Social Media and How it Affects Self-Construction

With the constant use and normalization of social media technologies, people can easily lose their social identities in the digital world. There is no escaping it as social media has become quite addicting for most users (Wang 2017). It is so normalized that a lot of younger people are gaining easy access to social media technologies, and unfortunately becoming addicted. The obsession over social media technology can cause an emotional disconnect from the digital world to reality and harm relationships (Gündüz 2017). Whether it affects our behavior or personality, some mental changes are being made as people obsess over online media. This addiction leads to people fixating over their digital selves rather than their real and social lives. 

For decades, the internet and digital media technologies have become integrated into our daily lives. This development is scary as we now need this technology to do our jobs and live our lives. There is also free and easy access to this technology as it has become more normalized  (van Nuenen & Scarles 2021). Having this easy access can spark an addiction. All digital media consumption is self-regulated use, so if a parent raises their child with a lack of social media technology, there is a possibility of no addiction forming throughout their adolescents  (van Nuenen & Scarles 2021). Unfortunately a lot of parents underestimate the power social media addiction truly has on young children. 

In a survey, approximately 45% of teens use social media everyday and they check social media platforms more than 100 times a day. This survey also shows that teen girls spend one hour and 32 minutes on social media, which is 40 minutes more than the boys who were surveyed. The average time the boys spend is around 52 minutes (Thomas 2017). There is a common fear of missing out when it comes to people straying away from social media technologies. People believe they are missing out on current trends when they are not in the social media loop. This fear of missing out can cause people to latch too much time into social media platforms. Approximately 61% of teens report that they frequently check their social media platform to see if their posts are getting likes, if their friends have engaged with their post, or if anyone has said negative things about them (Thomas 2017).

Social media has revolutionized the world in the way humanity can interact, share, and converse (Méndez-Diaz Akab & Parker-Barnes 2021). Relationships can easily form and bond through social media. It opens up a whole new book of communicating with a friend or partner. With that in mind, the emotional bond between two people in a relationship can grow better and become more intimate with face-to-face communication. Digital texting is a great way to stay in contact, but the lack of a social presence with someone can create a poor bond allowing the relationship to possibly not maintain (Méndez-Diaz Akab & Parker-Barnes 2021). Teenagers are easy victims to this as they are allowed to easily contact friends and people within their nearby location.

As technology grows, more teenagers become obsessed with the digital world. Unfortunately, this social media addiction can negatively impact the mental health of its users (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson 2011). The easy consumption of websites like Facebook allow people to put themselves out there and create their online identities. These online identities can be anonymous, and since there is no face-to-face confrontation, online interactions make an easy way for harassment and bullying. Dealing with this harassment through social media can cause depression within teenagers (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson 2011). Dealing with harassment can cause people to lie about their online identity and become an anonymous account, or exaggerate who they are and lie on their post. 

There is definitely an obsession with social media platforms, but the one topic not discussed all that often when it comes to this obsession is how these platforms affect these teenagers' identities. When online, it is very easy to put on a fake name and act as a fake person when compared to who you really are. Doing this can create a cluster of all different labels. People can bounce back and forth on these different “characters” they have created when online and this can unfortunately lead to users lacking a true social identity as they have committed so much time and effort into being these fake online people (Gündüz 2017).

Technology has advanced. Growing up, technology seemed like a cool part of our lives that we got to experience every now and then. Now, technology has become a huge staple within everyone's lives. The common use of technology allows anyone to get a hold of the digital world and become easily obsessed with their online accounts. Obsession with their online accounts, especially at a young age, can have some poor negative effects on young children's mental health. An identity crisis can form within this addiction, and cause people to lose who they truly are, especially teenagers (Gündüz 2017). A restricted access and warning on what dangers can take place on the internet would be a great discussion for the new generations that easily manage to join the digital world.

Sources

Gündüz, U. (2017). The Effect of Social Media on Identity Construction. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 8(5), 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1515/mjss-2017-0026

Méndez-Diaz, N., Akabr, G., & Parker-Barnes, L. (2021). The Evolution of Social Media and the Impact on Modern Therapeutic Relationships. The Family Journal, 30(1), 106648072110524. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807211052495

O’Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800–804. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-0054

Thomas, L., Briggs, P., Hart, A., & Kerrigan, F. (2017). Understanding social media and identity work in young people transitioning to university. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 541–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.021

van Nuenen, T., & Scarles, C. (2021). Advancements in technology and digital media in tourism. Tourist Studies, 21(1), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797621990410

‌Wang, T. (2017). Social identity dimensions and consumer behavior in social media. Asia Pacific Management Review, 22(1), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2016.10.00