THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE BEHAVIOR OF TEENAGERS IN

MIDSAYAP

SUMALINOG, ANDREA G.
LOZANO, JOANA MAE F.

JULY, 2022

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Social media has brought people together who share common interests and broadened the

scope of ideas around the world. Social media, on the other hand, has had an impact on human

behavior. Why may the media influence people's behavior? According to Della Vigna and

Gentzkow (2010), there are two primary theoretical arguments. First and foremost, it has the ability

to alter their ideas by presenting appropriate knowledge. Second, social media can have a direct

impact on behavior, regardless of people's knowledge. It was discovered that most people’s

psychosocial behavior is influenced by social media use, and that they become addictive

psychologically as a result of spending the majority of their time on the internet networking,

resulting in less attention being paid to other activities and aspects of their lives.

Statement of the Problem

This study will focus on the behaviors of teenagers in Midsayap who are influenced by

social media. The general question of the study is “What are the effects of social media on the

behaviors of teenagers in Midsayap?”

 Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the changes in the behaviors of the teenagers in Midsayap because of social

media?

2. How does social media influence the behaviors of the teenagers in Midsayap?

3. What are the negative effects of social media on the behaviors of teenagers in Midsayap?

Hypotheses

The following hypothesis was formulated to guide this study:

● Ho: Social media has a positive impact on the behaviors of teenagers and it affected their

behaviors positively.

● Ha: Social media does not have a positive impact on the behaviors of teenagers and it

affected their behaviors negatively.

Significance of the Study

The results of this study will provide baseline data to the following benefactors for their

information and references:

Teenagers – The results of this study may enable them to reflect and evaluate their own selves on

their behavior with the presence of social media in their lives.

Parents – This study may serve as a reminder to the parents to monitor their children, especially

teenagers, on how they react or behave when using social media as part of their lives. With this,

parents will be able to guide their children on the right path.

Midsayap Municipal Officers – The results of this study may serve as a basis for the plans that

the officers will execute in regards to social media and its impacts to teenagers’ behaviors.

Future Researchers – By its very nature, research generates new knowledge, presenting a huge

opportunity for unique content creation. Social media can aid in exhibiting trustworthiness and

establishing reputation, according to several of the researchers’ favorable experiences.

Scope and Limitations

This research attempts to determine the impact of social media on Midsayap’s teenagers’

behavior. This will uncover the factors affecting teenagers’ behavior because of the influence of

social media. The study will also examine and identify many aspects that influence the behaviors

of teenagers. Primarily, the focus of this research is on the teenagers in the Midsayap area, namely

those between the ages of 13 to 20, who are actively engaged on social media. The behaviors that

are accepted in this study are those behaviors that are accepted and not accepted by society.

Moreover, this investigation will be carried out with a limited budget and timeframe. The

respondents (about 30 teenagers) are all given the same questions to complete using Google Forms

as the tool for surveying. The study will only use a stratified selection method for the teenagers in

Midsayap for through this, the study can come up with different results that will satisfy the research

title.
 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the essential ideas, concepts, and findings taken from various authors

and researchers in the local and foreign settings, which have a bearing on the effects of

extracurricular activities on the perceived self-efficacy of students.

Relationship of Social media and Teenagers’ Behaviour

It is clear that social media has a relationship with the behavior of teenagers. As a result,

communications can reach audiences and target groups in real-time, causing changes and patterns

to emerge. Today's teenagers are raised in an environment where they are surrounded by

opportunities and interaction with a variety of social media platforms. They can quickly learn

'digital literacy,' and they live in a digital world where adults are only 'naturalized citizens.'

Tapscott (1998) refers to teenagers as the "Net Generation" since they have grown up in a digital

environment. Teenagers are interacting in a hybrid virtual realm, learning in novel ways, acquiring

a new language, and demonstrating intercultural values (Tappscott,1998). Independence,

emotional and intellectual openness, inclusivity, free expression, strong ideas, innovation,

maturity, pressure from the study, immediacy, sensitivity to business interest, authentication, and

trust are the major features of the "N Gen" culture (Tapscott, 1998 pp. 62-69).

As a result, this research is founded on a theoretical framework that views young people as

active agents capable of manipulating, adapting, creating, and disseminating ideas and products

through communication technology (Berson and Berson,2005). According to Tapscott (1998),

teenagers who are digitally literate have gained power in their relationships with adults as well as
autonomy in the world. Teenagers are authorities on the internet (Rettie,2002). From a

developmental standpoint, it can be claimed that many sensory inputs are taxing on cognitive

resources and can overload youth who use the internet.

Today, social media has given us new ways of communicating, which has had a significant

impact on people's daily lives. According to Greenfield (2010), current means of communication

will alter, taking advantage of the crowd sourcing phenomena, as more people discover the

possibilities of the World Wide Web and become active participants in it, and as technology

advances, expands, becomes more accessible, and sophisticated.

Teenagers and Social Media use

Social media allows teens to create online identities, communicate with others and build

social networks. These networks can provide teens with valuable support, especially helping those

who experience exclusion or have disabilities or chronic illnesses. Teens also use social media for

entertainment and self-expression. And the platforms can expose teens to current events, allow

them to interact across geographic barriers and teach them about a variety of subjects, including

healthy behaviors. Social media that’s humorous or distracting or provides a meaningful

connection to peers and a wide social network might even help teens avoid depression (Mayo

Clinic Staff, 2016).

As cited by Dworkin (2018), social media along with gaming sites and instant messaging,

allow teens to have 24/7 access to peer networks through cell phones and other mobile devices.

This allows teens to extend the time they spend with people they already know – and sometimes

with those they don’t. For teens, social media platforms are an everyday part of life. Parents may
benefit from learning more about these platforms and the ways they influence the lives of their

teens. By being informed, parents can make the best decisions about monitoring their teens’ social

media use and equipping them with skills to navigate these platforms with care.

Direct Effects of social media on Teenagers Behavior

A growing corpus of research on the issue of social media and behaviors of teenagers has

been bolstered by several recent studies. These researches look at how social media may benefit

teenagers as well as how they might harm them.

Positive Effects

According to Team GD Ideas (2011), people are expanding knowledge through social

media. It gave access to varied opinions and thoughts of people of different cultures and regions.

This has the power to make broad-minded, challenge stereotyped views on particular communities

and develop mutual respect among people of different backgrounds. Most of the social media

content creators encourage people to pursue the career they love, to take care of themselves, and

learn new skills. This creates a positive impact on human behavior. Gupta (2015) argued that

teenagers who would earlier feel shy in coming forward with their ideas, are now showcasing their

talents without any fear of rejection. It has become easier for people to share and advocate their

views, which would often be put down among the crowds, in the absence of social media.
Boosts Self-Esteem

Networking on social media allows teenagers to connect with others, building new

relationships and strengthening established one. Getting “likes” and other positive feedback boosts

moods and increases self-esteem. By uploading photos and videos, they can share their special

moments with those in their circle. And their responses create feelings of belongings and

acceptance (Walker, 2016). As cited by Burrows (2017), teenagers are undergoing the process of

identity development. During this developmental period, adolescents’ self-esteem is likely to be

affected by the feedback they receive online through social media.

Improves Socialization

Social media allows us to connect with each other 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Social media gives the utmost platform to interact with different people, scroll through their daily

activities, to venture into a new world of different possibilities. Social media also provides us the

opportunity to be informed and updated, giving us the opportunity to tinker with the world at our

finger tips. In a way, social media should have provided us the utmost opportunity to be the most

socialized animal in the world (Sentinel Digital Desk, 2019). The social media are agent of

socialization for it influence our political views; our taste in popular culture; our views of women,

people of color, and gays; and many other beliefs and practices (Hassan, 2019).

Negative Effects

According to Gupta (2015), social media makes people unhappy and dissatisfied with their

life, seeking to live in a similar manner as the people on their social media. Moreover, cases of

cyberbullying and abuse by anonymous online users are not unknown. These cases have largely
contributed to lowering self-esteem among people and hitting human behavior. Team GD Ideas

(2011) added that many teenagers became celebrities through social media. This is encouraging

many others to become celebrities. In the process, some are turning into self-obsessed and

narcissistic.

Spending Less Time with Family

Social media has become an international source of enjoyment and time pass. It generally

is hitting people’s minds and negatively influencing their behavior without being noticed.

Teenagers usually share their feelings with friends on social media; hence, the demands of sharing

are satisfied that equals parents’ conversations or advice are unnecessary. This builds a wall among

family members, eventually, family connection fell apart. Additionally, they tend to spend more

time on the internet with friends and relatives rather than have quality time with them (Nguyen,

2018). Social media has consequently caused family members to be socially isolated, especially

teenagers. It has caused disconnections, conflicts, misunderstandings, absence of honesty, and trust

ending with a frangible unit (Carnesecchi,2021).

Violent Behaviors

Social media exposes adolescents to alcohol and vaping marketing and information about

the experiences of alcohol and vaping use by peers. This may normalize the behaviors and

convince teens that it’s okay to try alcohol or vaping. This may apply to other risk-taking behaviors

such as marijuana and other substance use (Boyd, 2007). Teens can experience cyberbullying on

social media, either as a victim or bystander. Unmonitored social networking could provide a
forum for messages that are indecent, demeaning, violent, or racist. Sometimes, comments are

misinterpreted or intentionally hurtful and the conversations can quickly turn into bullying or

harassment. Moreover, information teens think would only be of interest to their friends can get in

the hands of others and produce unintended negative results. For example, a joke about a friend

could get circulated around school, hurt the friend, and ruin the friendship (MacGill,2007).

Mental Health Issues

According to Albano (2021), teenagers who have social anxiety or depression, who may

have a tendency to spend more time online and reduce their real, face-to-face contact with other

folks. When an individual is not engaging in the world in a healthy way – interacting with others,

managing themselves in challenging situations, whether it’s in classes or speaking up in class,

going on interviews, dealing with conflict with peers – and instead increase their online presence,

this can exacerbate their feelings of alienation, hopelessness, isolation, anxiety, and depression.

As cited by McLean (2022), when teenagers look online and see they are excluded from an activity,

it can affect thoughts and feelings, and can affect them physically. Social media is tied to

decreased, disrupted, and delayed sleep, which is associated with depression, memory loss, and

poor academic performance. Social media use can affect users’ physical health even more directly.

The connection between the mind and the gut can turn anxiety and depression into nausea,

headaches, muscle tension, and tremors.

 Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 presents the paradigm of the study. The Effects of Social Media is the Independent

Variable, while the Behavior of Teenagers is the Dependent Variable. Social media may affect the

behaviour of teenagers in Midsayap.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Social Media Behavior of Teenagers

\ (Facebook) (either positive or
negative)

Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing the independent and dependent variables in the study.

Definition of Terms

The following words are defined operationally:

Effects – a change that results when something is done or happens

Social Media – interactive technologies and digital channels that facilitate the creation and sharing

of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and

networks.

Behavior – Behavior is the way a living organism externally reacts in response to its environment

(Frye, 2017).

Teenagers – people whose age is between 13 to 20 years old and who are the subjects of this study

Midsayap – a Municipality in Cotabato where teenagers lived and where the study takes place.
 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter contains the research design, locale of the study, respondents of the research,

research instruments, data collection, and data analysis.

Research Design

This study was created as a quantitative study to better understand the issues surrounding teen

behavior. It contains assessments of teenagers' social media habits or addictions. Moreover, this

study is a quantitative study for it is deductive as it looks at the general case and goes toward the

more specific details. Additionally, this study will use a large number of respondents, therefore,

we used a quantitative study. Among the quantitative research approaches, the quasi-experimental

research approach was used in this study. This quantitative research approach investigates the

effect of one or more variables on one or more outcome variables. Hence, this approach fits this

study because it will investigate the effect of social media, which is the independent variable, on

the proper behavior of the teenagers in Midsayap, which is the dependent variable.
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