Lentzos 1

Konstantinos Lentzos
WP1212V1
M. Frankos
24/12/2018
Research Paper Final Draft
Word Count: 2231

The effects of social networks on teenager’s socialization.

Nowadays technology has made its way in to our lives in every possible way. Some will

say technology invaded our lives and did not just made its way in to it. The fact is the all of

that is wrong we invented the tools that we use in our lives and the technology was the way to

achieve that purpose. Technology is tool for every human being on this planet to make its life

easier in every way possible. People allowed the technology and the effects of it to enter their

lives. Although the technology topic is a very interesting topic and always new information

come out for arguments this paper will focus on the social networks a big part of today’s

technology but even that topic is to broad so it will be narrowed down to the negative and

positive effects of social networks on teenagers socialization. Also this research paper in the

end will provide the audience an answer to the question “Social networks make youth

socialization more difficult?” In my opinion youth socialization can benefit from the use of

social networks if they are used in a sensible manner.

Socialization is the process by which children and also adults learn the aspects of

communication behavior and customs of the different social groups that they want to join or

belong already. Socialization can be divided in two types, the primary and the secondary

socialization. The primary most of the time occurs in the environment of the family and other

care relationships when children are infants. Through the primary socialization the young

human learns basic terms of behavior integrates itself on the normal flow of life. But when
 Lentzos 2

secondary socialization occurs that refers to the process where the person learns the culture

and habits of a new group and wants or has joined already, such a new football team or job.

Through socialization adolescents become functioning and active members of the society and

functioning beings of the contexts in which they live in. In this particular paper I will focus

on the socialization of the adolescents which is a massive and interesting topic of the modern

society that has been in the spotlight for long time know because of the fact that technology

and social networks that affect in a lot of ways that process and particularly the youth

socialization. In other words socialization is the key and the tool to enter and communicate

with others effectively. On the 21st century social networks have made their way in to the

adolescent’s lives and have been cementing their position in to their daily program and also

becoming a habit for the teenagers to use.

Teenagers use this aspect or maybe a tool I might say of technology for the biggest

part of their day even when they are in the class they use it to chat with other classmates

inside and outside the classroom, sharing, posting and milking every possible aspect and

feature that they can from the social networks. For the people that they don’t know the

definition of what exactly a social network might be, social networks are dedicated website

that users can communicate with each other by posting comments, messages, images and

information and share content in general with other users. The users might belong to the same

social groups or have similar interests. The most popular social networks are Facebook,

Instagram, and tweeter. The majority of the Teenagers nowadays are using Facebook and

Instagram for the most part in the past the trend was also to use the snapchat but now the

trend has Instagram and Facebook on the top. According to a survey on the international

journal of computer applications technology and research published on the volume 5 issue 2,

75% of all teens own a cell phone, 72% of all teens use text messaging and 88% of phone

owning teen’s text. Also the same survey showed that 73% of online teens have used a social
 Lentzos 3

networking site like Facebook , 63% of online youth watch videos online on platforms like

YouTube, 61% of online youth play games including multiplayer online games and 52% of

online teens have commented on a blog. A different research which was completed by the

BBC news a well-respected and reputable source of news indicted that 67% of Facebook

users are known to consist of youth and students who use the platform in order to gather,

spread and exchange information and opinions.

Nowadays a lot of everyday tasks can be and are completed through technology and

more specifically through social networks. Some advantages for teens when using the social

networks are the easy and fast communication that provide through instant messages the

ability to form group chats where the adolescents can set up meets and also discuss about

homework and school and also exchange ideas about projects and tasks they have to complete

and in that process the participants socialize and get familiar with each other. They also boost

their efficiency on studying by minimizing the time to find out things that another classmate

already has. The users of social networks can also use the feature of creating and announcing

an event for certain purpose and social media can spread the word fast and without hassle.

Adolescents can also learn quickly about the facts of their country the local community and

from the whole world in general. In that way teenagers can start to participate and learn the

political scene and its aspects, in that way they can be prepared and ready to make the right

educated decision when it comes down to decide about certain problems that affect their lives

and others and also be ready to vote and through the process of voting make changes to the

political scene and state express their opinion.

Another benefit of the use of social networks is that though social networks isolated

people and minorities can soften their feeling of loneliness and help them engage with other

people and work their easily and painlessly in to the society by communicating with other

people with common interests. Another advantage of social networks for teenagers is that in
 Lentzos 4

their critical period as youngsters can rely on the social networks for advices, guidance and

peering on numerous problems that might face in their daily life and also get different

opinions to help them more. Those problems can relate to relationship problems with their

parents, girlfriend or boyfriend, studies and school projects and also help them regarding their

professional orientation and career objectives.

Through the use of social networks teens can make new friends that have most of the

time common interests hobbies and gaming habits, according to a survey completed by the

Pew Research center 57% of all teens have made new friends online, the survey was

conducted online from September 25 through October 9 in 2014 and Feb. 10 through March

16. 2015 and 16 online and in-person focus groups with teens were conducted in April 2014

and November 2014. Teenagers have limited resources and budget that lends at to the fact

that social networks are affordable and more precisely they are completely free and that helps

the teenagers to by giving them the opportunity to engage civically and politically and also

help acquire information at lower on no cost at all. Also through social media teenagers can

express their opinion and concerned in a political level but not limited to, through specific

groups created to accomplish specific targets and goals.

Social networks like every other thing in life except advantages has also disadvantages to

it. A major and serious disadvantage is that social networking is addicting to the users if it’s

not used in sensible and responsible manner. Which is a problem with the youngsters

nowadays because they are not so disciplined as the adults and that lends itself to the

interference of the parents regarding the time a teenagers will spend on social networks.

Because addiction can affect in serious level the grades and the overall performance in school

and the performance on the sports the adolescent might do. The addiction can also relate to

the occasion when teenagers are getting obsessed with celebrities and other public figures and

try to mimic habits, styles and outfits that are not appropriate for their age. Sometimes the
 Lentzos 5

teenagers might come across photos, videos containing violence that can affect the behavior

of the kids or teenagers. Social media can also abuse the privacy of people. Teenagers

nowadays cannot be completely safe because of people and especially adults that use social

media to lure kids in to meeting them in person, also kids don’t know the importance of not

sharing private information that can lead to tracking the house and get robbed or murdered.

Social networks can also weaken the relationship inside the family in the process of making

new friends online.

The use of social networks or more precisely the extended use of social networks has

shown that it contributes to EHD. EHD is episodic heavy drinking. As the survey that was

completed and published on psychological reports in 2017 volume 120 indicated that

adolescents who use more the social networks daily tend to drink more and have more EHD.

According to the survey out of 851 teens 17 of them reported EHD 1-2 times a week with

6.26 hours of social networking which was 2% which was the most extreme cases but the

majority of the sample which was 77.7% recorded not at all in the last year when spending on

average 2.33 hours on social networking per day. That leads to the conclusion that social

media affect the EHD but in minor and controllable level. Another aspect and effect of

extended use of social networks can be aroused when teens and students start to feel they are

missing out. Fear of missing out is a state of anxiety at missing out on rewarding experiences

that often drive to the social media engagement and extended use of the platforms and when

they are using them they might also feel disconnected from the world. The extended use of

use of social networks has a direct impact on the sleeping habits of the adolescent by

extending the nighttime use of social media which leads to pre sleep cognitive arousal more

sleep onset latency and also later bedtime. The conjunction of those effects make the sleep

duration shorter. According to research published on the Journal of Adolescence volume 68

that took place at UK secondary school with 101 participants (66% female) ,the participants
 Lentzos 6

where aged from 14-18 years and where called to complete a self-report online. The

particular research indicated that adolescents with higher levels of FOMO (fear of missing

out) tended to use social media more at night. And the adolescents who used more heavily the

social media at night tended to go to bed later, feel more alert when they were in bed take

them longer to fall asleep and also sleep less. But in the end all of the above can be easily and

painlessly altered with the help of the parents stating the dangers of the social networks and

also via campaigns through social media campaigns that raise the alert regarding all of the

above dangers to the wellbeing of the teenagers when using the social network platforms.

To sum up social networks as I explained above have advantages and disadvantages like

any other thing on this planet and there will be always opinions that contradict and oppose

each other. Both opinions that indicate social networks effect negatively or positive the youth

socialization have good and solid arguments. But in the end the arguments of the people who

believe that social networks boost youth socialization are more in line with the reality and the

arguments of the people that believe the opposite, that is does in fact harm youth socialization

are getting diminished and overwhelmed by the positives social networks provide to the

youth life. Also the misconception that was shadowing the social networks which indicated

technology is abusing the life of the adolescents has also been diminished by researches and

surveys from reputable sources and institutions where the findings indicate that the events

where negative effects can harm or make the life of the youth more difficult and the

socialization are rare and also when they happen tend to be isolated incidents that can easily

be solved with the help of parents, teachers and peers. Socialization would not be that easy

for youth and also for the rest social groups without the boosting social networks provide and

alongside that the ability of the people and especially the youth to introduce themselves back

in to the society and community when they have been isolated for some reason has never

been easier. Youth engagement in political and activist level would not be the same also if
 Lentzos 7

there wasn’t for the tools social networks provide that give the foundations for a society that

is fully engaged and active when it comes down to acting, and deciding about serious issues

and topic of the local community and for the whole nation. Socialization and social networks

are an inseparable combination that work extremely efficiently and effectively on numerous

occasions. If social networks where enemies of the youth and the society they would not be

named social networks but only networks.

 Lentzos 8

Works Cited

Malo-Cerrato, Sara1, sara.malo@udg.ed., et al. “Excessive Use of Social Networks:

Psychosocial Profile of Spanish Adolescents.” Comunicar, vol. 26, no. 56, July 2018, pp.
101–109. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3916/C56-2018-10.

Alberts, Chari, and Jabulani Gilford Kheswa. “Social Networks and Sexual Behaviour
amongst Adolescent Females in One Secondary School in Eastern Cape, South
Africa.” African Population Studies, vol. 31, no. 2, July 2017, pp. 3823–3832. EBSCOhost,
acg.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=sih&AN=126535732&scope=site.

Brunborg, Geir Scott1, geir.brunborg@fhi. n., et al. “Social Media Use and Episodic Heavy
Drinking Among Adolescents.” Psychological Reports, vol. 120, no. 3, June 2017, pp. 475–
490. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0033294117697090.

Scott, Holly1, h.scott.1@research.gla.ac. u., and Heather Cleland1 Woods. “Fear of Missing
out and Sleep: Cognitive Behavioural Factors in Adolescents’ Nighttime Social Media
Use.” Journal of Adolescence, vol. 68, Oct. 2018, pp. 61–65. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.07.009

Nenga, Sandi Kawecka, and Jessica K. Taft.” CITIZENSHIP, RIGHTS, AND YOUNG
PEOPLE
“, “Youth Engagement : The Civic-Political Lives of Children and Youth. Vol. 1st ed,
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2013. EBSCOhost,
acg.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=551153&scope=site.

Blair, Sampson Lee, et al.” KEEP CALM: YOUTH NAVIGATING

ADULT AUTHORITY ACROSS NETWORKED PUBLICS”Technology and Youth :
Growing Up in a Digital World. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015. EBSCOhost,
acg.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1075354&scope=site.

Nenga, Sandi Kawecka, and Jessica K. Taft.” YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN CIVIC AND
POLITICAL LIFE“, “Youth Engagement : The Civic-Political Lives of Children and Youth.
 Lentzos 9

Vol. 1st ed, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2013. EBSCOhost, acg.idm.oclc.org/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=551153&scope=site.

Winter, Micha de. “5.4 ‘DEMOCRATS ARE MADE, NOT BORN’ ”, “Socialization and
Civil Society : How Parents, Teachers and Others Could Foster a Democratic Way of Life.
Sense Publishers, 2012. EBSCOhost,
acg.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=532533&scope=site.

Herring, Susan C. Kapidzic, Sanja. “Teens, Gender, and Self-Presentation in Social Media”.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, Volume 24
pp.146-147. http://taiwan.elsevier.com/htmlmailings/edm/IESBS_freearticle/4.pdf

Siddiqui, Shabnoor. Singh, Tajinder. International Journal of Computer Applications

Technology and Research Volume 5– Issue 2, 71 - 75, 2016, ISSN:- 2319–8656.
http://www.ijcat.com/archives/volume5/issue2/ijcatr05021006.pdf