning and research capabilities. This
reduces their learning capabilities. Reduction in real human contact – the additional time
the students spend on these online networking destinations, the less time they will go through
associating face to face with others. This decreases their relational abilities. They won’t have
the capacity to convey and mingle adequately face to face with others. Time wastage –
students, while seeking and concentrate on the web, get pulled in to utilizing online
networking locales and once in a while they overlook why they are using internet. Sometimes
students are not able to deliver their work in the specified time frame as their time wastes.
Low grades – students get low evaluations in school because of absence of the coveted data
and composing abilities. (Alex DiRenzo, 2016) claimed that people who are addicted to
social media may experience negative side effects such as eye strain, social withdrawal or
lack of sleep. (Alex DiRenzo, 2016) also said that lack of exercise. Social media can cut into
time you might otherwise be spending outdoors or exercising. Distraction one of the most
dangerous potential consequences of social media addiction is driving while being distracted.

3. WHAT ARE THE EFFECTIVE AND PRACTICAL WAYS TO ENSURE THAT G9

AND G10 DEVELOP GOOD BEHAVIOUR AMONG THE INFLUENCE TO THESE
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS?
When students learn to stop notifications from disturbing their normal routine, they
might find it easier to concentrate on their daily tasks and not get distracted so easily.
Notifications are a constant reminder that something is happening in the online world and
they might feel like they’re missing out. So to quell their FOMO, turn off the notifications.
The bonus is, when they do come around to checking their social media, they may have a
build up of more notifications which will make it more exciting and will make the experience
more rewarding. Set a timer on a watch or phone, to limit the amount of time they spend on
social media. Choose a limit depending on the severity of their addiction – say an hour a day,
which equates to seven hours per week – and whenever they check their accounts, start the
timer going. When it reaches the time limit, be strong and don’t be tempted to add on extra
time. This will be a strong test of willpower, but it will be worth it in the end. Instead of
keeping up to date with friends’ and family members’ lives through a screen, spend time
with them in the real world and reconnect with them. Make new memories and keep them
personal (Phoebe Waller, 2016)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://sysomos.com/2016/10/27/can-social-media-affect-health/
https://studymoose.com/the-effects-of-social-media-on-students-essay
https://www.techprevue.com/negative-social-media-adolescents/
https://mashable.com/2011/04/27/facebook-effect-students/
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/negative-effects-social-media/

A.T.M Shahjahan, K.Chisty, “Social Media research and its effect on our society”
International journal of Information 7 communication Engineering , Vol: 8,No.6,2016
https://www.researchgate.net
https://www.bustle.com/articles/144893-7-ways-to-stop-your-social-media-addiction
https://mashable.com/2011/04/27/facebook-effect-students/
https://adaa.org/social-media-obsession
https://academia.edu