Exemplication Essay

            Social media had rocked the modern world for many years, but just now has it become more prevalent in today’s news. Social media has impacted all age groups and countries. The second most popular group behind teens are in fact preteens ages 10-12. Children look heavily to the media to guide them and, more often than not, it negatively influences their morals and thinking.

         The internet has boomed in the last 5 years all over the world due to its accessibility and convenience in schools, jobs, and society. This increase has also leaked to the younger side of society; the kids. My little sister for example, has recently turned 10 and fell victim to the lust of social media. She checks her Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram on a semi-regular basis, about every 15 or so minutes. I’m not the only person who has seen this change in their siblings. It is actually a very common story told between adults and teens alike. Almost 1 in 4 people in the world have access to the internet, which converts to increased number of social media hits in the last 5 years. Just last year Facebook had 15 billion hits a 30% increase than the last year. Of those who logged on to be updated on the latest drama, 80% checked their Facebook weekly and 64% checked their Facebook accounts daily. In kids especially there seems to be a dependence relationship. Instead of being productive with their life, possibly doing their homework, and having fun outside; we see preteens glued to their phones and not get a flicker of sunlight all day.

          Not only does social media affect a kid’s productivity, it also effects the child’s mental state. A correlation between depression and minutes spent on social media daily has been discovered. The more social media intake the higher the chance of depression in children and teens. This most likely is caused  by negative feedback and high expectation situations. I view this very act everyday with my own peers. I see the reaction of a teen after they post a picture at the perfect angle or tell a “juicy” story and after just a mere 30 seconds the regret on their faced is prevalent. When no one “liked” or commented after they posted you can see the disappointment in their face; even if they say they don’t

care. This leads to the fact that social media feeds the feeling of being inadequate  to children and teens especially. This can make the already prone child sink into the abyss of insecurity and low self esteem.

It isn’t just social media that affects a child’s mind, but the internet in general. All over websites advertisements are covering the perimeter. They all end up suggesting how to get a better face, body, or life by buying this item or doing this activity. These commercials pray on the minds of the insecure and gullible; teens and children. Constantly being showed images of “perfect bodies” such as Kim Kardashian and Beyonce’ can make a child or  teen compare themselves. Even though those perfect bodies were achieved mainly through airbrush, makeup, and photo shop. This has also made the plastic surgery business become a bustling sight for investments because of the increasing demand for these perfect bodies. As a side note, there is the weird side of the internet that you can find in forums. In open forums anyone at any age can go on and view disturbing images and topics ranging from discussions about the distribution of child pornography to the graphic images of ISIS beheadings. However, there is usually a warning before entering the website that says “18 or older” , but a child’s curiosity will sometimes get the best of him. Nothing is going to stop the children from going on these sites. The images that would be shown would be extremely violent and disturbing, further altering the mind of children. In the worst cases, it can awaken the hidden psychopath in some children.