How does dependence on social networks affect young people?

This is how the excessive and uncontrolled use of social networks can harm young people.

Social networks have become part of almost everyone's life. Young and not so young people have accounts on networks like Instagram or Twitter, sharing photos, comments and opinions.

These networks have made it easier for us to share information and points of view very quickly, making them reach millions of people and greatly influencing them. This can be positive but also negative, especially if misused.

The people most vulnerable to an irresponsible use of social networks are adolescents and young adults.. Below we will see how dependence on social networks affects young people.

How dependence on social networks influences young people

Today's teenagers were born during the 2000s, a generation that came into the world with a cell phone or tablet under their arms. Their mastery of the Internet is almost instinctive, more than that of previous generations and only comparable to the so-called Millenials. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat are just a few examples of the social networks where young people, both teenagers and adults under 25, spend the most time.

There is no doubt that social networks connect us and bring us closer to each other, but just as they can offer certain advantages they also bring with them problems if they are not used in moderation. No one disputes that today's teenagers are digital natives and that they are skilled in the use of new technologies and social networks, but this does not prevent them from misusing them inappropriately. this does not prevent them from misusing them and having negative consequences on their health.. How dependence on social networks affects young people is what we will address in the following paragraphs.

Among the effects of abusive use of social networks in young people we find the following.

1. Obsession and risky behavior

One of the dynamics that social networks are best known for are interactions between "influencers" and their "followers".. Following or being an influencer can determine the status of young people in their reference group. Most teenagers want to be famous in one way or another and social networks have become that space where it does not require much talent to become known.

So, getting likes, views and shares on their social networks or comments can be seen as a sign of relevance and notoriety among young people.They run the risk of becoming obsessed with it.

When a young person sees that someone has liked or shared their comment on their profile, they feel happy, something that is explained neurobiologically as it has been seen that social networks can cause the dopamine hormone to be secreted.

There is also the influence of those who follow. Influencers can have a lot of relevance among young people, for better and for worse. On the positive side, there have been some influencers who have conveyed messages in favor of mental health and self-care, especially in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. However, there is also the flip side, influencers who have shared pseudoscientific messages that are harmful to mental health and have put their followers at risk.

What we can say about this point is that social networks make their users obsessed, seeing who is following them and what they are saying about them, as well as being aware of what their influencers are saying. If the messages shared by their influencers are harmful, it can cause the less critical followers to carry out behaviors that endanger their physical and mental integrity..

Interacting with strangers

Youth are vulnerable to meeting people they have met online who do not know their real identity. Young people young people do not have the experience necessary to detect the risks that exist in the world and, motivated by the idea and, motivated by the idea that this happens to other people, they make contact with unknown people on social networks. They may accept Facebook friend requests, new WhatsApp contacts, Instagram followers and other social networks they don't know just for the sake of feeling more popular.

It is this same inexperience that makes them feel attracted to such dark and shady networks as Only Fans, a platform where its users pay monthly to access content such as photos, videos or live broadcasts of any kind, although in practice it is a page of adult content. As they have very internalized the idea that the more people the better, they are not reluctant to let a stranger know their intimate life. The problem is that they are not aware that they expose themselves to all kinds of risks.

There is a possibility that the younger ones are sneaking around with people they have met through the networks.individuals who say they are something they really don't have to be. It may be that they have "fallen in love" with a person with whom they have not even spoken on the phone, only interacting via instant messaging. It is in these cases in which they risk falling into a "catfish", a person who claims to be who they are not, with a false identity and who, if they meet in person, could hurt them.

3. Cognitive problems, social isolation and family conflicts.

Sometimes young people abandon activities that used to give them pleasure and contribute to their personal, social and family development simply because they are hyperconnected. It is known that the abusive use of electronic devices and social networks in particular can induce cognitive problems, altering the attention span, concentration, problem solving and impulse control of young people, which translates into academic and relational problems..

One of the most remarkable effects of social networking is that it can lead to social isolation. The reason for this is that as they already interact with other people online who are more interesting to them, they leave their friends and family members aside and even fight with them. The virtual world offers the possibility of creating a parallel reality, a world in which young people can create an ideal avatar of themselves in order to attract the attention of other teenagers and hide their true identity.

4. Anxiety and emotional instability

One of the reasons why young people develop a dependence on new technologies is that they have access to social networking sites.. They need to check from time to time if someone has written to them or has given them a "like", and this causes them anxiety. This anxiety is immediately evident when they hear that they have received a message.

It also manifests itself when they do not have access to their mobile or device with which they connected to social networks, either because they have left it at home or because they are in a place where they cannot consult it.

5. Problems of sleep

There are not few young people who recognize that they wake up in the wee hours of the morning to check if someone has sent them a Whatsapp message or if they have been commented on their last Instagram post. Related to the previous point, as they feel anxiety because they do not want to miss anything (FOMO syndrome), their sleep patterns are altered.

They go to sleep later than they should and, when they are already lying down, they consult their cell phone, which delays their sleep time.

Blue light from cell phones and other electronic devices is thought to delay sleep, basically because it makes our organism believe that it is still daytime, waking us up more even though we are tired and, consequently, makes us fall asleep later.This makes us wake up more even though we are tired and, consequently, makes us fall asleep later. Because of this, many young people begin to see their sleep habits affected, starting to have difficulty sleeping. As they sleep worse, their concentration and performance are affected.

6. Body complexes

Another of the effects of dependence on social networks in young people is insecurity about their physical appearance. Body image is something that matters a lot in adolescence as well as in early adulthood.. The canons of beauty have always existed exerting an important socializing influence, establishing who is valid and who is not in their culture based on how they look and what their silhouette and body sizes are.

Now, with the widespread use of social media, this has increased its influence. The pressure to comply with the imposed canon of beauty is increased when their image is constantly exposed to the judgment of others, to the comments of both friends and people they barely know. There is also the fact that they are constantly comparing themselves to influencers' photographs of "perfect" bodies, which mark what a body should and should not look like.

Young people don't stop to think that many of the images they see on social networks are fake, the product of photo retouching and playing with perspective. They perceive that perfection as natural, and internalize the idea that to be worth among their peers it is necessary for them to have those bodies that, in most cases, is practically impossible to achieve.

7. Cyberbullying

Anyone can be cyberbullied regardless of their age. Many individuals hide behind anonymity to pour their acid in the form of hurtful comments to others (Internet trolls). Exposure to social networks makes young people very vulnerable, susceptible to comments from malicious people of all ages.

Young people do not digest cruel comments in the same way as adults do. Because their their handling of other people's comments is worse than that of an adult'sThe fact that they can receive in the social networks in a very personal way, inducing them to all kinds of emotional problems and, even, the suicide in the most serious cases.

How to avoid these effects?

There are several tips that adults, both family members and more mature friends, can follow to prevent young people from misusing the networks and suffering all the effects we have just seen. Although these tips are more oriented towards families with teenage children, they can also be applied to a young adult such as a college classmate or a friend who is concerned about the use they are making of their cell phone.

1. Lead by example

We can't expect our child or sibling to stop being connected 24/7 to social networks if we do the same.. The best thing to do is to lead by example, so it is time to put the cell phone aside and enjoy some time with our teenager, a family time in which we can create a memory where it was not necessary to be connected to have a good time.

2. Enjoying moments to yourself

In today's culture it is almost irresistible that impulse that makes us take out our cell phones to photograph a "unique" moment: having dinner with friends, celebrating a birthday, going camping, going on an excursion... These and many more are the moments when young and not so young people feel the need to immortalize the moment to share it with others. There are people who feel that if they do not expose this to their acquaintances, it is as if they had not lived it..

Whether or not the photo is taken, if it is a good moment, it will be enjoyed just the same. It is therefore important to instill in young people the idea that it is not necessary to be photographing everything, that what matters is the moment, not how many people see and know what we have done and what we have failed to do. Pleasure should be found in the very fact of living the moment, not in the recognition and envy of others.

3. Establish limits

If as adults it is already very difficult for us to control our impulses on our own, as young people it is even more difficult to control them.. It is essential to set limits, to impose rules that are never broken by anyone in the family so that we set an example and they are well internalized. A good tip is to requisition all electronic devices, such as tablets or cell phones, at night to prevent anyone from connecting to social networks when it is time to sleep. During the day it is also advisable to restrict the use of these devices, as far as is reasonable.

4. Be critical of the networks

Finally, it is very important to talk to youngsters about the need to be critical of what we see on social networks.. Teenagers and young adults should be taught that many of the photos of their influencers of reference, where they exhibit ideal bodies like those of an Olympic god, are mere illusions, they do not correspond to reality.

They should also talk about the importance of not believing any comment they see written on the networks and they should not take personally an unpleasant comment made by someone hidden behind an avatar. They should not allow the opinion of people they have not even seen in person to influence their feelings. They should learn to be critical of the messages that arrive on their profile, and put an end to chains of messages or videos that are bordering on criminal or in bad taste.