Annotated Bibliography on How Social Media Affects Teenagers

Boyd, D. Addiction What Makes Teens Obsessed with Social Media. Its Complicated. 1st ed.

N.p.: Yale UP, 2014. 77-99. Print.

Addiction can be used to describe what social media has become too many teenagers,

staying offline for more than 10 minutes can seem impossible for some teens. This

chapter of the book focuses on why teens become addicted to social media. Our

communication methods over the years have changed drastically and although many

teens today do not talk on the phone, they are still constantly conversing with each other

through social media. For some, social media is a way to escape their daily school and

home lives, and for others it is a way to communicate with friends when their parents do

not let them get out of the house a lot. Teens communicate so much through social media

because it is more of an escape from reality than an addiction. This chapter helps shed a

light on the lives of teenagers and the hidden truth of their constant need for social media

interaction.

East, S. (2016, August 1). Teens: This is how social media affects your brain. Retrieved March

21, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/health/social-media-brain/

This article focuses on research of a teenagers brain and how social media affects it. The

first thing you read on the article is a statement that explain how researchers at UCLA

Brain Mapping Center found that when teenagers photos get lots of likes on social

media apps, such as Instagram, their brains respond in a similar way to seeing loved ones

or winning money. With teenagers spending approximately 9 hours a day on social

 media, it is no question that they are influenced by their media peers to post pictures of

themselves for likes and the instant satisfaction that comes along with it. This article is

useful as it shows scientific data on teenagers brains and how their emotions are affected

positively and negatively through social media.

Ehmke, R. (n.d.). How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/

This article focuses mainly on the disconnection of communication and how social media

is taking away critical language learning skills from teenagers. As a species we are very

highly attuned to reading social cues, says Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, a clinical

psychologist and author of The Big Disconnect. Children and teenagers in todays social

media world, are missing out on very critical social skills. Texting and online

communicating puts everyone in a nonverbal disabled context, meaning children and

teenagers might miss body language messages, and not be able to recognize facial

expressions. If kids are not getting enough practice relating to people in real time, they

will grow up to be adults who are anxious about talking to others. This article

demonstrates how nonverbal communication is just as important as verbal

communication and how excessive media usage amongst teens can hinder how they read

and express nonverbally.

O'Keeffe, G.S., & Pearson, K.C. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents,

and Families. Pediatrics, 127(4). Retrieved March 31, 2017, from

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/127/4/800.full.pdf
 This journal article focuses on positive and negative effects of social media usage within

teenagers and advice on how parents can try to create a safe online environment. Positive

effects include growth of ideas from creating blogs, online art, and videos, whereas some

negative aspects can include cyberbullying, sexting, and the influence of advertisements.

This article mentions many of the negative aspects already discussed in other articles

above, but it helps me understand the positive aspects of social media, which are not as

commonly discussed. Parents and teenagers alike can benefit from this journal entry as it

views both sides of the problem, which is very important when discussing any issue.

Parents Guide to Protecting Teens on Social Media (n.d.) Retrieved from

http://www.safesearchkids.com/parents-guide-to-protecting-teens-on-social-

media/#.WN2beDsrKUk

This article is an online guide for parents to help protect their teenagers on social media.

Being friends with your teenager on social media is one way to monitor them by

recognizing any inappropriate behavior through their posts. Open communication is

critical in any relationship but with teenagers it is important to establish good

communication to ensure that they feel safe talking to their parents when personal issues

arise. Keeping home computers and laptops in an open room like a living room, is

another way to monitor your teens usage. Although teens mostly use their cell phones for

communication, it is important to set boundaries, rules and guidelines as well as time

restrictions for computer and cell phone usage. This article is important to me because I

am a parent and although my boys are only toddlers, it is still good to know that
 communication should be established early to ensure your children trust you when they

need help the most.

Strasburger, V. C., Jordan, A. B., & Donnerstein, E. (2010). Health Effects of Media on Children

and Adolescents. Pediatrics, 125(4). Retrieved March 28, 2017, from

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/125/4/756.full.pdf

Social media has affected the lives of teenagers in many ways. Research from recent

years has found evidence of medias effects on aggression, sexual behavior, substance

use, eating disorders, and academic difficulties. A recent analysis of video games showed

that more than half of all games in the market today contain violence. Children are

introduced to violence early in life, through television and movies violence is presented

in a glamorized way and in childrens programming violence is often presented as

humorous. Sexting between teenagers is also on the rise, a national survey conducted

with 13- to 19-yearolds, showed that 20% had sent and 48% had received sexual

messages. The increase in media usage amongst adolescence has also contributed with

the increase in child obesity and eating disorders as well. This journal article serves as a

very good source for recent facts and percentages of how social media is affecting

teenagers lives today.

Teensafe. (2015, February 17). [Facts about Teens and Media: Now & Then]

[Infographic]. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://www.teensafe.com/blog/true-

facts-about-teens-and-media/

During the last three decades, many things have changed in the way teenagers

communicate with each other and what they do during their spare time. Teenagers in
1995 were more likely to play outside, talk on the phone, and spend more time with their

friends outside of school than todays generation. This article discusses how social media

has changed teenagers lives between 1995 and 2015. In 1995 according to this

infographic, teenagers spend only an average of 2 hours a day watching TV, whereas in

2015 teens are looking at a screen approximately 7 hours a day. Social interaction

outside of school between teens has gone down roughly 30% since 1995. An estimated

65% of teenagers in 1995 spend time with their friends outside of school at least twice a

week, but today that percentage has gone down to 35%. This infographic is very

interesting and it helps me see in percentage facts how much social media has changed

the way teens communicate.