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Social Media; A Drain Of Self-Esteem.


Did you know most Americans spend 4.7 hours on social media a day (Lulu Chang)?
That averages to 32.9 hours a week. As the years pass, more and more technology comes along,
which provide us with different ways of interacting with social media. Social media is used for
different things, such as keeping in touch with family/friends, entertainment, sharing
information, or just to waste time. For those who think their self-esteem is being influenced
negatively by social media, Campbell says the most important thing to do is reconnect with your
presence and your personal brandthat means unhooking from computer land (Jodie
Gummow). According to Jodie Gummow from alternet, social media can impact your
self-esteem, negatively. Possibly the only way to do that would be to disconnect from social
media and take time for you, and maybe try to find yourself again. Even though some people
believe social media cant affect you if you dont check it, social media can have negative
effects on a young adult's self-esteem because it can cause young adults to stress out, it can
be used to bully others, and can also pressure young adults into doing things out of their
comfort zone.
Social media can cause young adults to stress out because they worry if someone is
talking about them. Stress can be caused by teens being abused on social media. Social media
abuse Research from social networking abuse shows that social networking abuse happens to one
in seven children. There are many negative impacts that social networking can have on a teen.
Regardless, abuse happens when people lie and unfortunately, it is becoming more common as
social networking sites begin to grow (Sue Lynn Cathy). This quote supports my position

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because its proving that social media abuse is a problem and how many teens suffer from it and
also how to prevent it.
Another reason why social media can be linked to some young adults depression, a lot of
chronic stress can lead young adults to depression. Depression is a constant feeling of sadness
and loss of interest. Research done by Dr. Paula Durlofsky from main line today shows that
depending on your psychological needs, social media can help or hinder your depression.
Although social media relationships can have a positive effect on us emotionally, numerous
studies have been conducted linking social networking to depression, social isolation, eliciting
feelings of envy, insecurity and poor self-esteem (Paula Durlofsky). According to this quote
social media doesnt always have positive effects on a persons mental state. Social media is
usually considered something that people go to for fun or entertainment but for some people that
isnt always the case.
Social media can also stress you out because you get the fear of missing out on
something. FOMO is the fear of missing out on something or feeling of being left out from a
certain. The Huffington post says FOMO on social media does affect people, especially ones
who are constantly checking their feeds. I'm not quite sure if the fear of missing out on
something is a trait you're born with, develop through the years or is just a problem that's come
to light since social media became a part of our lives. One thing is for sure, though: social media
makes that type of fear surface with every refresh of your Instagram feed (Stephen Mariani).
This quote states that social media has actually made the FOMO on something harder because
you see people doing things without you. This supports my big argument because FOMO could
stress you out because you feel like you should be there doing whatever you see portrays.

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Cyberbullying is a big problem that social media can have on teens, nowadays though
teens are bullied for not having certain things others do because they cant afford it.
Cyberbullying is when a person harasses and threatens another person over the internet. Studies
have shown that cyberbullying can increase a teen to be unsuccessful. It causes psychological
issues and can cause health issues. Bullying is so bad that kids are even made fun of because of
what they wear. According to daily mail Pupils who wear 'cheap' logos are labelled 'geeks' and
become the brunt of name-calling (Laura Clark). This shows how brutal todays bullies can be,
just based off what another teen is wearing. In conclusion, this supports my overall argument
because it shows how bullies affect others.
Bullying based on a persons appearance is also an upcoming topic. Bullying based on
appearance is when a person is being teased for their features, or looks, something they cant
change because they were born with it. Bullying has especially expanded since social media has
come about. Huffington post says While the media has focused attention on the dramatic and
tragic stories of bullying -- especially those reported by LGBT teens -- the everyday tormented
kid suffers under the radar. Desperate to make it stop, some go to great lengths to alter their
appearance (Vivian Diller). From this quote we can infer that bullying based off appearance has
affected some teens so much that they are actually trying to change how they look. Instead of
bringing people down we should be trying to lift them up.
Bullying based on your group of friends is another type of bullying. Bullying based on
friends is when other people or groups gang up on you and tease you because of who you hang
out with. People who bully others based on their friends are usually popular and have a lot of
friends while other kids may only have a few friends. According to girls health.gov People in a

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clique may spread rumors about others or refuse to let someone be part of their circle. The clique
may gang up on or target someone. They may be unfriendly to people outside of their circle and
exclude others, giving the message that they are not good enough (Barnardos). This isnt fair
because you are entitled to have whatever you choose and no one has the right to try to hinder
that. Instead of judging someone else based on their friends, we should make sure our friends are
perfect.
Social networking can put a lot of pressure on a teen which can cause a person to have a
low self-esteem and also do things they normally wouldnt. Self-esteem is what makes a person
confident and can define them as a person. When that is negatively impacted, it can cause
depression, anxiety, stress, and many other problems that can affect a persons life. Nowadays
social media can put a lot of pressure on a person. Experts have found that teenagers who allot
huge amounts of their time on social media sites are more likely to see photos of their friends
drinking or smoking drugs. And in the struggle to find a group they think is cool or great for
them, these teenagers do stuff they wouldnt have been forced into doing if they werent exposed
to social media (Sean R. Nicholson). This quote proves that social media does have an effect
on teens being pressured to do certain things to be cool. This relates because this is an example
of a kid trying to fit in and do things he/she wouldnt do.
Social media can force high expectations on a young adult. Having high expectations on
a person can put a lot of pressure on them because they keep pushing their self to live up to those
expectations. Some expectations society has on teens are too high, so the younger community is
trying to reach something that could be almost impossible. Research shows that the more
pressure teens are put under from high expectations, the more likely they are to develop issues

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such as depression and anxiety (Poeskesl). This quote says that most people do have high
expectations on the younger community which puts a lot of pressure on teens because they feel
like they have to live up to those expectations. This supports my argument because it proves
people do expect more out of teens.
Teens also have the fear of not being popular, which can also affect ones self esteem.
Popularity is when many people like or admire you and if youre popular you would probably
have a lot of friends. Not feeling popular can leave a young adult depressed, feeling lonely, and
could even drive them to commit suicide. Consider this: the study also reported that participants
also said that their self-esteem suffers when they compare their own accomplishments to those of
their online friends (Alvaro J. Soltero). According to this quote social media can lower
someone's self-esteem because they basically think down on themselves based off of others.
Young adults should stop comparing themselves to others and just look at the things they have
accomplished and strive to do better, not put himself down.
Some people will say If you dont check social media it cant affect you For some
thats easier said than done. In today's day and age almost everyone, especially teens; have social
media accounts. Social media addiction is a phrase for someone who is constantly checking or
updating their social media feed. a social networking addict could be considered someone with
a compulsion to use social media to excess--constantly checking Facebook status updates or
stalking peoples profiles on Facebook for example, for hours on end (Leslie Walker). This
quote by Leslie walker shows that a social media addict is just someone who checks their page
constantly or stalks other people. While there is no research supporting someone can be
physically addicted to social media, its more of a mental type of condition because its just all in

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your head.

The graph above is the result of a questionnaire given to 84 students from grades 7 - 12,
the questionnaire asked if students believed social media had an effect on their body
image/self-esteem. 72 said social does a have a large impact on body image and self-esteem.
Social media these days also gives us opportunities to interact with others, even people
we dont know; which can be bad. A lot of people in this era feel social media is where most of
their friends are, because they can post something and get feedback from others almost instantly.
Not checking social media could be hard for those who fiend for that type of attention. Social
media forces us upon a feeling of intimacy and closeness that doesnt actually exist (Baer). This

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quote by Jay Baer reveals to us that social media can make you feel like you know someone
when in reality you dont.
Many of the young adults these days also use social media to keep up with
family/friends, latest events, or even school/work duties. These things have made checking social
media daily, even multiple times in one day like a mandatory part of their day. To tell these
young adults to just not check their accounts would probably be like telling them the end of
world is coming. Social media is a way for the world to stay interconnected to each
other(Odunze). This proves that many people use social media to stay connected, even if its for
pointless reasons. Telling a frequent social media user just to not check it wouldnt be very
effective, we should let them know they need to cut back on their usage.
What this generation needs to realize is that even though some people believe social
media cant affect you if you dont check it, social media can have negative effects on a young
adult's self-esteem because it can cause young adults to stress out, it can be used to bully others,
and can also pressure young adults into doing things out of their comfort zone. To raise
awareness about this we need to start a movement to force people away from social media and to
interact face to face, not screen to screen. If we can turn the younger community away from
using Social media so much then maybe in the future the number of young adults with low
Self-Esteem due to social media will decrease.

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Works Cited
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Social Media Strategy and Content Marketing Strategy. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-tools/social-media-pretend-friends-and
-the-lie-of-false-intimacy/>.
Cathy, Sue Lynn. "Social Networking Abuse." LoveToKnow. Lovetoknow. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Social_Networking_Abuse>.
Chang, Lulu. "Americans Spend an Alarming Amount of Time Checking Social Media on Their
Phones." Digital Trends. Digital Trends, 13 June 2015. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/informate-report-social-media-smartphone-use/>.
"Cliques." Cliques. Girlshealth.gov, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://girlshealth.gov/bullying/whatis/cliques.html>.
Diller, Ph.D. Vivian. "Teased About Your Looks? Bullying That Goes Under the Radar." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vivian-diller-phd/teased-about-your-looks-_b_3027964.ht
ml>.
Dunn, Dana Jade. "Questionnaire." What Impact Do Sociocultural Influences Have on Body
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<https://bodyimageselfesteem.wordpress.com/interview-questionnaire/>.

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Jaffe, Lorne. "5 Reasons Why Facebook Can Be Dangerous for People With Depression." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 May 2015. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorne-jaffe/5-reasons-why-facebook-is_b_7295816.html>
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Mariani, Stephen. "Overcoming The Fear Of Missing Out." The Huffington Post.
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Nicholson, Sean R. "[INFOGRAPHIC] Peer Pressure Can Be Multiplied Through the Social
Media." SocialMediaSean. SocMedSean. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.socmedsean.com/infographic-peer-pressure-can-be-multiplied-through-the-so
cial-media/>.
Odunze, Keisha. "Social Media Keeps Us Connected." The Daily Collegian. 26 May 2013. Web.
04 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_9e550706-af20-5eb2-9b1a-d04c60d7cee9.
html>.
Poeskesl. "Higher Expectations of Teens Causing Major Effects (with Tweets) Poeskesl."
Storify. Storify. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
<https://storify.com/poeskesl/higher-expectations-of-children-and-teens-causing>.
Reporter, Daily Mail. "More than Half of Schoolgirls Are Bullied Because of Their
Appearance." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.

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<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1299664/More-half-schoolgirls-bullied-appearan
ce.html>.
Soltero, Alvaro J. "The Relationship Between Social Media and Self-Worth." The Social U.
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<http://personalweb.about.com/od/socialmediaaddiction/a/Social-Networking-Addiction.ht
m>.

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