Wiklanski 1

Chloe Wiklanski

Krepp

Composition

7 March 2024

Argumentative essay

In the United States,about 90% of teens use social media everyday (“Social

Media and Teens”). Social media has had major effects on people in many different

ways. For some people, it has had positive effects and they enjoy being on social

media, communicating with family and friends. People also enjoy expressing

themselves in a lot of ways. On the other hand social media can be negative especially

for teens and young adults. The negative part of social media is the bullying through the

screen and how people see their body image compared to others. Social media can

either affect you negatively with people cyberbullying others and influence body image,

or it can affect you positively where you can stay in contact with friends and family.

One negative effect of social media is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is one of the

biggest negative effects of social media. Social media is the top platform for

cyberbullying (Bergman). The main platforms that people use to bully others are

Snapchat and Instagram (“Facts About Cyberbullying”). Teens use social media to bully

others through the screen and stay anonymous. About 42% of young kids between the

ages 12-17 have been bullied online in some way (“Facts About Cyberbullying”). Young

teens get bullied through social media and within 42% of the kids nothing gets done
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about the bullying. The 42% of kids that get bullied online, many of them get bullied in

different ways. Cyberbullying can affect people's mental health and it can lead to

depression and self harm (Bergman). Cyberbullying is serious and it can cause a lot of

major effects for people like depression, self harm, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. While

cyberbullying has major effects on people, body positivity has major effects on people

as well.

Social media is bad for teen girls and how they feel about their bodies. Body

positivity has a huge effect due to social media. About 50% of teen girls struggle with

their body image because of social media (“How Social Media Impacts Body Image”).

Teen girls struggle with their body image because they compare themselves to others

that they see on social media. Social media on body positivity causes low self esteem

and it can also cause body dysmorphic. Teen girls often compare themselves to

celebrities or other people that they see on social media. When teens compare

themselves to other people it causes them to want to look like them and be like them

(“Social Media and Teens”). Apart from body positivity being a bad thing for young

teens, connecting with your friends and family through social media is a good thing.

One of the good things about social media is connecting with family and friends.

Connection with friends and family is one of the positive things about social media. you

can connect with friends through many different platforms on social media. It might be

hard to make friends face to face for some people if they are shy and making friends

online might be easier (Heimlich).Social media is also good for people who like to

express themselves. Expressing yourself online is a good way to show people your

creativity and your personality (Heimlich). Connecting with your family is a good thing
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especially if you don’t talk to your family you can stay in touch. It can also be a good

thing if you don’t live in the same state. Connecting with your friends and family is one

of the good ways to use social media.

Social media has many effects on many things such as cyberbullying, body

positivity and connecting with friends and family. The three main effects social media

has on people are cyberbullying, body positivity and connecting with friends and family.

A lot of people struggle with social media whether it is people getting bullied online or

how teen girls struggle with how they see themself. This is good for social media such

as connecting with friends and family. Social media is a big part of people’s lives and it

affects people in many ways whether it's good or bad.

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Works Cited

Wikipedia, https://familiesforlife.sg/pages/Article/Using-Social-Media-to-

Communicate-Effectively-with-Your-Children-. Accessed 11 March 2024.

Bergman, Matthew P. “Effects of Cyberbullying.” Social Media Victims Law

Center, https://socialmediavictims.org/cyberbullying/effects/. Accessed 11 March

2024.

Bergman, Matthew P. “Effects of Cyberbullying.” Social Media Victims Law

Center, https://socialmediavictims.org/cyberbullying/effects/. Accessed 11 March

2024.

“Body image in adulthood.” Mental Health Foundation,

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/research/body-image-how-we-think-

and-feel-about-our-bodies/body-image-adulthood. Accessed 11 March 2024.

“Facts About Cyberbullying.” Annapolis.gov,

https://www.annapolis.gov/908/Facts-About-Cyberbullying. Accessed 8 March

2024.

“Facts About Cyberbullying.” Annapolis.gov,

https://www.annapolis.gov/908/Facts-About-Cyberbullying. Accessed 11 March

2024.

“How Social Media Impacts Body Image.” Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials, 20

July 2023, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/social-media-and-body-image.

Accessed 11 March 2024.

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“Social Media and Teens.” AACAP,

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-

Guide/Social-Media-and-Teens-100.aspx. Accessed 8 March 2024.

Stieger, Stefan. “Does Social Media Have a Negative Impact on Body Image?”

Psychology Today, 25 October 2023,

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychology-and-science/202211/does-

social-media-have-a-negative-impact-on-body-image. Accessed 11 March 2024.

“What Causes Cyberbullying and How Can Counselors Help?” Bradley

University Online, https://onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/blog/what-causes-

cyberbullying/. Accessed 11 March 2024.