Discussing Teenagers and Social Networking

The Internet has always shown us new ways to connect and share.
What started out as a research project aimed at academicians has now transformed in to a life tool itself.

From simple text based emails to multicast video sessions, the internet has come a long way since its inception in 1970.

Once such revolution brought about by the internet is that of the social networking websites.
A survey found that in the year 2010 Facebook received more number of hits than any other website on the internet, even outranking Google.
There are more than a billion active registered users on social networking sites.

Even though the total membership is more than a billion, the actual driving force behind the success of social media comes from teenagers.

Teenagers are quick to master new concepts and they have certainly grasped this new concept. While adults may use social networking for simple communication purposes, teenagers use it for a whole lot of different activities.

Today we will talk about the impact of social media on teenagers.

Every coin has two sides and the same goes for any new technology, it has a good side to it and then there is a dark side.
Even though the claimed objective of social networking is to facilitate communication, it has come under the scanner for its potential misuse. It has been widely reported and clinically proved that people who spend more time on social networking websites are more likely to be depressed. We all are aware that teenage years are the most confusing years in an individual's life.
Without a mature state of mind it is perhaps easier for teenagers to confuse the digital world of social networking with the real world that they live in and when this illusion of digital world breaks, it might get difficult for a teenage mind to confront the reality.
Another dark aspect of social networking is that of false representation.
The Internet is a digital world and you can be anyone who you want to be.
The problem comes when this false representation takes you away from your true identity. Teenage years are the time when one searches for his identity.
In pursuit of popularity and acceptance a teenager can easily fall in this trap of false representation, such activities are destined to drive the teenagers in to a world of fantasy and illusion and will hinder the true identities and spirits.

This concept of false representation does provides some sense of acceptance but when teenagers are confronted with reality they often find themselves lonely, unwanted and depressed. Cyber bullying is another inherent attribute of social networking. While adults may consider it a bit overrated, the truth is that cyber bullying on social networks is a harsh reality.

The trauma of cyber bullying is colossal as it can involve thousands of participants within a short period of time. Social networks are designed in such a way so as to propagate a trending story or post, this propagation can take the bullying to a whole new level.
While it is a rarely seen behavior in adults, it is quite common in teenagers.

Perhaps the most dangerous of all evils of social networking is that leaves the teenagers exposed to sexual predators.

It becomes much easier for a sexual predator to lure in teenagers on a social network, with a not so mature mind and an eager and curious behavior we cannot really blame teenagers for being the victims. There have been many widely reported cases where sexual predators made use of social media platforms for luring in their victims. Considering all these negatives, one might get an impression that nothing good can come out of social networking, but as I said in the beginning, every coin has two sides and so there is a sunnier side to it too. Our world is changing rapidly and it is only obvious that in such a fast changing world, no one is going to support censorship of any kind.
Perhaps censoring itself takes the internet a step backwards.
In the absence of censorship and control, the sense of awareness and responsibilities are the only two things can lead to a healthier social networking experience of teenagers.