Social Media helping Teens with their Socialization

 The society has been transformed in so many ways in this digital era because many technologies have changed the way people live their lives. There was a time when it was hard to get connected from one corner to the other corner of the world, and but with the essence of the internet, smart technologies and social media, the world is connected like a global village. Now, people can contact others living thousands of kilometers away from them and they can socialize with people from different regions, cultures, and backgrounds. The impact of social media has been significant in teenagers as they are heavy users of social media and connected with their smart devices all the time. The social media use is increasing with each passing day, and if this trend will continue, then no one can estimate its volume and impact in the near future. However, one thing is quite obvious that social media is already making various effects on the lives of teenagers, some effects are positive and few ones are negative too. But it is a fact that social media use is helping teens to socialize with others, not only from their local communities but from international communities as well. It is giving them a great opportunity to understand new cultures and people with different backgrounds (Genner and Süss)

            It is not merely an assumption that social media is helping teens with their socialization, but it is also proved in so many ways like teens have given their loud opinion on this. A research survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center, which tried to get a viewpoint of teenagers about the use of social media. The response from the majority of students was in favor of social media, describing that social media helps them in making new friends, and keeps their friendship alive. The response showed that 81% of teens said that their feeling of connection with friends is stronger due to social media, whereas 69% of teens stated that social media proves helpful for them to socialize with diverse people by making new friends. It has also been observed that making new friends and socializing with a variety of people is helping teens to be more confident, authentic and included. So, it is great to engage teenagers in appositive socializing activity, rather they focus on something negative (Notopoulos)

            It is a fact that every concept or idea may have both negative and positive effects, but the focus should be given to the positive side of things so that more benefits can be achieved. This is the case with social media that different kinds of negative aspects are always highlighted, but the fact of the matter is that it has also come up with so many positive effects, and one of them is its capability of networking and socialization. The people from different parts of the world can connect with each other and share information regarding each other’s culture. It also bridges the gap between communities, where misperceptions can spread so easily through other mediums of communication. But when teens connect with a variety of people on social media, they get to know about the world on their own, which is always a great thing for self experience (Akram)

            Teenagers are in a phase of their lives, where they are exploring new things and going through different learning experiences. But it is a fact that all teens are not similar in an approach like some may have great confidence but there can be teens, which are shy and reserved in nature. Such teens will always stay behind in interacting with others and they may not socialize too much. It puts a negative effect on their personality as they are low on confidence. So, socialization with social media is a great opportunity for all those shy teens to interact with a variety of people and throw their fears away. They used to interact and socialize more, which slowly builds their confidence, and they become more fearless in their approach. Therefore, the increasing use of social media is great for teens, because they can have so many opportunities if they are serious to grab those opportunities (NEWPORT ACADEMY)

            After analyzing different aspects of socialization associated with teens, it can be concluded that social media is certainly having a positive effect on teenagers by helping them in their socialization. Teens are becoming more open-minded and confident as they are able to connect with a variety of people and learn from each other in so many ways. Their urge to meet new people is increasing with the increase in social media use, and this trend is more likely to continue as well. Teens can certainly grab this positive aspect of social media to socialize more and enhance their personal experience by connecting with other groups of people, not only from their local community but from international community as well.

 Works Cited for Social Media helping Teens with their Socialization

Akram, Waseem. "A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTER SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING 5.10 (2018): 347-354.

Genner, Sarah and Daniel Süss. "Socialization as Media Effect." The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects (2017): 1-15.

NEWPORT ACADEMY. Teens and Socializing: Relationships, Coping Skills, Substances. 2017. 21 October 2019 <https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/empowering-teens/teens-coping-skills-socializing-relationships-substance-use/>.

Notopoulos, Katie. Teens Say Social Media Isn’t As Bad For Them As You Might Think. 2018. 21 October 2019 <https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/teens-gen-z-positive-on-social-media>.