effect of media on youth essay

The Effect of Social Media on Today’s Youth Quantitative Research

Introduction, literature review, research methodology, addiction and the desire to unplug.

Social media has become a part of the daily patterns of most individuals, forming a link between their online and offline experiences. This has made it the most common tool for communication and interaction among both individuals and businesses. Social media has been used in various ways in the Arab region. For instance, social media has also been used to elicit change in Yemen, Jordan and Morocco.

The protestors in these countries have made note of the significance of social media in addressing their issues that concern corruption and other disparities that oppress most of the population. Besides rallying people around social causes and political campaigns, social media in the Arab region has also been used to enhance citizen journalism and civic participation (Turkle, 2011).

This paper looks at the role of social media in the UAE, and its impact on the youth. In order to achieve this, this paper looks at various social media that are used by the youth in the UAE, what he youth see as the main benefits of social media, level of trust in social media, and the limitations that they face with regard to social media.

Social networking has become the easiest way for individuals to communicate, whether they live in the same country, or across the world from each other.

Social networking refers to the “network of social interactions and personal relationships” that consists of devoted websites or applications, which permit users to communicate with each other through posting messages, pictures, and sharing comments, among others (Oxford Dictionaries, 2010).

The drastic impact that various social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace have on people’s lives, and the way they communicate with one another, has made this topic relatively crucial.

People who are often addicted to such networks get fairly attached to it, causing them to communicate less with their families and replace the need for face-to-face interaction with their friends. This paper examines the effect of social media on the youth of the United Arab Emirates.

Studies show that the media is used for three primary reasons. First, it is used to bring meaning of the social world. Second, it informs people on how to act within a society. And third, it promotes pleasure and entertainment (Lenhardt & Madden, 2011). Based on these three elements that motivate media, it is apparent that various individuals are impacted in different ways by the media.

The audience has varied degree of reliance on the media based on their relationship with both the society, and the media. Studies show that the reliance of an audience on particular media gives that media a certain degree of authority over that audience. This theory is useful in the explanation of the impact of media during crisis, and will also be useful in the analysis of the impact of social media on the youth of the UAE (Boyd, 2007).

According to Al-Jenaibi (2011), social media has also been useful in developing forums for debate and interaction between governments and the communities, as well as, to enhance innovation and collaboration within the government. Social media has been used for various purposes including relaying information and cultural production, as well as, entertainment.

The rapid increase in the number of youth accessing various social media in the last decade has been driven by accessibility of the internet, especially through the mobile phones (Al-Jenaibi, 2011).

According to Al-Jenaibi (2011), the recent trrnsformations in both political and societal matters have been effected by the rapid adoption of social media as a driver for regional change, especially among the Arab youthm “netizens” and women. There has been increased involvement of both youth and women in political and civic actions owing to increased access to the internet.

At the same time, regional and international level policy makers have taken an active role in the regulation of access to the internet and the use of social media for political and societal activism.

The use of the Internet has grown rapidly in the Arab world due to the diversification of its uses from social neworking and entertainment, to more professional engagements between businesses, as well as, in enhancing the transparency and participatory objectives of governance models (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007).

Although some may believe that social networking has helped our youth in many ways, social networking also possesses several negative features that are not widely recognized. Since social networking involves the Internet, it is prone to several dangers that people can easily come across.

Online predators can easily gather certain information; therefore, people are more likely to get security attacks and are prone to hackers due to the personal information they reveal on these social networking communities (ProCon.org, 2012).

A popular example of this involves people who provide detailed information about themselves on MySpace, without having the option of limiting this information to only people they know/accept. In addition, cyber bullying is very common on such websites and can lead to decreased self-esteem and declining of grades (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007).

The various social media investigated in the study include blogs, micro blogs, social network service, video-sharing service, social bookmarking, and image sharing websites (Ito & Baumer, 2010). The quantitative study involved 30 surveys that were randomly distributed in a population of youth aged between 15 and 30 years from different parts in the seven regions of the United Arab Emirates.

The mean age of the sample used was 21 years, with most of the respondents pursuing tertiary education. However, all of the respondents selected had graduated from high school. Reliability of the survey questions was enhanced by rewording the questions in various ways in order to identify the stability of the responses provided.

No inconsistencies were noted in the retests; hence, all 30 surveys were used in analysis of the research question. The survey was administered online, and comprised questions that sought to measure the emotional and social well-being of the youth.

Some of the questions inquired about their state of happiness or sadness compared to other people who did not have access to social networking, whether they had many friends or were lonely at times, and more questions along those lines.

Face to face communication

The study revealed that despite the prevalence of the use of technology among the youth, most of them still preferred to communicate face to face. Text messaging came in second and the use of social network s third.

Social and digital communication

The sample was also surveyed for their use of social and digital communications. Texting was observed as a common trend among 87% of the sample, followed by social networking and emailing. These three activities were also the most prevalent on a daily basis, in the same order.

Social networking

This analysis of the use of social networking sites showed that it forms a crucial part of the youth’s lives, since more than half of the sample stated that they visit a social site on a daily basis. About 75% of the youth indicated that they were familiar with the privacy policies on social networking sites.

Social networking and social-emotional well-being

Most of the study group indicated that the use of social networking did not influence their social or emotional well being. Some indicated that social networking had a positive effect on them, like for those who were less shy due to social networking, or more outgoing, and more confident.

Social media and relationships

Many youth feel that social media has been useful in enhancing their relationships with both related and non-related people. Conversely, the sample stated that social networking impacted on the time that they spent with their friends or other people in person.

Hate Speech Online

One of the impacts of social media that has not been explored is the use of social media to spread hate speech. The study noted that about half of the sample had encountered various forms of discriminatory content in the various social media indicated earlier. About 25% of the sample also indicated that they encountered hateful content on various social networks on a regular basis.

Table 15: Frustration with Gadgets and the Desire to Unplug.

Strongly or somewhat agree that they:

• Get frustrated with friends for texting or social networking when hanging out together 45%.
• Wish they could unplug for a while sometimes 43%.
• Sometimes wish they could go back to a time when there was no Facebook 36%.
• Wish their parents spent less time with cell phones and other devices 21%.

The study revealed that a considerable proportion of the youth could not operate without a cell phone. A considerable number stated that they occasionally felt the need to do away with social networking. This was especially evident in the frustration that most youth expressed due to the distraction that is caused when they were hanging out with their friends.

During the study, it was identified that the most common types of social media were social networks like Facebook, video-sharing websites like YouTube, and micro-blogging sites like Twitter, among others. The respondents in the study showed high familiarity with a variety of social media, including the privacy policies, and the potential ethical and practical shortcomings.

Social networking was identified to have a positive impact on the youth in terms of boosting their confidence and level of interaction. Social media also served as a reliable means of conveying social issues in the UAE. Further research on the topic can be narrowed down to the impact of social media on women in the UAE.

In addition, more research can be conducted to draw a complete picture of the merits, demerits, and possibilities of social media that have made the UAE one of the regions in the world with the highest internet migration rates.

Al-Jenaibi, B. (2011). The Use of Social Media in the United Arab Emirates – An Initial Study. European Journal of Social Sciences , 23(1), 87-96.

Boyd, d. (2007). Why youth (heart) social network sites: the role of networked publics in teenage social life. Youth, Identity, and Digital Media , 119-142.

Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. (2007). Offline consequences of online victimization: school violence and delinquency. Journal of S. Violence , 6(3), 89–112.

Ito, M., & Baumer, S. (2010). Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids living and learning with new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Lenhardt, A., & Madden, M. (2011). Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites. Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Oxford Dictionaries. (2010). Social network . Web.

ProCon.org. (2012). Social Networking . Web.

Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.

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Bibliography

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The Pros and Cons of Social Media for Youth

A new review article looks at how social media affects well-being in youth...

Posted October 16, 2021 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

• Social media has both positive and negative effects on well-being in youth.
• Social media impacts four distinct areas for youth: connections, identity, learning, and emotions.

More than 90 percent of teenagers in the U.S. have a smartphone. Access to this type of technology and social networking changes the playing field for young people who are simultaneously developing a sense of identity and new social relationships.

We have certainly heard about the downside of teens and smartphones: cyberbullying, anxiety , and a misrepresented sense of body image . Research demonstrates there are some benefits too, including the ability to keep in touch with friends and loved ones – especially when the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person social interactions.

A new systematic review published in the journal Adolescent Research Review combines the evidence from qualitative studies that investigate adolescent social media use.

The authors found, in short, that the links between adolescent well-being and social media are complicated and depend on a broad range of factors.

“Adults have always been concerned about how the latest technology will harm children,” said Amanda Purington, director of evaluation and research for ACT for Youth in the BCTR and a doctoral candidate in Cornell’s Social Media Lab. “This goes back to radio programs, comic books, novels – you name it, adults were worried about it. The same is now true for social media. And yes, there are concerns – there are many potential risks and harms. But there are potential benefits, too.”

Reviewing 19 studies of young people ages 11 to 20, the authors identified four major themes related to social media and well-being that ultimately affected aspects of young people’s mental health and sense of self.

The first theme, connections, describes how social media either supports or hinders young people’s relationships with their peers, friends, and family. The studies in the review provided plenty of examples of ways that social media helped youth build connections with others. Participants reported that social media helped to create intimacy with friends and could improve popularity. Youth who said they were shy reported having an easier time making friends through social media. Studies also found social media was useful in keeping in touch with family and friends who live far away and allowing groups to communicate in masse. In seven papers, participants identified social media as a source of support and reassurance.

In 13 of the papers, youth reported that social media also harmed their connections with others. They provided examples of bullying and threats and an atmosphere of criticism and negativity during social media interactions. Youth cited the anonymity of social media as part of the problem, as well as miscommunication that can occur online.

Study participants also reported a feeling of disconnection associated with relationships on social media. Some youth felt rejected or left out when their social media posts did not receive the feedback they expected. Others reported feeling frustrated, lonely , or paranoid about being left out.

The second theme, identity, describes how adolescents are supported or frustrated on social media in trying to develop their identities.

Youth in many of the studies described how social media helped them to “come out of their shells” and express their true identities. They reported liking the ability to write and edit their thoughts and use images to express themselves. They reported that feedback they received on social media helped to bolster their self-confidence and they reported enjoying the ability to look back on memories to keep track of how their identity changed over time.

In eight studies, youth described ways that social media led to inauthentic representations of themselves. They felt suspicious that others would use photo editing to disguise their identities and complained about how easy it was to deliver communications slyly, rather than with the honesty required in face-to-face communication. They also felt self-conscious about posting selfies, and reported that the feedback they received would affect their feelings of self-worth .

The third theme, learning, describes how social media use supports or hinders education . In many studies, participants reported how social media helped to broaden their perspectives and expose them to new ideas and topics. Many youths specifically cited exposure to political and social movements, such as Black Lives Matter.

On the flip side, youth in five studies reported that social media interfered with their education. They said that phone notifications and the pressure to constantly check in on social media distracted them from their studies. Participants reported that they found it difficult to spend quiet time alone without checking their phones. Others said the 24-7 nature of social media kept them up too late at night, making it difficult to get up for school the next day.

The fourth theme, emotions, describes the ways that social media impacts young people’s emotional experiences in both positive and negative ways. In 11 papers, participants reported that social media had a positive effect on their emotions. Some reported it improved their mood, helped them to feel excited, and often prompted laughter . (Think funny animal videos.) Others reported that social media helped to alleviate negative moods, including annoyance, anger , and boredom . They described logging onto social media as a form of stress management .

But in nearly all of the papers included in the review, participants said social media was a source of worry and pressure. Participants expressed concern about judgment from their peers. They often felt embarrassed about how they looked in images. Many participants expressed worry that they were addicted to social media. Others fretted about leaving a digital footprint that would affect them later in life. Many participants reported experiencing pressure to constantly respond and stay connected on social media. And a smaller number of participants reported feeling disturbed by encountering troubling content, such as self-harm and seeing former partners in new relationships.

“As this review article highlights, social media provides spaces for adolescents to work on some of the central developmental tasks of their age, such as forming deeper connections with peers and exploring identity,” Purington said. “I believe the key is to help youth maximize these benefits while minimizing risks, and we can do this by educating youth about how to use social media in ways that are positive, safe, and prosocial.”

The take-home message: The body of evidence on social media and well-being paints a complicated picture of how this new technology is affecting youth. While there are certainly benefits when young people use social media, there is also a broad range of pressures and negative consequences.

The Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell University is focused on using research findings to improve health and well-being of people at all stages of life.

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How to calm The Anxious Generation

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When it comes to our young people and their mental health, the news is not good. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people under 24 in the U.S., and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report last year found 20 percent of the country’s 12- to 17-year-olds had had at least one major depressive episode —results unlike anything the CDC had seen in thirty years of collecting such data. Its director of adolescent and school health, Kathlee Ethie, called the findings “devastating.” She said, “Young people are telling us they are in crisis . The data really call on us to act.”

There are plenty of recommendations for action in Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness . Haidt, a psychologist at New York University, starts by giving a readers a baseline on kids, why girls have higher rates of mood disorders and self-harming behavior, and why today’s boys are more at risk of “failure to launch” (that is, transition from adolescence to adulthood). And—perhaps not surprising, from the author of The Coddling of the American Mind —he argues that parents are overprotecting their kids in the real, physical world and underprotecting them in the Wild West online.

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Haidt makes a strong case that social media—as distinct from the internet at large—is severely harming young people. Rates of mood disorders among U.S. college undergraduates suddenly spiked in the early 2010s. The number of kids reporting depression and anxiety rose steadily every year of that decade, till rates were up 134 percent and 106 percent, respectively, by 2020. Similar statistics are being seen in countries around the world. It’s probably no accident that Apple introduced its first front-facing camera phone in summer of 2010, and Instagram, which worked only on smartphones at the time, launched later that year. After Facebook purchased Instagram, its user base exploded, from 10 million users at the end of 2011 to 90 million by early 2013. The result, Haidt says: “Gen Z became the first generation in history to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that was exciting, addictive, unstable, and … unsuitable for children and adolescents.”

Few of us have healthy relationships with our phones, but kids are especially vulnerable. Their brains are still developing; they’re still learning impulse control and values. Haidt cites a range of studies that help to make his case. Half of all teens reported feeling “addicted” to their phones in a survey published in 2016, for instance, while three out of five parents felt their kids were addicted. A more recent Pew Research Center study found nearly 100 percent of American teens have a smartphone, and roughly half say they’re online “constantly.”

It’s that level of attachment that leads Haidt to say a computerized device doesn’t simply correlate with the youth mental health crisis; it drives it. In 2022, he testified before Congress that one to two hours a day of social media use isn’t associated with a decline in mental health—but three or four hours a day is. In his book, he also cites studies establishing a causal relationship between Facebook adoption and depression and anxiety—particularly for girls. (To help understand why that might be, consider that internal research for Instagram led to a report saying, “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.”)

Haidt also rebuts the idea that social media helps kids who feel out of place or marginalized by connecting them to peer groups and social support. “Unlike the extensive evidence of harm found in correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies, there is very little evidence showing benefits to adolescent mental health from long-term or heavy social media use,” he writes.

Parental “safetyism”—i.e., keeping children away from anything the least bit risky, especially unsupervised outdoor play, is also part of the problem, both for younger children and adolescents. “A healthy human childhood with a lot of autonomy,” he writes, “sets children’s brains to operate mostly in ‘discover mode,’ with a well-developed attachment system and an ability to handle the risks of daily life.”

As for what we can do, Haidt makes plenty of cogent suggestions. My favorite was probably to make schools phone-free. Haidt holds up Mountain Middle School, located in an area of Colorado with some of the highest teen suicide rates in the state, as an example. A new principal at the charter school saw students suffering from cyberbullying, excessive social comparison, and phone-related sleep deprivation; he banned phones at school. The effects were nearly instantaneous—and dramatic. Kids talked to each other more. They lived in the moment, rather than on their phones. Soon enough they also reported being happier and less stressed . The school, still phone-free, was subsequently awarded Colorado’s highest academic performance rating.

Haidt calls on all of us to ask local and federal government to implement changes such as raising the age of legal “internet adulthood” from 13 to 16. He offers sensible, easy suggestions for parents, starting with telling your child, “ Do something new, on your own .” It can be something as simple as making a meal, climbing a tree, or taking the dog for a walk. You’ll see the results immediately, he says.

Haidt begins his book by saying we’d never pack our kids off to an unfamiliar planet where humans hadn’t lived before. And yet, he says our kids are basically living on another planet right here on Earth because they no longer grow up engaged in physical play, physically surrounded by other human beings and communities. He ends his book by saying, “Let’s bring our children home.” Let us indeed.

Book cover courtesy of Penguin Random House

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Teens and social media use: What's the impact?

Social media is a term for internet sites and apps that you can use to share content you've created. Social media also lets you respond to content that others post. That can include pictures, text, reactions or comments on posts by others, and links to information.

Online sharing within social media sites helps many people stay in touch with friends or connect with new ones. And that may be more important for teenagers than other age groups. Friendships help teens feel supported and play a role in forming their identities. So, it's only natural to wonder how social media use might affect teens.

Social media is a big part of daily life for lots of teenagers.

How big? A 2022 survey of 13- to 17-year-olds offers a clue. Based on about 1,300 responses, the survey found that 35% of teens use at least one of five social media platforms more than several times a day. The five social media platforms are: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Social media doesn't affect all teens the same way. Use of social media is linked with healthy and unhealthy effects on mental health. These effects vary from one teenager to another. Social media effects on mental health depend on things such as:

• What a teen sees and does online.
• The amount of time spent online.
• Psychological factors, such as maturity level and any preexisting mental health conditions.
• Personal life circumstances, including cultural, social and economic factors.

Here are the general pros and cons of teen social media use, along with tips for parents.

Healthy social media

Social media lets teens create online identities, chat with others and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with support from other people who have hobbies or experiences in common. This type of support especially may help teens who:

• Lack social support offline or are lonely.
• Are going through a stressful time.
• Belong to groups that often get marginalized, such as racial minorities, the LGBTQ community and those who are differently abled.
• Have long-term medical conditions.

Sometimes, social media platforms help teens:

• Express themselves.
• Connect with other teens locally and across long distances.
• Learn how other teens cope with challenging life situations and mental health conditions.
• View or take part in moderated chat forums that encourage talking openly about topics such as mental health.
• Ask for help or seek healthcare for symptoms of mental health conditions.

These healthy effects of social media can help teens in general. They also may help teens who are prone to depression stay connected to others. And social media that's humorous or distracting may help a struggling teen cope with a challenging day.

Unhealthy social media

Social media use may have negative effects on some teens. It might:

• Distract from homework, exercise and family activities.
• Disrupt sleep.
• Lead to information that is biased or not correct.
• Become a means to spread rumors or share too much personal information.
• Lead some teens to form views about other people's lives or bodies that aren't realistic.
• Expose some teens to online predators, who might try to exploit or extort them.
• Expose some teens to cyberbullying, which can raise the risk of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

What's more, certain content related to risk-taking, and negative posts or interactions on social media, have been linked with self-harm and rarely, death.

The risks of social media use are linked with various factors. One may be how much time teens spend on these platforms.

In a study focusing on 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, spending three hours a day using social media was linked to a higher risk of mental health concerns. That study was based on data collected in 2013 and 2014 from more than 6,500 participants.

Another study looked at data on more than 12,000 teens in England between the ages of 13 to 16. The researchers found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.

But not all research has found a link between time spent on social media and mental health risks in teens.

How teens use social media also might determine its impact. For instance, viewing certain types of content may raise some teens' mental health risks. This could include content that depicts:

• Illegal acts.
• Self-harm or harm to other people.
• Encouragement of habits tied to eating disorders, such as purging or restrictive eating.

These types of content may be even more risky for teens who already have a mental health condition. Being exposed to discrimination, hate or cyberbullying on social media also can raise the risk of anxiety or depression.

What teens share about themselves on social media also matters.

With the teenage brain, it's common to make a choice before thinking it through. So, teens might post something when they're angry or upset, and regret it later. That's known as stress posting.

Teens who post content also are at risk of sharing sexual photos or highly personal stories. This can lead to teens being bullied, harassed or even blackmailed.

Protecting your teen

You can take steps to help your teens use social media responsibly and limit some of the possible negative effects.

Use these tips:

Set rules and limits as needed. This helps prevent social media from getting in the way of activities, sleep, meals or homework.

For example, you could make a rule about not using social media until homework is done. Or you could set a daily time limit for social media use.

You also could choose to keep social media off-limits during certain times. These times might include during family meals and an hour before bed.

Set an example by following these rules yourself. And let your teen know what the consequences will be if your rules aren't followed.

• Manage any challenging behaviors. If your teen's social media use starts to challenge your rules or your sense of what's appropriate, talk with your teen about it. You also could connect with parents of your teen's friends or take a look at your teen's internet history.
• Turn on privacy settings. This can help keep your teen from sharing personal information or data that your teen didn't mean to share. Each of your teen's social media accounts likely has privacy setting that can be changed.

Monitor your teen's accounts. The American Psychological Association recommends you regularly review your child's social media use during the early teen years.

One way to monitor is to follow or "friend" your child's social accounts. As your teen gets older, you can choose to monitor your teen's social media less. Your teen's maturity level can help guide your decision.

Have regular talks with your teen about social media. These talks give you chances to ask how social media has been making your teen feel. Encourage your teen to let you know if something online worries or bothers your teen.

Regular talks offer you chances to give your child advice about social media too. For example, you can teach your teen to question whether content is accurate. You also can explain that social media is full of images about beauty and lifestyle that are not realistic.

• Be a role model for your teen. You might want to tell your child about your own social media habits. That can help you set a good example and keep your regular talks from being one-sided.

Explain what's not OK. Remind your teen that it's hurtful to gossip, spread rumors, bully or harm someone's reputation — online or otherwise.

Also remind your teen not to share personal information with strangers online. This includes people's addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, and bank or credit card numbers.

• Encourage face-to-face contact with friends. This is even more important for teens prone to social anxiety.

Talk to your child's healthcare professional if you think your teen has symptoms of anxiety, depression or other mental health concerns related to social media use. Also talk with your child's care professional if your teen has any of the following symptoms:

• Uses social media even when wanting to stop.
• Uses it so much that school, sleep, activities or relationships suffer.
• Often spends more time on social platforms than you intended.
• Lies in order to use social media.

Your teen might be referred to a mental healthcare professional who can help.

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• Social media can help connect: Research-based tips from pediatricians for families. Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/center-of-excellence-on-social-media-and-youth-mental-health/. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Health advisory on social media use in adolescence. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/social-media-internet/health-advisory-adolescent-social-media-use. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Social media and teens. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Social-Media-and-Teens-100.aspx. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Social media and youth mental health: The U.S. surgeon general's advisory. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Teens, social media and technology 2022. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Popat A, et al. Exploring adolescents' perspectives on social media and mental health and well-being — A qualitative literature review. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2023; doi:10.1177/13591045221092884.
• Valkenburg PM, et al. Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2022; doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.017.
• Berger MN, et al. Social media use and health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2022; doi:10.2196/38449.
• Self-Harm. Pediatric Patient Education. https://publications.aap.org/patiented. Accessed Oct. 3, 2023.
• Liu M, et al. Time spent on social media and risk of depression in adolescents: A dose-response meta-analysis. 2022; doi:10.3390/ijerph19095164.
• Coyne SM, et al. Does time spent using social media impact mental health? An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior. 2020; doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.106160.
• Viner RM, et al. Roles of cyberbullying, sleep, and physical activity in mediating the effects of social media use on mental health and wellbeing among young people in England: A secondary analysis of longitudinal data. The Lancet. Child & Adolescent Health. 2019; doi:10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30186-5.
• Riehm KE, et al. Associations between time spent using social media and internalizing and externalizing problems among US youth. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019; doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2325.
• Hoge E, et al. Digital media, anxiety, and depression in children. Pediatrics. 2017; doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1758G.
• How to help kids navigate friendships and peer relationships. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/parenting/navigating-friendships. Accessed Oct. 24, 2023.
• Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Oct. 31, 2023.
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How teens and parents approach screen time, most teens at least sometimes feel happy and peaceful when they don’t have their phone, but 44% say this makes them anxious. half of parents say they have looked through their teen’s phone.

Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand teens’ and parents’ experiences with screen time. 

The Center conducted an online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens and parents from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, through Ipsos. Ipsos invited one parent from each of a representative set of households with parents of teens in the desired age range from its KnowledgePanel . The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. Parents were asked to think about one teen in their household (if there were multiple teens ages 13 to 17 in the household, one was randomly chosen). At the conclusion of the parent’s section, the parent was asked to have this chosen teen come to the computer and complete the survey in private.

The survey is weighted to be representative of two different populations: 1) parents with teens ages 13 to 17 and 2) teens ages 13 to 17 who live with parents. For each of these populations, they survey is weighted to be representative by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income and other categories.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the questions among parents and among teens used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology ­­­.

Today’s teenagers are more digitally connected than ever. Most have access to smartphones and use social media , and nearly half say they are online almost constantly. But how are young people navigating this “always on” environment?  

To better understand their experiences, we surveyed both teens and parents on a range of screen time-related topics. Our questions explored the emotions teens tie to their devices, the impact of smartphones on youth, and the challenges parents face when raising children in the digital age.

Key findings from the survey:

• Phone-less: 72% of U.S. teens say they often or sometimes feel peaceful when they don’t have their smartphone; 44% say it makes them feel anxious.
• Good for hobbies, less so for socialization: 69% of teens say smartphones make it easier for youth to pursue hobbies and interests; fewer (30%) say it helps people their age learn good social skills.
• Parental snooping: Half of parents say they have looked through their teen’s phone.
• Smartphone standoffs: About four-in-ten parents and teens report regularly arguing with one another about time spent on their phone.
• Distracted parenting: Nearly half of teens (46%) say their parent is at least sometimes distracted by their phone when they’re trying to talk to them.

This Pew Research Center survey of 1,453 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents was conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 23, 2023. 1

Jump to read about views among teens on: Screen time | Feelings when disconnected from phones | Thoughts on smartphones’ impact

Jump to read about views among parents on: Parenting in the smartphone age | Their own screen time struggles

Teens’ views on screen time and efforts to cut back

Fully 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and about six-in-ten say they use TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram . But do teens think they spend too much time in front of screens?

More teens say they spend too much time on their phone or social media than say they don’t spend enough time on them. We found that 38% of teens say they spend too much time on their smartphone. About a quarter say the same regarding their social media use. 2

But the largest shares say the amount of time they spend on their phone (51%) or on social media (64%) is about right. Relatively few teens say they don’t spend enough time with these technologies.

Views on this differ by gender. Teen girls are more likely than boys to say they spend too much time on their smartphone (44% vs. 33%) or social media (32% vs. 22%).

Teens’ efforts to curb their screen time

A minority of teens have taken steps to reduce their screen time. Roughly four-in-ten teens (39%) say they have cut back on their time on social media. A similar share says the same about their phone (36%).

Still, most teens have not limited their smartphone (63%) or social media (60%) use.

How teens’ behaviors vary by gender

About four-in-ten or more girls say they have cut back on their smartphone or social media use. For boys, those figures drop to roughly one-third.

How teens’ behaviors vary based on their screen time

Teens who report spending too much time on social media and smartphones are especially likely to report cutting back on each. For instance, roughly six-in-ten teens who say they are on social media too much say they have cut back (57%). This is far higher than the 32% among those who say they are on social media too little or the right amount.

How teens feel when they don’t have their phone

Teens encounter a range of emotions when they don’t have their phones, but we asked them about five specific ones. Roughly three-quarters of teens say it often or sometimes makes them feel happy (74%) or peaceful (72%) when they don’t have their smartphone.

Smaller but notable shares of teens equate not having their phone with more negative emotions. Teens say not having their phone at least sometimes makes them feel anxious (44%), upset (40%) and lonely (39%).

It is worth noting that only a minority of teens – ranging from 7% to 32% – say they often feel these emotions when they’re phone-less.

Teens’ feelings on this differ by some demographic factors:

• Age and gender: Older girls ages 15 to 17 (55%) are more likely than younger girls (41%) and teen boys who are younger (41%) and older (40%) to say they feel anxious at least sometimes when they don’t have their smartphone.
• Gender: 45% of teen girls say not having their phone makes them feel lonely regularly, compared with 34% of teen boys.

Do teens think smartphones are negatively impacting young people?

As smartphones have become a universal part of teen life, many have asked what impact, if any, phones are having on today’s youth.

Teens shared their perspectives on smartphones’ impact on people their age and whether these devices have made certain aspects of growing up more or less challenging.

Most teens think the benefits of smartphones outweigh the harms for people their age. Seven-in-ten teens say smartphones provide more benefits than harms for people their age, while a smaller share (30%) take the opposing view, saying there are more harms than benefits.

Teens’ views, by gender and age

Younger girls ages 13 and 14 (39%) are more likely than older teen girls (29%) and teen boys who are younger (29%) and older (25%) to say that the harms of people their age using smartphones outweigh the benefits.

The survey also shows that teens see these devices’ impacts on specific aspects of life differently.

More teens believe smartphones make it easier, rather than harder, to be creative, pursue hobbies and do well in school. Majorities of teens say smartphones make it a little or a lot easier for people their age to pursue hobbies and interests (69%) and be creative (65%). Close to half (45%) say these devices have made it easier for youth to do well in school.

Views are more mixed when it comes to developing healthy friendships. Roughly four-in-ten teens say smartphones make it easier for teens to develop healthy friendships, while 31% each say they make it harder or neither easier nor harder.

But they think smartphones have a more negative than positive impact on teens’ social skills. A larger percentage of teens say smartphones make learning good social skills harder (42%) rather than easier (30%). About three-in-ten say it neither helps nor hurts.

How parents navigate raising teens in the smartphone age

With the rise of smartphones, today’s parents must tackle many questions that previous generations did not. How closely should you monitor their phone use? How much screen time is too much? And how often do phones lead to disagreements?

We developed a set of parallel questions to understand the perspectives of both parents and teens. Here’s what we found:

It’s common for parents to look through their teen’s phone – and many of their teens know it. Half of parents of teens say they look through their teen’s phone. When we asked teens if they thought their parents ever look through their phones, 43% believed this had happened.

Whether parents report looking through their child’s smartphone depends on their kid’s age. While 64% of parents of 13- to 14-year-olds say they look through their teen’s smartphone, this share drops to 41% among parents of 15- to 17-year-olds.

Teens’ accounts of this also vary depending on their age: 56% of 13- to 14-year-olds say their parent checks their smartphone, compared with 35% of teens ages 15 to 17.

How often do parents and teens argue about phone time?

Parents and teens are equally likely to say they argue about phone use. Roughly four-in-ten parents and teens (38% each) say they at least sometimes argue with each other about how much time their teen spends on the phone. This includes 10% in each group who say this happens often .

Still, others say they never have these types of disagreements. One-quarter of parents say they never argue with their teen about this, while 31% of teens say the same.

Teens’ and parents’ views, by race and ethnicity

Hispanic Americans stand out for reporting having these disagreements often. While 16% of Hispanic teens say they often argue with their parent about how much time they’re spending on their phone, that share drops to 9% for White teens and 6% for Black teens. 3

A similar pattern is present among parents. Hispanic parents (19%) are more likely than White (6%) or Black (7%) parents to say they often argue with their teen about this.

Teens’ views, by frequency of internet use

The amount of time teens report being online is also a factor. About half (47%) of teens who report being online almost constantly say they at least sometimes argue with their parent about the amount of time they spend on their phone, compared with those who are online less often (30%). 

How much do parents prioritize tracking their teen’s phone use?

Most parents prioritize managing the amount of time their teen spends on the phone. Roughly three-quarters of parents (76%) say managing how much time their teen spends on the phone is an important or a top priority.  Still, 19% of parents don’t consider this a priority.

Parents’ views, by race and ethnicity

Majorities of parents across racial and ethnic groups think of this as a priority. But some groups stand out for how much they prioritize this. For example, Hispanic (25%) or Black (24%) parents are more likely to say managing how much time their teen is on the phone is a top priority. That share drops to 10% among White parents.

Parents’ views, by household income

We also see differences between the lowest and highest income households: 22% of parents whose annual household income is less than $30,000 consider managing the amount of time their teen is on the phone a top priority, compared with 14% of those whose household income is $75,000 or more a year. Those whose household income is $30,000 to $74,999 a year do not meaningfully differ from either group.

Do parents set time limits on their teen’s phone use?

There’s a nearly even split between parents who restrict their teen’s time on their phone and those who don’t. About half of parents (47%) say they limit the amount of time their teen can be on their phone, while a similar share (48%) don’t do this.

Parents’ views, by teen’s age

Parents of younger teens are far more likely to regulate their child’s screen time. While 62% of parents of 13- to 14-year-olds say they limit how much time their teen can be on their phone, that share drops to 37% among those with a 15- to 17-year-old.

How difficult is it for parents to keep up with their teen’s phone use?

Managing screen time can feel like an uphill battle for some parents. About four-in-ten say it’s hard to manage how much time their teen spends on their phone. A smaller share (26%) says this is easy to do. 

Another 26% of parents fall in the middle – saying it’s neither easy nor hard.

Higher-income parents are more likely to find it difficult to manage their teen’s phone time. Roughly half (47%) of parents living in households earning $75,000 or more a year say managing the amount of time their teen is on their phone is hard. These shares are smaller among parents whose annual household income falls below $30,000 (38%) or is between $30,000 and $74,999 (32%).

Parents’ own struggles with device distractions, screen time

Teens aren’t the only ones who can be glued to their phones. Parents, too, can find themselves in an endless cycle of checking emails , text messages and social media.

With that in mind, we asked parents to think about their own screen time – both the time they spend on their phone, and if it ever gets in the way of connecting with their teen.

Do parents think they spend too much time on their phone?

Like teens, parents are far more likely to say they spend too much rather than not enough time on their phone. About half of parents (47%) say they spend too much time on their smartphone. Just 5% think they spend too little time on it. And 45% believe they spend the right amount of time on their phone.

Parents’ views differ by:

• Household Income: 50% of parents with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more say they spend too much time on their phone. This share drops to 41% among those living in households earning $30,000 to $74,999 a year and 38% among those earning under $30,000.
• Race and ethnicity: 57% of White parents believe they spend too much time on their phone, compared with 38% of Black parents and 34% of Hispanic parents.

How often are parents distracted by their phone when talking with their teen?

When it comes to distracted parenting, parents paint a rosier picture than teens. Nearly half of teens (46%) say their parent is at least sometimes distracted by their phone when they’re trying to talk to them, including 8% who say this happens often.

But when parents were asked to assess their own behavior, fewer – 31% – say this happens regularly.

• Throughout this report, “teens” refers to those ages 13 to 17 and “parents” refers to those with a child ages 13 to 17. ↩
• A  2018 Center survey  also asked U.S teens some of the same questions about experiences and views related to smartphone and social media. Direct comparisons cannot be made across the two surveys due to mode, sampling and recruitment differences. Please read the Methodology section  to learn more about how the current survey was conducted. ↩
• There were not enough Asian respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout the report. ↩

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Table of contents, teens and internet, device access fact sheet, teens and social media fact sheet, a declining share of adults, and few teens, support a u.s. tiktok ban, teens, social media and technology 2023, about 1 in 5 u.s. teens who’ve heard of chatgpt have used it for schoolwork, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

The Influence of Social Media on Youth

Introduction, positive effects, negative outcomes, additional benefit.

These days, media channels are becoming more diverse and innovative. Information and communication technologies and their discoveries provide the media environment intensification. Digital developments are nearly correlated with global and societal changes displayed through the update of social values and interpersonal communication models. These trends are more evident among youth as this social group is the most mobile and responsive to almost all aspects of progress. The media culture of a young person remains remarkably crucial in this process.

The question of how social media impacts youth remains debatable. The book called “Youth and Media: Current Perspectives on Media Use and Effects” examines the effects of the Internet on young people’s socialization: both positive and negative (Baumgartner et al.). The young user faces a massive stream of various information on the Internet. This is partially deposited in the mind and can influence the formation of young people’s attitudes to different aspects of life, their worldview, and the ability to socialize.

First of all, social media affects the mental health of a young person positively. Social media facilitates horizontal connections between people and are used to spread information. According to Baumgartner et al. (45), the media, especially the Internet, provides social support for teenagers, decreasing loneliness and isolation, and helping build new friendships online. The Internet has connected different societies and their cultures in everyday communication and is now creating social relationships on the network (Baumgartner et al. 56). The book’s authors provide various examples of how social media allows for uniting people with similar views. For instance, Baumgartner et al. (56) claim that young people tend to join communities because of the expectation of reciprocity, respect, and a feeling of effectiveness. Users also perceive the online group of interest as a place to interact with its other members. If it is appropriately structured, a community can also be a “safe” place to express ideas (Baumgartner et al. 56). Since young people feel more comfortable and relaxed online than in real life, they can have opinions on various topics without fear of being judged and compared, which contributes to a person’s well-being and mental health.

Secondly, communication on social networks allows the youth to master and maintain relationships with friends and relatives. For example, Baumgartner et al. (87) note that sharing photos on social media enhances family relationships. Online friendship increases the social capital and circle of acquaintances (Baumgartner et al. 87). Its increase leads to an awareness of one’s own needs and significance (Baumgartner et al. 88). The positive effect of the Internet’s influence on young people’s socialization is meaningful. People have new online platforms and chances for interaction and information exchange, facilitating, and accelerating socialization.

Despite some positive sides, several adverse outcomes caused by imbalanced social media usage are presented in the book. For instance, Baumgartner et al. (130) emphasize that young people with insufficient interpersonal experience who have difficulties in live communication perceive the network as more convenient. Consequently, overuse of the Internet can be addictive, leading to depression. Baumgartner et al. (132) observed that young people’s addiction to social networking online leads to using the Internet in more intrusive ways. Therefore, the book reveals not only beneficial factors of social media usage but also states that in case teenagers have poor communication skills offline, they are likely to prioritize online conversations. It may provoke communication anxiety, while the latter stimulates obsessive network use.

Moreover, people who spend much time on social media tend to consider online communication convenient but restrained in communicative effectiveness. It appears due to the lack of various non-verbal cues available in real interaction (Baumgartner et al. 135). According to Baumgartner et al. (136), anxiety resulting from live interaction motivates an obsessive request to communicate safely online, while successful communication attempts increase the amount of time spent on the Internet.

Nevertheless, the book’s compilers suggest that social media enables online learning for those who pursue self-education. According to Baumgartner et al. (60), the possibility of acquiring knowledge and information online affects young people’s socialization, breaking down geographic barriers between people and empowering them to receive information regardless of location. Plunging into a topic of interest, teenagers try to achieve recognition for their expertise. Some researchers call this phenomenon “geek learning” (Baumgartner et al. 97). According to Baumgartner et al. (102), the active use of social networks for communication increases students’ average scores, especially in senior years. Therefore, for numerous adolescents, social networking is an essential motive for self-development.

The Internet, especially media, is integral to the daily life of all people. Society should not categorically affirm that social media causes only benefit or only adverse outcomes. The book “Youth and Media: Current Perspectives on Media Use and Effects” focuses on the fact that social networks’ influence on youth is diverse and ambiguous. The impact on a particular individual depends on their subjective qualities. For example, communication through the Internet can be harmful as it leads to social anxiety and a lack of real-life communication. Simultaneously, this can help those who intend to find new friends and express their thoughts clearly. People should stay conscious about the use of social networks to be able to get the maximum benefit and minimum negative consequences. The Internet has advantages and disadvantages concerning the human mind, largely shaping its position and worldview, and affecting people’s ability to socialize.

Baumgartner, Susanne E., et al., editors. Youth and Media: Current Perspectives on Media Use and Effects . Nomos Verlag, 2018.

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End the Phone-Based Childhood Now

The environment in which kids grow up today is hostile to human development.

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S omething went suddenly and horribly wrong for adolescents in the early 2010s. By now you’ve likely seen the statistics : Rates of depression and anxiety in the United States—fairly stable in the 2000s—rose by more than 50 percent in many studies from 2010 to 2019. The suicide rate rose 48 percent for adolescents ages 10 to 19. For girls ages 10 to 14, it rose 131 percent.

The problem was not limited to the U.S.: Similar patterns emerged around the same time in Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand , the Nordic countries , and beyond . By a variety of measures and in a variety of countries, the members of Generation Z (born in and after 1996) are suffering from anxiety, depression, self-harm, and related disorders at levels higher than any other generation for which we have data.

The decline in mental health is just one of many signs that something went awry. Loneliness and friendlessness among American teens began to surge around 2012. Academic achievement went down, too. According to “The Nation’s Report Card,” scores in reading and math began to decline for U.S. students after 2012, reversing decades of slow but generally steady increase. PISA, the major international measure of educational trends, shows that declines in math, reading, and science happened globally, also beginning in the early 2010s.

Read: It sure looks like phones are making students dumber

As the oldest members of Gen Z reach their late 20s, their troubles are carrying over into adulthood. Young adults are dating less , having less sex, and showing less interest in ever having children than prior generations. They are more likely to live with their parents. They were less likely to get jobs as teens , and managers say they are harder to work with. Many of these trends began with earlier generations, but most of them accelerated with Gen Z.

Surveys show that members of Gen Z are shyer and more risk averse than previous generations, too, and risk aversion may make them less ambitious. In an interview last May , OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison noted that, for the first time since the 1970s, none of Silicon Valley’s preeminent entrepreneurs are under 30. “Something has really gone wrong,” Altman said. In a famously young industry, he was baffled by the sudden absence of great founders in their 20s.

Generations are not monolithic, of course. Many young people are flourishing. Taken as a whole, however, Gen Z is in poor mental health and is lagging behind previous generations on many important metrics. And if a generation is doing poorly––if it is more anxious and depressed and is starting families, careers, and important companies at a substantially lower rate than previous generations––then the sociological and economic consequences will be profound for the entire society.

What happened in the early 2010s that altered adolescent development and worsened mental health? Theories abound , but the fact that similar trends are found in many countries worldwide means that events and trends that are specific to the United States cannot be the main story.

I think the answer can be stated simply, although the underlying psychology is complex: Those were the years when adolescents in rich countries traded in their flip phones for smartphones and moved much more of their social lives online—particularly onto social-media platforms designed for virality and addiction . Once young people began carrying the entire internet in their pockets, available to them day and night, it altered their daily experiences and developmental pathways across the board. Friendship, dating, sexuality, exercise, sleep, academics, politics, family dynamics, identity—all were affected. Life changed rapidly for younger children, too, as they began to get access to their parents’ smartphones and, later, got their own iPads, laptops, and even smartphones during elementary school.

Jonathan Haidt: Get phones out of schools now

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As a social psychologist who has long studied social and moral development, I have been involved in debates about the effects of digital technology for years. Typically, the scientific questions have been framed somewhat narrowly, to make them easier to address with data. For example, do adolescents who consume more social media have higher levels of depression? Does using a smartphone just before bedtime interfere with sleep? The answer to these questions is usually found to be yes, although the size of the relationship is often statistically small, which has led some researchers to conclude that these new technologies are not responsible for the gigantic increases in mental illness that began in the early 2010s.

But before we can evaluate the evidence on any one potential avenue of harm, we need to step back and ask a broader question: What is childhood––including adolescence––and how did it change when smartphones moved to the center of it? If we take a more holistic view of what childhood is and what young children, tweens, and teens need to do to mature into competent adults, the picture becomes much clearer. Smartphone-based life, it turns out, alters or interferes with a great number of developmental processes.

The intrusion of smartphones and social media are not the only changes that have deformed childhood. There’s an important backstory, beginning as long ago as the 1980s, when we started systematically depriving children and adolescents of freedom, unsupervised play, responsibility, and opportunities for risk taking, all of which promote competence, maturity, and mental health. But the change in childhood accelerated in the early 2010s, when an already independence-deprived generation was lured into a new virtual universe that seemed safe to parents but in fact is more dangerous, in many respects, than the physical world.

My claim is that the new phone-based childhood that took shape roughly 12 years ago is making young people sick and blocking their progress to flourishing in adulthood. We need a dramatic cultural correction, and we need it now.

Brain development is sometimes said to be “experience-expectant,” because specific parts of the brain show increased plasticity during periods of life when an animal’s brain can “expect” to have certain kinds of experiences. You can see this with baby geese, who will imprint on whatever mother-sized object moves in their vicinity just after they hatch. You can see it with human children, who are able to learn languages quickly and take on the local accent, but only through early puberty; after that, it’s hard to learn a language and sound like a native speaker. There is also some evidence of a sensitive period for cultural learning more generally. Japanese children who spent a few years in California in the 1970s came to feel “American” in their identity and ways of interacting only if they attended American schools for a few years between ages 9 and 15. If they left before age 9, there was no lasting impact. If they didn’t arrive until they were 15, it was too late; they didn’t come to feel American.

Human childhood is an extended cultural apprenticeship with different tasks at different ages all the way through puberty. Once we see it this way, we can identify factors that promote or impede the right kinds of learning at each age. For children of all ages, one of the most powerful drivers of learning is the strong motivation to play. Play is the work of childhood, and all young mammals have the same job: to wire up their brains by playing vigorously and often, practicing the moves and skills they’ll need as adults. Kittens will play-pounce on anything that looks like a mouse tail. Human children will play games such as tag and sharks and minnows, which let them practice both their predator skills and their escaping-from-predator skills. Adolescents will play sports with greater intensity, and will incorporate playfulness into their social interactions—flirting, teasing, and developing inside jokes that bond friends together. Hundreds of studies on young rats, monkeys, and humans show that young mammals want to play, need to play, and end up socially, cognitively, and emotionally impaired when they are deprived of play .

One crucial aspect of play is physical risk taking. Children and adolescents must take risks and fail—often—in environments in which failure is not very costly. This is how they extend their abilities, overcome their fears, learn to estimate risk, and learn to cooperate in order to take on larger challenges later. The ever-present possibility of getting hurt while running around, exploring, play-fighting, or getting into a real conflict with another group adds an element of thrill, and thrilling play appears to be the most effective kind for overcoming childhood anxieties and building social, emotional, and physical competence. The desire for risk and thrill increases in the teen years, when failure might carry more serious consequences. Children of all ages need to choose the risk they are ready for at a given moment. Young people who are deprived of opportunities for risk taking and independent exploration will, on average, develop into more anxious and risk-averse adults .

From the April 2014 issue: The overprotected kid

Human childhood and adolescence evolved outdoors, in a physical world full of dangers and opportunities. Its central activities––play, exploration, and intense socializing––were largely unsupervised by adults, allowing children to make their own choices, resolve their own conflicts, and take care of one another. Shared adventures and shared adversity bound young people together into strong friendship clusters within which they mastered the social dynamics of small groups, which prepared them to master bigger challenges and larger groups later on.

And then we changed childhood.

The changes started slowly in the late 1970s and ’80s, before the arrival of the internet, as many parents in the U.S. grew fearful that their children would be harmed or abducted if left unsupervised. Such crimes have always been extremely rare, but they loomed larger in parents’ minds thanks in part to rising levels of street crime combined with the arrival of cable TV, which enabled round-the-clock coverage of missing-children cases. A general decline in social capital ––the degree to which people knew and trusted their neighbors and institutions–– exacerbated parental fears . Meanwhile, rising competition for college admissions encouraged more intensive forms of parenting . In the 1990s, American parents began pulling their children indoors or insisting that afternoons be spent in adult-run enrichment activities. Free play, independent exploration, and teen-hangout time declined.

In recent decades, seeing unchaperoned children outdoors has become so novel that when one is spotted in the wild, some adults feel it is their duty to call the police. In 2015, the Pew Research Center found that parents, on average, believed that children should be at least 10 years old to play unsupervised in front of their house, and that kids should be 14 before being allowed to go unsupervised to a public park. Most of these same parents had enjoyed joyous and unsupervised outdoor play by the age of 7 or 8.

But overprotection is only part of the story. The transition away from a more independent childhood was facilitated by steady improvements in digital technology, which made it easier and more inviting for young people to spend a lot more time at home, indoors, and alone in their rooms. Eventually, tech companies got access to children 24/7. They developed exciting virtual activities, engineered for “engagement,” that are nothing like the real-world experiences young brains evolved to expect.

The first wave came ashore in the 1990s with the arrival of dial-up internet access, which made personal computers good for something beyond word processing and basic games. By 2003, 55 percent of American households had a computer with (slow) internet access. Rates of adolescent depression, loneliness, and other measures of poor mental health did not rise in this first wave. If anything, they went down a bit. Millennial teens (born 1981 through 1995), who were the first to go through puberty with access to the internet, were psychologically healthier and happier, on average, than their older siblings or parents in Generation X (born 1965 through 1980).

The second wave began to rise in the 2000s, though its full force didn’t hit until the early 2010s. It began rather innocently with the introduction of social-media platforms that helped people connect with their friends. Posting and sharing content became much easier with sites such as Friendster (launched in 2003), Myspace (2003), and Facebook (2004).

Teens embraced social media soon after it came out, but the time they could spend on these sites was limited in those early years because the sites could only be accessed from a computer, often the family computer in the living room. Young people couldn’t access social media (and the rest of the internet) from the school bus, during class time, or while hanging out with friends outdoors. Many teens in the early-to-mid-2000s had cellphones, but these were basic phones (many of them flip phones) that had no internet access. Typing on them was difficult––they had only number keys. Basic phones were tools that helped Millennials meet up with one another in person or talk with each other one-on-one. I have seen no evidence to suggest that basic cellphones harmed the mental health of Millennials.

It was not until the introduction of the iPhone (2007), the App Store (2008), and high-speed internet (which reached 50 percent of American homes in 2007 )—and the corresponding pivot to mobile made by many providers of social media, video games, and porn—that it became possible for adolescents to spend nearly every waking moment online. The extraordinary synergy among these innovations was what powered the second technological wave. In 2011, only 23 percent of teens had a smartphone. By 2015, that number had risen to 73 percent , and a quarter of teens said they were online “almost constantly.” Their younger siblings in elementary school didn’t usually have their own smartphones, but after its release in 2010, the iPad quickly became a staple of young children’s daily lives. It was in this brief period, from 2010 to 2015, that childhood in America (and many other countries) was rewired into a form that was more sedentary, solitary, virtual, and incompatible with healthy human development.

In the 2000s, Silicon Valley and its world-changing inventions were a source of pride and excitement in America. Smart and ambitious young people around the world wanted to move to the West Coast to be part of the digital revolution. Tech-company founders such as Steve Jobs and Sergey Brin were lauded as gods, or at least as modern Prometheans, bringing humans godlike powers. The Arab Spring bloomed in 2011 with the help of decentralized social platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. When pundits and entrepreneurs talked about the power of social media to transform society, it didn’t sound like a dark prophecy.

You have to put yourself back in this heady time to understand why adults acquiesced so readily to the rapid transformation of childhood. Many parents had concerns , even then, about what their children were doing online, especially because of the internet’s ability to put children in contact with strangers. But there was also a lot of excitement about the upsides of this new digital world. If computers and the internet were the vanguards of progress, and if young people––widely referred to as “digital natives”––were going to live their lives entwined with these technologies, then why not give them a head start? I remember how exciting it was to see my 2-year-old son master the touch-and-swipe interface of my first iPhone in 2008. I thought I could see his neurons being woven together faster as a result of the stimulation it brought to his brain, compared to the passivity of watching television or the slowness of building a block tower. I thought I could see his future job prospects improving.

Touchscreen devices were also a godsend for harried parents. Many of us discovered that we could have peace at a restaurant, on a long car trip, or at home while making dinner or replying to emails if we just gave our children what they most wanted: our smartphones and tablets. We saw that everyone else was doing it and figured it must be okay.

It was the same for older children, desperate to join their friends on social-media platforms, where the minimum age to open an account was set by law to 13, even though no research had been done to establish the safety of these products for minors. Because the platforms did nothing (and still do nothing) to verify the stated age of new-account applicants, any 10-year-old could open multiple accounts without parental permission or knowledge, and many did. Facebook and later Instagram became places where many sixth and seventh graders were hanging out and socializing. If parents did find out about these accounts, it was too late. Nobody wanted their child to be isolated and alone, so parents rarely forced their children to shut down their accounts.

We had no idea what we were doing.

The numbers are hard to believe. The most recent Gallup data show that American teens spend about five hours a day just on social-media platforms (including watching videos on TikTok and YouTube). Add in all the other phone- and screen-based activities, and the number rises to somewhere between seven and nine hours a day, on average . The numbers are even higher in single-parent and low-income families, and among Black, Hispanic, and Native American families.

These very high numbers do not include time spent in front of screens for school or homework, nor do they include all the time adolescents spend paying only partial attention to events in the real world while thinking about what they’re missing on social media or waiting for their phones to ping. Pew reports that in 2022, one-third of teens said they were on one of the major social-media sites “almost constantly,” and nearly half said the same of the internet in general. For these heavy users, nearly every waking hour is an hour absorbed, in full or in part, by their devices.

In Thoreau’s terms, how much of life is exchanged for all this screen time? Arguably, most of it. Everything else in an adolescent’s day must get squeezed down or eliminated entirely to make room for the vast amount of content that is consumed, and for the hundreds of “friends,” “followers,” and other network connections that must be serviced with texts, posts, comments, likes, snaps, and direct messages. I recently surveyed my students at NYU, and most of them reported that the very first thing they do when they open their eyes in the morning is check their texts, direct messages, and social-media feeds. It’s also the last thing they do before they close their eyes at night. And it’s a lot of what they do in between.

The amount of time that adolescents spend sleeping declined in the early 2010s , and many studies tie sleep loss directly to the use of devices around bedtime, particularly when they’re used to scroll through social media . Exercise declined , too, which is unfortunate because exercise, like sleep, improves both mental and physical health. Book reading has been declining for decades, pushed aside by digital alternatives, but the decline, like so much else, sped up in the early 2010 s. With passive entertainment always available, adolescent minds likely wander less than they used to; contemplation and imagination might be placed on the list of things winnowed down or crowded out.

But perhaps the most devastating cost of the new phone-based childhood was the collapse of time spent interacting with other people face-to-face. A study of how Americans spend their time found that, before 2010, young people (ages 15 to 24) reported spending far more time with their friends (about two hours a day, on average, not counting time together at school) than did older people (who spent just 30 to 60 minutes with friends). Time with friends began decreasing for young people in the 2000s, but the drop accelerated in the 2010s, while it barely changed for older people. By 2019, young people’s time with friends had dropped to just 67 minutes a day. It turns out that Gen Z had been socially distancing for many years and had mostly completed the project by the time COVID-19 struck.

Read: What happens when kids don’t see their peers for months

You might question the importance of this decline. After all, isn’t much of this online time spent interacting with friends through texting, social media, and multiplayer video games? Isn’t that just as good?

Some of it surely is, and virtual interactions offer unique benefits too, especially for young people who are geographically or socially isolated. But in general, the virtual world lacks many of the features that make human interactions in the real world nutritious, as we might say, for physical, social, and emotional development. In particular, real-world relationships and social interactions are characterized by four features—typical for hundreds of thousands of years—that online interactions either distort or erase.

First, real-world interactions are embodied , meaning that we use our hands and facial expressions to communicate, and we learn to respond to the body language of others. Virtual interactions, in contrast, mostly rely on language alone. No matter how many emojis are offered as compensation, the elimination of communication channels for which we have eons of evolutionary programming is likely to produce adults who are less comfortable and less skilled at interacting in person.

Second, real-world interactions are synchronous ; they happen at the same time. As a result, we learn subtle cues about timing and conversational turn taking. Synchronous interactions make us feel closer to the other person because that’s what getting “in sync” does. Texts, posts, and many other virtual interactions lack synchrony. There is less real laughter, more room for misinterpretation, and more stress after a comment that gets no immediate response.

Third, real-world interactions primarily involve one‐to‐one communication , or sometimes one-to-several. But many virtual communications are broadcast to a potentially huge audience. Online, each person can engage in dozens of asynchronous interactions in parallel, which interferes with the depth achieved in all of them. The sender’s motivations are different, too: With a large audience, one’s reputation is always on the line; an error or poor performance can damage social standing with large numbers of peers. These communications thus tend to be more performative and anxiety-inducing than one-to-one conversations.

Finally, real-world interactions usually take place within communities that have a high bar for entry and exit , so people are strongly motivated to invest in relationships and repair rifts when they happen. But in many virtual networks, people can easily block others or quit when they are displeased. Relationships within such networks are usually more disposable.

From the September 2015 issue: The coddling of the American mind

These unsatisfying and anxiety-producing features of life online should be recognizable to most adults. Online interactions can bring out antisocial behavior that people would never display in their offline communities. But if life online takes a toll on adults, just imagine what it does to adolescents in the early years of puberty, when their “experience expectant” brains are rewiring based on feedback from their social interactions.

Kids going through puberty online are likely to experience far more social comparison, self-consciousness, public shaming, and chronic anxiety than adolescents in previous generations, which could potentially set developing brains into a habitual state of defensiveness. The brain contains systems that are specialized for approach (when opportunities beckon) and withdrawal (when threats appear or seem likely). People can be in what we might call “discover mode” or “defend mode” at any moment, but generally not both. The two systems together form a mechanism for quickly adapting to changing conditions, like a thermostat that can activate either a heating system or a cooling system as the temperature fluctuates. Some people’s internal thermostats are generally set to discover mode, and they flip into defend mode only when clear threats arise. These people tend to see the world as full of opportunities. They are happier and less anxious. Other people’s internal thermostats are generally set to defend mode, and they flip into discover mode only when they feel unusually safe. They tend to see the world as full of threats and are more prone to anxiety and depressive disorders.

A simple way to understand the differences between Gen Z and previous generations is that people born in and after 1996 have internal thermostats that were shifted toward defend mode. This is why life on college campuses changed so suddenly when Gen Z arrived, beginning around 2014. Students began requesting “safe spaces” and trigger warnings. They were highly sensitive to “microaggressions” and sometimes claimed that words were “violence.” These trends mystified those of us in older generations at the time, but in hindsight, it all makes sense. Gen Z students found words, ideas, and ambiguous social encounters more threatening than had previous generations of students because we had fundamentally altered their psychological development.

Staying on task while sitting at a computer is hard enough for an adult with a fully developed prefrontal cortex. It is far more difficult for adolescents in front of their laptop trying to do homework. They are probably less intrinsically motivated to stay on task. They’re certainly less able, given their undeveloped prefrontal cortex, and hence it’s easy for any company with an app to lure them away with an offer of social validation or entertainment. Their phones are pinging constantly— one study found that the typical adolescent now gets 237 notifications a day, roughly 15 every waking hour. Sustained attention is essential for doing almost anything big, creative, or valuable, yet young people find their attention chopped up into little bits by notifications offering the possibility of high-pleasure, low-effort digital experiences.

It even happens in the classroom. Studies confirm that when students have access to their phones during class time, they use them, especially for texting and checking social media, and their grades and learning suffer . This might explain why benchmark test scores began to decline in the U.S. and around the world in the early 2010s—well before the pandemic hit.

The neural basis of behavioral addiction to social media or video games is not exactly the same as chemical addiction to cocaine or opioids. Nonetheless, they all involve abnormally heavy and sustained activation of dopamine neurons and reward pathways. Over time, the brain adapts to these high levels of dopamine; when the child is not engaged in digital activity, their brain doesn’t have enough dopamine, and the child experiences withdrawal symptoms. These generally include anxiety, insomnia, and intense irritability. Kids with these kinds of behavioral addictions often become surly and aggressive, and withdraw from their families into their bedrooms and devices.

Social-media and gaming platforms were designed to hook users. How successful are they? How many kids suffer from digital addictions?

The main addiction risks for boys seem to be video games and porn. “ Internet gaming disorder ,” which was added to the main diagnosis manual of psychiatry in 2013 as a condition for further study, describes “significant impairment or distress” in several aspects of life, along with many hallmarks of addiction, including an inability to reduce usage despite attempts to do so. Estimates for the prevalence of IGD range from 7 to 15 percent among adolescent boys and young men. As for porn, a nationally representative survey of American adults published in 2019 found that 7 percent of American men agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I am addicted to pornography”—and the rates were higher for the youngest men.

Girls have much lower rates of addiction to video games and porn, but they use social media more intensely than boys do. A study of teens in 29 nations found that between 5 and 15 percent of adolescents engage in what is called “problematic social media use,” which includes symptoms such as preoccupation, withdrawal symptoms, neglect of other areas of life, and lying to parents and friends about time spent on social media. That study did not break down results by gender, but many others have found that rates of “problematic use” are higher for girls.

Jonathan Haidt: The dangerous experiment on teen girls

I don’t want to overstate the risks: Most teens do not become addicted to their phones and video games. But across multiple studies and across genders, rates of problematic use come out in the ballpark of 5 to 15 percent. Is there any other consumer product that parents would let their children use relatively freely if they knew that something like one in 10 kids would end up with a pattern of habitual and compulsive use that disrupted various domains of life and looked a lot like an addiction?

During that crucial sensitive period for cultural learning, from roughly ages 9 through 15, we should be especially thoughtful about who is socializing our children for adulthood. Instead, that’s when most kids get their first smartphone and sign themselves up (with or without parental permission) to consume rivers of content from random strangers. Much of that content is produced by other adolescents, in blocks of a few minutes or a few seconds.

This rerouting of enculturating content has created a generation that is largely cut off from older generations and, to some extent, from the accumulated wisdom of humankind, including knowledge about how to live a flourishing life. Adolescents spend less time steeped in their local or national culture. They are coming of age in a confusing, placeless, ahistorical maelstrom of 30-second stories curated by algorithms designed to mesmerize them. Without solid knowledge of the past and the filtering of good ideas from bad––a process that plays out over many generations––young people will be more prone to believe whatever terrible ideas become popular around them, which might explain why v ideos showing young people reacting positively to Osama bin Laden’s thoughts about America were trending on TikTok last fall.

All this is made worse by the fact that so much of digital public life is an unending supply of micro dramas about somebody somewhere in our country of 340 million people who did something that can fuel an outrage cycle, only to be pushed aside by the next. It doesn’t add up to anything and leaves behind only a distorted sense of human nature and affairs.

When our public life becomes fragmented, ephemeral, and incomprehensible, it is a recipe for anomie, or normlessness. The great French sociologist Émile Durkheim showed long ago that a society that fails to bind its people together with some shared sense of sacredness and common respect for rules and norms is not a society of great individual freedom; it is, rather, a place where disoriented individuals have difficulty setting goals and exerting themselves to achieve them. Durkheim argued that anomie was a major driver of suicide rates in European countries. Modern scholars continue to draw on his work to understand suicide rates today.

Durkheim’s observations are crucial for understanding what happened in the early 2010s. A long-running survey of American teens found that , from 1990 to 2010, high-school seniors became slightly less likely to agree with statements such as “Life often feels meaningless.” But as soon as they adopted a phone-based life and many began to live in the whirlpool of social media, where no stability can be found, every measure of despair increased. From 2010 to 2019, the number who agreed that their lives felt “meaningless” increased by about 70 percent, to more than one in five.

An additional source of evidence comes from Gen Z itself. With all the talk of regulating social media, raising age limits, and getting phones out of schools, you might expect to find many members of Gen Z writing and speaking out in opposition. I’ve looked for such arguments and found hardly any. In contrast, many young adults tell stories of devastation.

Freya India, a 24-year-old British essayist who writes about girls, explains how social-media sites carry girls off to unhealthy places: “It seems like your child is simply watching some makeup tutorials, following some mental health influencers, or experimenting with their identity. But let me tell you: they are on a conveyor belt to someplace bad. Whatever insecurity or vulnerability they are struggling with, they will be pushed further and further into it.” She continues:

Gen Z were the guinea pigs in this uncontrolled global social experiment. We were the first to have our vulnerabilities and insecurities fed into a machine that magnified and refracted them back at us, all the time, before we had any sense of who we were. We didn’t just grow up with algorithms. They raised us. They rearranged our faces. Shaped our identities. Convinced us we were sick.

Rikki Schlott, a 23-year-old American journalist and co-author of The Canceling of the American Mind , writes ,

The day-to-day life of a typical teen or tween today would be unrecognizable to someone who came of age before the smartphone arrived. Zoomers are spending an average of 9 hours daily in this screen-time doom loop—desperate to forget the gaping holes they’re bleeding out of, even if just for … 9 hours a day. Uncomfortable silence could be time to ponder why they’re so miserable in the first place. Drowning it out with algorithmic white noise is far easier.

A 27-year-old man who spent his adolescent years addicted (his word) to video games and pornography sent me this reflection on what that did to him:

I missed out on a lot of stuff in life—a lot of socialization. I feel the effects now: meeting new people, talking to people. I feel that my interactions are not as smooth and fluid as I want. My knowledge of the world (geography, politics, etc.) is lacking. I didn’t spend time having conversations or learning about sports. I often feel like a hollow operating system.

Or consider what Facebook found in a research project involving focus groups of young people, revealed in 2021 by the whistleblower Frances Haugen: “Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rates of anxiety and depression among teens,” an internal document said. “This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.”

How can it be that an entire generation is hooked on consumer products that so few praise and so many ultimately regret using? Because smartphones and especially social media have put members of Gen Z and their parents into a series of collective-action traps. Once you understand the dynamics of these traps, the escape routes become clear.

Social media, in contrast, applies a lot more pressure on nonusers, at a much younger age and in a more insidious way. Once a few students in any middle school lie about their age and open accounts at age 11 or 12, they start posting photos and comments about themselves and other students. Drama ensues. The pressure on everyone else to join becomes intense. Even a girl who knows, consciously, that Instagram can foster beauty obsession, anxiety, and eating disorders might sooner take those risks than accept the seeming certainty of being out of the loop, clueless, and excluded. And indeed, if she resists while most of her classmates do not, she might, in fact, be marginalized, which puts her at risk for anxiety and depression, though via a different pathway than the one taken by those who use social media heavily. In this way, social media accomplishes a remarkable feat: It even harms adolescents who do not use it.

From the May 2022 issue: Jonathan Haidt on why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid

A recent study led by the University of Chicago economist Leonardo Bursztyn captured the dynamics of the social-media trap precisely. The researchers recruited more than 1,000 college students and asked them how much they’d need to be paid to deactivate their accounts on either Instagram or TikTok for four weeks. That’s a standard economist’s question to try to compute the net value of a product to society. On average, students said they’d need to be paid roughly $50 ($59 for TikTok, $47 for Instagram) to deactivate whichever platform they were asked about. Then the experimenters told the students that they were going to try to get most of the others in their school to deactivate that same platform, offering to pay them to do so as well, and asked, Now how much would you have to be paid to deactivate, if most others did so? The answer, on average, was less than zero. In each case, most students were willing to pay to have that happen.

Social media is all about network effects. Most students are only on it because everyone else is too. Most of them would prefer that nobody be on these platforms. Later in the study, students were asked directly, “Would you prefer to live in a world without Instagram [or TikTok]?” A majority of students said yes––58 percent for each app.

This is the textbook definition of what social scientists call a collective-action problem . It’s what happens when a group would be better off if everyone in the group took a particular action, but each actor is deterred from acting, because unless the others do the same, the personal cost outweighs the benefit. Fishermen considering limiting their catch to avoid wiping out the local fish population are caught in this same kind of trap. If no one else does it too, they just lose profit.

Cigarettes trapped individual smokers with a biological addiction. Social media has trapped an entire generation in a collective-action problem. Early app developers deliberately and knowingly exploited the psychological weaknesses and insecurities of young people to pressure them to consume a product that, upon reflection, many wish they could use less, or not at all.

The trap here is that each child thinks they need a smartphone because “everyone else” has one, and many parents give in because they don’t want their child to feel excluded. But if no one else had a smartphone—or even if, say, only half of the child’s sixth-grade class had one—parents would feel more comfortable providing a basic flip phone (or no phone at all). Delaying round-the-clock internet access until ninth grade (around age 14) as a national or community norm would help to protect adolescents during the very vulnerable first few years of puberty. According to a 2022 British study , these are the years when social-media use is most correlated with poor mental health. Family policies about tablets, laptops, and video-game consoles should be aligned with smartphone restrictions to prevent overuse of other screen activities.

The trap here, as with smartphones, is that each adolescent feels a strong need to open accounts on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms primarily because that’s where most of their peers are posting and gossiping. But if the majority of adolescents were not on these accounts until they were 16, families and adolescents could more easily resist the pressure to sign up. The delay would not mean that kids younger than 16 could never watch videos on TikTok or YouTube—only that they could not open accounts, give away their data, post their own content, and let algorithms get to know them and their preferences.

Most schools claim that they ban phones, but this usually just means that students aren’t supposed to take their phone out of their pocket during class. Research shows that most students do use their phones during class time. They also use them during lunchtime, free periods, and breaks between classes––times when students could and should be interacting with their classmates face-to-face. The only way to get students’ minds off their phones during the school day is to require all students to put their phones (and other devices that can send or receive texts) into a phone locker or locked pouch at the start of the day. Schools that have gone phone-free always seem to report that it has improved the culture, making students more attentive in class and more interactive with one another. Published studies back them up .

Many parents are afraid to give their children the level of independence and responsibility they themselves enjoyed when they were young, even though rates of homicide, drunk driving, and other physical threats to children are way down in recent decades. Part of the fear comes from the fact that parents look at each other to determine what is normal and therefore safe, and they see few examples of families acting as if a 9-year-old can be trusted to walk to a store without a chaperone. But if many parents started sending their children out to play or run errands, then the norms of what is safe and accepted would change quickly. So would ideas about what constitutes “good parenting.” And if more parents trusted their children with more responsibility––for example, by asking their kids to do more to help out, or to care for others––then the pervasive sense of uselessness now found in surveys of high-school students might begin to dissipate.

It would be a mistake to overlook this fourth norm. If parents don’t replace screen time with real-world experiences involving friends and independent activity, then banning devices will feel like deprivation, not the opening up of a world of opportunities.

The main reason why the phone-based childhood is so harmful is because it pushes aside everything else. Smartphones are experience blockers. Our ultimate goal should not be to remove screens entirely, nor should it be to return childhood to exactly the way it was in 1960. Rather, it should be to create a version of childhood and adolescence that keeps young people anchored in the real world while flourishing in the digital age.

In recent decades, however, Congress has not been good at addressing public concerns when the solutions would displease a powerful and deep-pocketed industry. Governors and state legislators have been much more effective, and their successes might let us evaluate how well various reforms work. But the bottom line is that to change norms, we’re going to need to do most of the work ourselves, in neighborhood groups, schools, and other communities.

Read: Why Congress keeps failing to protect kids online

There are now hundreds of organizations––most of them started by mothers who saw what smartphones had done to their children––that are working to roll back the phone-based childhood or promote a more independent, real-world childhood. (I have assembled a list of many of them.) One that I co-founded, at LetGrow.org , suggests a variety of simple programs for parents or schools, such as play club (schools keep the playground open at least one day a week before or after school, and kids sign up for phone-free, mixed-age, unstructured play as a regular weekly activity) and the Let Grow Experience (a series of homework assignments in which students––with their parents’ consent––choose something to do on their own that they’ve never done before, such as walk the dog, climb a tree, walk to a store, or cook dinner).

Even without the help of organizations, parents could break their families out of collective-action traps if they coordinated with the parents of their children’s friends. Together they could create common smartphone rules and organize unsupervised play sessions or encourage hangouts at a home, park, or shopping mall.

P arents are fed up with what childhood has become. Many are tired of having daily arguments about technologies that were designed to grab hold of their children’s attention and not let go. But the phone-based childhood is not inevitable.

We didn’t know what we were doing in the early 2010s. Now we do. It’s time to end the phone-based childhood.

This article is adapted from Jonathan Haidt’s forthcoming book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness .

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The effect of social media influencers' on teenagers Behavior: an empirical study using cognitive map technique

• Published: 31 January 2023
• Volume 42 , pages 19364–19377, ( 2023 )

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• Karima Lajnef   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1084-6248 1  

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The increase in the use of social media in recent years has enabled users to obtain vast amounts of information from different sources. Unprecedented technological developments are currently enabling social media influencers to build powerful interactivity with their followers. These interactions have, in one way or another, influenced young people's behaviors, attitudes, and choices. Thus, this study contributes to the psychological literature by proposing a new approach for constructing collective cognitive maps to explain the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teenagers' behavior. More in depth, this work is an attempt to use cognitive methods to identify adolescents' mental models in the Tunisian context. The findings reveal that the influencers' distinctive features are interconnected. As a result, the influencer's distinctive features are confirmed in one way or another, to the teenagers' behavior. These findings provide important insights and recommendations for different users, including psychologists and academics.

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Social Media’s Impact on Teenagers

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

The number of social media users has increased rapidly in the last few years. According to the global ‘State of Digital’ report (2021), the number of social media users reached 4.20 billion, which represents 53% of the world’s total population. This number has risen by more than 13% compared to the last year (2020). In Tunisia, until January 2021 the number of social media users has increased to 8.20 million, which represents 69 percent of the total population, while 97%, are accessed via mobile phones. According to the ALEXA report ( 2021 ), Google.com, Facebook are the most used networks by Tunisian people. Most importantly, 18, 5% of Facebook users are under 13 years old.

In fact, the emphasis on social media has created a consensus among tech companies, leading to the creation of more platforms. Today, the diversity of such platforms has created a new horizon of social media in terms of usage and ideas.

Many people whose careers’ are largely reliant on social media are known as "influencers". More than a profession, for some people, it is even considered as a way of life. Influencers use social media every day to express their opinions and critiques on many topics (like lifestyle, health, beauty) and objects (e.g. brands, services, and products). Accordingly, one of the most important marketing strategies in the market is relying on influencers, which has known as influencer marketing (Audrezet et al., 2020 ; Boerman, 2020 ; Lou & Yuan, 2019 ). In 2017, influencer marketing was considered as the most widespread and trendiest’ communication strategy used by the companies. Therefore, influencers have been considered by many marketing experts as opinion leaders because of their important role in persuading and influencing their followers (De Veirman et al., 2017 ). According to the two-step flow of communication theory, the influencer, as a representative of an organization, is inviting to filter, decode and create messages to match with his particular follower base (Lazarsfeld et al., 1944 ). An influencer is a mediator between consumers and organizations. According to Tarsakoo and Charoensukmongkol ( 2019 ), social media marketing implementation capabilities have a positive effect on customer relationship sustainability. In line with the premise of observational learning theory, influence occurs when the consumers use precedent information and observations shared with them gradually to extend their decision-making by evolving their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, (Bandura & Adams, 1977 ). In fact, the consumers are sizeable social networks of followers. In their turn, consumers, especially youth and adolescents, consider influencers as a source of transparency, credibility, and source of personal information from what helps the offered brands to be enlarged through the large social media network (e.g. Jin and Phua, 2014).

Social media influencers play a greater role in controlling and influencing the behavior of the consumer especially young people and teenagers (e.g. Marwick, 2015 ; Sokolova & Kefi, 2020 ). Actually, the use of Smartphone's has become an integral part of the lives of both young people and adolescents. According to Anderson ( 2018 ), 95% of teenagers aged between 13 and 17 own a Smartphone. For young people, the pre-social media era has become something of a blur. This generation has known as Generation Z where its members were born between the nineties and the 2000s. What distinguishes this generation is its extensive use of the Internet at an early age. For them, the social media presents an important part of their social life and since then many thinkers set out to explore the effects of using social media platforms at an early age on adolescents' lives. The excessive use of social media may have an effect on teens' mental health. In fact, adolescence is the interval period between childhood and adulthood. A teenager is not a child to act arbitrarily and is not an adult to make critical decisions. Therefore, young people and teenagers have considered as the most sensitive class of consumers. Teenagers' brain creates many changes that make them more sensitive to the impressions of others, especially the view of their peers (e.g. Elkind, 1967 ; Dacey & Kenny, 1994 ; Arnett, 2000 ). Adolescents' mental changes cause many psychological and cognitive problems. According to Social identity theory, teens appreciate the positive reinforcement they get by being included in a group and dislike the feeling of social rejection (Tajfel, 1972 ). To reinforce their sense of belonging, teens are following influencers on social media (e.g., Loureiro & Sarmento, 2019 ). In line with psychological theories, the attachment theory helps to clarify interpersonal relationships between humans. This theory provides the framework to explain the relationship between adolescents and influencers. Several studies have confirmed that the distinctive feature of social media influencers, including relatedness, autonomy and competence affects the behavior, the psychological situation and the emotional side of the consumers (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). Does the distinctive feature of social media influencers affect teens' behavior? This kind of questions have become among the most controversial ones (e.g. Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017 ). This problem is still inconclusive, even not addressed in some developing countries like Tunisia. Indeed, it is clear that there are considerable gaps in terms of the academic understanding of what characteristics of social media influencers and their effect on teen behaviors. This problem still arises because the lack of empirical works is investigating in this area.

Therefore, this study contributes to the literature by different ways. First, this paper presents a review of the social media influencers' distinctive features in Tunisian context. This is important because social influencers have been considered as credible and trustworthy sources of information (e.g. Sokolova & Kefi, 2020 ). On the others hand, this study identifies the motivations that teens have for following social influencers. MICS6 Survey (2020) shows a gradual increase in suicide rates among Tunisian children (0–19 years). According to the general delegate for child protection, the phenomenon is in part linked to the intensive use of online games. Understanding the main drivers of social media influence among young Tunisians can help professionals and families guide them. Empirically, this study provides the first investigation of teens’ mental models using the cognitive approach.

The rest of this paper is organized as the following: The second part presents thetheoretical background and research hypotheses. The third part introduces the research methodology. The forth part is reserved to application and results. In the last part, both the conclusion and recommendations are highlighted.

Theoretical background and research hypotheses

Social media influencers' distinctive features.

"Informational social influence" is a concept that has been used in literature by Deutsch & Gerard, 1955 ), and defined as the change in behavior or opinions that happened when people (consumers) are conformed to other people (influencers) because they believe that they have precise and true information (e.g. Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017 , Alotaibi et al., 2019 ). According to (Chahal, 2016 ), there are two kinds of "influencers". The classic ones are the scientists, reporters, lawyers, and all others examples of people who have expert-level knowledge and the new ones are the Social media influencers. Accordingly, social media influencers have many followers that trust them especially on the topics related to their domain of knowledge (e.g. Moore et al., 2018 ). According to the Psychology of Influence perspective, people, often, do not realize that they are influenced because the effect occurs mainly in their subconscious (Pligt & Vliek, 2016 ). When influencers advocate an idea, a service, or a product, they can make a psychological conformity effect on followers through their distinctive features (Colliander, 2019 ; Jahoda, 1959 ).

Vollenbroek et al. ( 2014 ) investigated a study about social media influencers and the impact of these actors on the corporate reputation. To create their model, the authors use the Delphi method. The experts have exposed to a questionnaire that included the characteristics of influential actors, interactions, and networks. The first round of research indicates that a bulk of experts has highlighted the importance of intrinsic characteristics of influencers such as knowledge, commitment, and trust etcetera. While others believe that, the size of the network or the reach of a message determines the influence. The results of the second round indicate that the most agreed-upon distinctive characteristics to be a great influencer are being an active mind, being credible, having expertise, being authoritative, being a trendsetter, and having a substantive influence in discussions and conversations. According to previous literature, among the characteristics that distinguish the influencers is the ability to be creative, original, and unique. Recently, Casaló et al. ( 2020 ) indicated that originality and uniqueness positively influence opinion leadership on Instagram. For the rest of this section, we are going to base on the last two studies to draw on the most important distinctive features of social media influencers.

Credibility (expertise and trustworthiness)

According to Lou and Yuan ( 2019 ), one of the most distinctive characteristics that attract the audience is the influencer's credibility specifically the expertise and trustworthiness. In fact, source credibility is a good way of persuasion because it has related to many conceptualizations. Following Hovland et al. ( 1953 ), credibility has subdivided into expertise and trustworthiness. The expertise has reflected the knowledge and competence of the source (influencer) in a specific area (Ki & Kim, 2019 ; McCroskey, 1966 ). While trustworthiness is represented in influencer honesty and sincerity (Giffin, 1967 ). Such characteristics help the source (influencer) to be more convincing. According to the source credibility theory, consumers (social media audience) give more importance to the source of information to take advantage of the expertise and knowledge of influencers (e.g. Ohanian, 1990 ; Teng et al., 2014 ). Spry et al., ( 2011 ) pointed out that a trusted influencer's positive perception of a product and/or service positively affects consumers' attitudes towards recommended brandsHowever, if the product does not meet the required specifications, consumers lose trust in the product and the influencer (Cheung et al., 2009 ). Based on source credibility theory, this work tested one of the research goals: the effect of expertise and credibility on adolescent behavior.

Originality and creativity

Originality in social media represents the ability of an influencer to provide periodically new and differentiate content that attracts the attention of the audience. The content has perceived as innovative, sophisticated, and unusual. Social media influencers look for creating an authentic image in order to construct their own online identity. Marwick ( 2013 ) defined authenticity as "the way in which individuals distinguish themselves, not only from each other but from other types of media". Most of the time, an authentic and different content attracts attention, and sometimes the unusual topics make surprising (Derbaix & Vanhamme, 2003 ). According to Khamis et al. ( 2017 ), social media influencers attract the consumers' attention by posting authentic content. In fact, the audience often appreciates the originality and the creativity of the ideas (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017 ).The originality of the content posted by an influencer has considered as a way to resonate with their public (Hashoff, 2017 ). When a company seeks to promote its products and services through social media, it is looking for an influential representative who excels at presenting original and different content. The brand needs to be presented by credible and believable influencers that create authentic content (Sireni, 2020 ). One of the aims of this work is to identify the effect of the authentic content on teen’s behaviors.

Trendsetter and uniqueness

According to Maslach et al. ( 1985 ), uniqueness is the case in which the individual feels distinguished compared to others. Tian et al. ( 2001 ) admitted that individuals attempt to be radically different from others to enhance their selves and social images. The uniqueness in content represents the ability of the influencer to provide an uncirculated content specific to him. Gentina et al. ( 2014 ) proved that male adolescents take into account the uniqueness of the content when they evaluated the influencer role particularly in evaluating the role of an opinion leader. Casaló et al. ( 2020 ) indicated that uniqueness positively influences the leadership opinion. Thus, the uniqueness of influencers’ contents may affect audiences’ attitude. Therefore, we aim to test the effect of the influencers’ contents uniqueness and trendsetter on teenagers’ behaviors.

Persuasion has a substantive influence in discussions and conversations. According to the Psychology of Persuasion, the psychological tactic that revolves around harnessing the principles of persuasion supports in one way or another the influencer’s marketing. The objective is to persuade people to make purchase decisions. Persuasion aims commonly to change others attitudes and behavior in a context of relative freedom (e.g. Perloff, 2008 ; Crano & Prislin, 2011 ; Shen & Bigsb, 2013 ). According to Scheer and Stern ( 1992 ), the dynamic effect of marketing occurs when an influencer persuades consumers to participate in a specific business. Influencers' goal is to convince the audiences of their own ideas, products, or services. There are six principles of persuasion, which are consensus, consistency, scarcity, reciprocity, authority, and liking. Thus, among the objectives of this study is to set the effect of influencers' persuasion on teens' behavior.

To sum up, our hypothesis is as the following:

H1: Social media influencers' distinctive features affect teenagers’ behavior.

Social media influencers' and teenagers’ behavior

Young people and adolescents are increasingly using social media, consequently, they receive a lot of information from different sources that may influence in one way or another their behavior and decisions. Accordingly, the Digital report (2021) (published in partnership with Hootsuite and we Are Social) indicated that connected technologies became an integral part of people's lives, and it has seen great development in the last twelve months especially with regard to social media, e-commerce, video games, and streaming content. According to the statistics raised in the global State of Digital (2021), the number of social media users has increased by 490 million users around the world compared to last year to attain 4.20 billion. In Tunisia, until January 2021 the number of social media users has increased to attain 8.20 million, which represents 69 percent of the total population while 97% accessing via mobile phone. According to the ALEXA report ( 2021 ), Google.com, Facebook and YouTube are the networks most used by Tunisian people. In addition, 18, 5% of Facebook users are under 13 years old.The use of social media by young people has recently increased, which led us to ask about the influence of such an alternative on their psychological and mental conditions, their identity formation, and their self-estimation. One of this study aims is also to answer the question: why teens follow Social media influencers?

Identity formation

Identity formation relates to the complex way in which human beings institute a continued unique view of the self (Erikson, 1950 ). Consequently, this concept has largely attached to terms like self-concept, personality development, and value. Identity, in a simplified way, is an aggregation of the “self-concept, who we are” and “self-awareness” (Aronson et al., 2005 ). In line with communication theory, Scott ( 1987 ) indicated that interpersonal connection is a key factor in identity formation. Most importantly, the individual's identity formation is the cornerstone of building a personality. A stream of research indicates that consumers accept influence from others they identify with and refuse influence when they desire to disconnect (Berger & Heath, 2007 ; White & Dahl, 2006 ).

Adolescence is a transitional stage in individuals' lives that represents the interval between childhood and adulthood (e.g. Hogan & Astone, 1986 ; Sawyer et al., 2018 ). From here begins teens' psychological conflicts that call into question-related to themselves and about their role in society (e.g. Hill et al., 2018 ). In fact, teens go through many experiences because of the physical and psychological changes during the self-establishment phase, which influences not only their identity formation but also their own personality. At this stage, radical changes occur in their lives, which may affect the course of their future life. The family (precisely parents' behaviors) represents the first influencer on their kids' view of themselves, but this is not the main side. In the era of globalization and technological development, social media has become an important role in shaping the identity of adolescents (see Gajaria et al., 2011 ). In the adolescent stage, individuals start to use the flood of information received from various sources (especially from social media) to find out a sense of self and personal identity. Davis ( 2013 ) affirmed that students who communicated online with their peers express better visibility of self-concept. In its turn, self-concept visibility has related to friendship quality. According to Arnett and Hughes ( 2014 ), identity formation is the result of "thinking about the type of person you want to be” (p. 340). Due to the intense appearance of social media in the lives of teenagers, identity formation is highly affected by social media influencers' personalities. Kunkel et al. ( 2004 ) affirmed that targeted advertisements in social media affect the identity molding of teens by encouraging them to espouse new habits of appearance and consumption. Identification is easier when there is a previous model to mimic.

This work aims to explore the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on the healthy identity development of teens.

Mimetic bias

Investigating mimicry in the psychological literature is not a recent subject. Kendon ( 1970 ) and LaFrance ( 1982 ) were the first researchers that introduce the mimicry concept in literature. Nevertheless, exploring mimicry effect on peoples’ behavior presents a new area of research. Many researchers like Chartrand and Dalton ( 2009 ) and Stel & Vonk ( 2010 ) presented mimicry as the interaction of an individual with others through observing and mirroring their behaviors, attitudes, expressions, and postures. Chartrand and Dalton ( 2009 ) indicated that social surroundings are easily contagious and confirmed the high ability of individuals to mimic what they see in their social environment. Individuals resort to mimicry to fulfill their desire to belong to a group and be active members of society. Therefore, Lakin et al. ( 2003 ) affirmed that mimicry could be used to enhance social links with others. Such behavior aims to bring people closer to each other and create intimacy. White and Argo ( 2011 ) classified mimicry as conscious and unconscious. According to the Neuroscience literature, unconscious mimicry occurs due to the activation of individual mirror neurons that lead to mimic others (e.g. Hatfield et al., 1994 ). Thus, mimickers “automatically” imitate others in many situations like facial expressions (e.g., smiling), behavioral expressions (e.g., laughing), and postural expressions (e.g., hand positioning) (Meltzoff & Moore, 1983 ; LaFrance & Broadbent, 1976 ; Simner, 1971 ). On the other hand, a recent stream of research has advocated conscious mimicry (White & Argo, 2011 ; Ruvio et al., 2013 ). Ruvio et al. ( 2013 ) have presented the "Consumer’s Doppelganger Effect" theory. According to the authors, when consumers have the intention to look like their role models, they imitate them.

One of the paradoxical challenges in the adolescence period is the teens' simultaneous need for "mimic" and "differentiation ".Among the most common questions asked between adolescents is "Who we are?”. The identification of themselves based commonly on a comparison between them and members of the group to which they aim to belong. The feeling of being normal is an obsession that haunts the majority of teenagers. Their sense of being within the norm and not being alienated or disagreed with others prompts teenagers to do anything even if this poses a danger to them just to be accepted by others. Today, with the development of social media, family, peers and friends are no longer the only influencers that teens mimic, but this environment has expanded to include social media influencers. Teens give more attention to their online image and mimic social media influencers to achieve a sense of belonging. According to Cabourg and Manenti ( 2017 ), the content shared by adolescents with each other about their lives on their own social networks helps them understand and discover each other, and create their identity away from their parents. This phenomenon turns into a problem when adolescents mimic each other only not to be excluded or rejected, even if these actions do not represent them.

Another important aim of this study is to explore the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teen’s mimicry behavior.

Confirmation bias

Cabourg and Manenti ( 2017 ) pointed out that it is a necessity for a teenager to be a part of a peer group. Belonging to the group for a teenager reinforces his/her sense of existence away from family restrictions. As we have mentioned before and in line with Hernandez et al. ( 2014 ), teens need to create peer relationships, whether to contribute positively or negatively to their psychosocial side and undoubtedly play a crucial role in the development of identity. Araman and Brambilla ( 2016 ) argued that: "Teenage is an important stage in life, full of physical and psychological transformation, awakening in love and professional concerns. Identifying yourself with a group makes you feel stronger, to say that you exist, and even to distinguish yourself from society”. The development of social media platforms promotes the desire of teens to a group belonging. Social media platforms, such as tick-tock, Facebook, and Instagram, motivate their users to interact with likes and comments on others people’s posts. In fact, according to Davis ( 2012 ), casual communication between teens through social networking using text and instant messages enhances their sense of belonging. Furthermore, the author indicates that social media helps teens to compare their ideas and experiences with their peers, which support their sense of belonging. According to Zeng et al. ( 2017 ), social media interactions aim to create strong social bonds and raise emotional belonging to a community. Confirmation bias occurs when an individual cannot think and create outside the herd. Equally important, due to the confirmation bias, teens cannot identify themselves, except by flying inside the swarm. Teens may identify themselves as fans of a famous influencer just to feel the sense of belonging. This work tests the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teens’ sense of belonging.

Self-esteem

Psychological literature defines Self-esteem as the individual’s evaluation of himself or herself that can be positive or negative (Smith et al., 2014 ). Coopersmith ( 1965 ) affirmed that the self-esteem is the extent to which an individual views his self as competent and worthwhile. A stream of past works highlighted the effects of social media on self-esteem (Błachnio et al., 2016 ; Denti et al., 2012 ; Gonzales & Hancock, 2011 ). The majority of them found that audiences with low self-esteem use more social networks’ to reinforce their self-esteem. Due to technological developments, social media networks offer a self-comparison between users. According to Festinger ( 1954 ), social media users focus more on self-evaluations by making social comparisons with others concerning many issues like beauty, popularity, social classes or roles, wealth accumulation, etc. Social comparison is a part of building a teen's personal identity (Weinstein, 2017 ). Among adolescents, there are two types of comparisons on social media, which are upward comparison, and downward comparison (Steers et al., 2014 ). The first one has related to weakened levels of self-esteem and high depressive symptoms. The second one is characterized by expanding levels of self-esteem and low levels of anxiety (Burrow & Rainone, 2017 ). According to Wright et al. ( 2018 ), self-presentation on social media is related to the extent to which others accept and the determined level of belonging that based on the number of likes and comments.

This study aims to test the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teens’ self-esteem.

Digital distraction

Social media has taken over most of the spare time. It has displaced the time spent on other activities like reading, watching TV, make sports etc.… (Twenge et al., 2019 ). Consequently, the phenomenon of digital distraction has widely spread, especially with the rise of smartphones use. The results of a study established by Luna ( 2018 ) indicated that the use of smartphones during a meal leads to minimize the levels of connectedness and enjoyment and increase the levels of distraction comparing to those who set devices off. Martiz ( 2015 ) found that students with Internet addiction often feel lonely and depressed. Recently, Emerick et al. ( 2019 ) affirmed that the students themselves agree that spending a lot of time using social media leads to distraction. Many studies have proven that most teens spend a lot of time online (e.g., Anderson & Jiang, 2018 ; Twenge et al., 2018 ). Thus, they are the most vulnerable to digital distraction. We believe that whenever distinctive features of influencers are good, the most important impact they have on young people, leads to distraction.

At this level, our second hypothesis is as the following:

H2. The behavior and cognitive biases of teens are affected by social media influence.

Research methods

The cognitive maps.

The cognitive map is relatively an old technique (Huff, 1990 ). However, the use of cognitive maps in scientific research has increased in recent years. According to Axelrod ( 1976 ), a cognitive map is a mathematical model that reflects a belief system of a person. In another words, a cognitive map is a representation of causal assertion way of a person on a limited area. At the beginning of the 1970s, it was intellectually popular amongst behavioral geographers to investigate the significance of cognitive maps, and their impacts on people’s spatial behavior. A cognitive map is a type of mental representation, which serves an individual to acquire, store, recall, code, and decode information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in their everyday or metaphorical spatial environment. It is usually defined as the graphical representation of a person belief about a particular field. A map is not a scientific model based on objective reality, but a graphical representation of an individual's specific beliefs and ideas about complex local situations and issues. It is relatively easy for humans to look at maps (cognitive maps in our case) and understand connections, between different concepts. Cognitive maps can therefore also be thought of as graphs. Graphs can be used to represent many interesting things about our world. It can also be used to solve various problems. According to Bueno & Salmeron ( 2009 ), Cognitive Maps are a powerful technique that helps to study human cognitive phenomena and specific topics in the world. This study uses cognitive maps as a tool to investigate the mental schema of teenagers in Tunisian Scouts. In fact, cognitive mapping helps to explore the impact of social media on teenage behavior in the Tunisian context. In other words, we focus on the effect of influencers' distinctive features on teen behavior.

Data collection and sample selection

The aim of this work is to explore the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teenagers' behavior in Tunisian context. On the other hand, this work investigates if the psychological health of teens is affected by social media influence. To analyze mentally processing multifactor-interdependencies by the human mind or a scenario with highly complex problems, we need more complex analysis methods like the cognitive map technique.

The questionnaire is one of the appropriate methods used to construct a collective cognitive map (Özesmi & Özesmi, 2004 ). Following Eden and Ackermann ( 1998 ), this study uses face-to-face interviews because it is the most flexible method for data collection and it is the appropriate way to minimize the questionnaire mistiness. The questionnaire contains two parts: the first part is reserved to identify the interviewees. The second part provides the list of concepts for each approach via cross-matrix. The questionnaire takes the form of an adjacency matrix (see Table 1 ). The data collection technique appropriate to build a cognitive map is the adjacent matrix. The adjacency matrix of a graph is an (n × n) matrix:

The variables used in the matrix can be pre-defined (by the interviewer using the previous literature) or it can be identified in the interview by the interviewees. This paper uses the first method to restrict the large number of variables related to both influencers’ distinctive features and teenagers' behavioral biases (see Table 2 ). This work identified two types of social media influencers that are Facebook bloggers and Instagrammers for two reasons. Facebook is the most coveted social network for Tunisians. It has more than 6.9 million active users in 2020 or 75% of the population (+ 13 years) of which 44.9% were female users and 55.1% male. On the other hand, Instagram is the second popular social media platform. It has more than 1.9 million, namely 21% of the Tunisian population (+ 13 years).

In this work, we deal with (10 × 10) adjacency matrix.

Experts (psychologists, academics, etc.) often analyze the relationships between social media and young people’s behavior. The contribution of this work is that we rely on the adolescents' point of view in order to test this problem using the cognitive maps method. To our knowledge, no similar research has been done before.

This work is in parallel to the framework of the Tunisian State project "Strengthening the partnership between the university and the economic and social environment". It aims to merge the scientific track with the association work. We have organized an intellectual symposium in conjunction with the Citizen Journalism Club of youth home and the Mohamed-Jlaiel Scouts Group of Mahres entitled "Social Influencers and Their Role in Changing Youth Behaviors”.This conference took place on April 3, 2021, in the hall of the municipality, under the supervision of an inspector of youth and childhood”. In fact, Scouts is a voluntary educational movement that aims to contribute to the development of young people to reach the full benefit of their physical and social capabilities to make them responsible individuals. Scouts offer children and adolescents an educational space complementary to that of the family and the school. The association emphasizes community life, taking responsibility, and learning resourcefulness.Scouting contributes to enhancing the individual's self-confidence and sense of belonging and keeps them away from digital distraction. Therefore, our sample has based on a questionnaire answered by young people belonging to the Tunisian Scoutsaged between 14 and 17 and, who belong to the Mohamed-Jlaiel Scouts Group of Mahres. In fact, scouting strengthens the willpower of young people and allows them to expand their possibilities for self-discipline. In addition, Scout youth are integrated into the community and spend more time in physical and mental activities than their peers who spend most of their free time on social media. Unfortunately, because of the epidemiological situation that Tunisia experienced during this period due to the spread of the Coronavirus, we could not summon more than 35 people, and the first sample was limited only to 25 young people. Thus, a second study with another data collection is needed. Over two successive months (November and December 2021), we make a few small workshops (due to the pandemic situation) with scouts’ young people. The second sample contains 38 teens. Therefore, our total data hold 63young people (26 female and 37 male). It should be noted that the surveys were carried out after parental consent.

We start our interviews with presenting the pros and cons of social mediaand its effect on audiences’ behavior. After forming an idea with the topic, we asked young people to answer the questionnaire presented to them after we defined and explained all the variables. We have directly supervised the questionnaire. Teens are invited to fulfill the questionnaire (in the form of a matrix) using four possibilities:

If variable i has no influence on variable j, the index (i, j) takes a value of zero

1 if variable I has a weak influence on variable j.

2 if variable I has a strong influence on variable j.

3 if variable I has a very strong influence on variable j.

To sumup, the final data contains 63 individual matrices. The aim of the questionnaire is then to build the perception maps (Lajnef et al., 2017 ).

Collective cognitive map method

This work is of qualitative investigation. The research instrument used in this study is the cognitive approach. This work aims to create a collective cognitive map using an interviewing process. Young peopleare invited to fill the adjacencymatrices by giving their opinion about the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teenagers' behavior. To draw up an overall view, individual maps (creating based on adjacency matrices) aggregated to create a collective cognitive map. Since individual maps denote individual thinking, collective map is used to understand the group thinking. The aggregation map aimed to show the point of similarities and differences between individuals (Lajnef et al., 2017 ). The cognitive map has formed essentially by two elements: concepts (variables) and links (relations between variables). The importance of a concept is mainly related to its link with other variables.

This technique helps to better understand the individual and collective cognitive universe. A cognitive map became a mathematical model that reflects a belief system of individuals since the pioneering work of Tolman ( 1948 ). Axelrod ( 1976 ) investigated the political and economic field and considered "cognitive maps" as graphs, reflecting a mental model to predict, understand and improve people's decisions. Recently, Garoui & Jarboui ( 2012 ) have defined the cognitive map as a tool aimed to view certain ideas and beliefs of an individual in a complex area. This work aims to explore a collective cognitive map to set the complex relationships between teenagers and social media influencers. For this reason, we investigate the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teenagers' behavior using an aggregated cognitive map.

Results and discussion

In this study, we report all measures, manipulations and exclusions.

Structural analysis and collective cognitive map

This paper uses the structural analysis method to test the relationship between the concepts and to construct a collective cognitive map. According to Godet et al. ( 2008 ), the structural analysis is “A systematic, matrix form, analysis of relations between the constituent variables of the studied system and those of its explanatory environment”. The structural analysis purpose is aimed to distinguish the key factors that identify the evolution of the system based on a matrix that determines the relationships among them (Villacorta et al., 2012 ). To deal with our problem, Micmac software allows us to treat the collected information in the form of plans and graphs in order to configure the mental representation of interviewees.

The influence × dependence chart

This work uses the factor analysis of the influence-dependence chart in which factors have categorized due to their clustered position. The influence × dependence plan depends on four categories of factors, which are the determinants variables, the result variables the relay variables, and the excluded variables. The chart has formed by four zones presented as the following (Fig.  1 ):

Influence-dependence chart, according to MICMAC method

Zone 1: Influent or determinant variables

Influent variables are located in the top left of the chart. According to Arcade et al. ( 1999 ) this category of variables represents a high influence and low dependence. These kinds of variables play and affect the dynamics of the whole system, depending on how much we can control them as key factors. The obtained results identify uniqueness, trustworthiness, and Mimetic as determinant variables. The ability of influencers’ is to provide personalized and unique content that influence Tunisian teens’ behavior. This finding is in line with Casaló et al. ( 2020 ) work. On the other hand, the results indicate that teens mimic social media influencers to feel their belonging. Such an act allows them to discover each other, and create their identity away from their parents (Cabourg & Manenti, 2017 ). The most Influential variable of the system is trustworthiness.The more trustworthiness influencers via social media are, the higher their influence on young people will be. This finding is conformed to previous studies (Giffin, 1967 ; Spry et al., 2011 ).

Zone 2: Relay variables

The intermediate or relay variables are situated at the top right of the chart. These concepts have characterized by high influence and sensitivity. They are also named “stake factors” because they are unstable. Relay variables influence the system depending on the other variables. Any effect of these factors will influence themselves and other external factors to adjust the system. In this study, most of influencers' distinctive features (persuasion, originality, and expertise) play the role of relay variables. The results indicate that the influence of persuasion affects young people's convictions, depending on other variables. The results are in line with previous studies (e.g. Perloff, 2008 ; Shen et al., 2013 ). Furthermore, the findings indicate that the more expertise social media influencers' are, the higher their influence on young people will be. The study of Ki and Kim ( 2019 ) supported our findings. Additionally, the originality of the content presented on social media attracts the audience more than the standard content. The results are in line with those of Khamis et al., ( 2017 ) and Djafarova & Rushworth ( 2017 ).

Based on the results of zone 1 and zone 2, we can sum up that Social media influencers' distinctive features tested on this work affect teenagers’ behavior. Therefore, H1 is accepted.

Zone 3: Excluded or autonomous variables

The excluded variables are positioned in the bottom left of the chart. This category of variables is characterized by a low level of influence and dependence. Such variables have no impact on the overall dynamic changes of the system because their distribution is very close to the origin. This work did not obtain this class of variables.

Zone 4: Dependent variables

The dependent variables are located at the bottom right of the chart. These variables have characterized by a low degree of influence and a high degree of dependence. These variables are less influential and highly sensitive to the rest of variables (influential and relay variables). According to our results, the dependent variables are those related to teens' behavior and cognitive biases. Social media influencers affect the identity development of teens. These findings are in line with those of Kunkel et al. ( 2004 ).The results show also that young people often identify themselves as fans of a famous influencer just to feel the belonging. These results are in line with previous studies like those of Davis ( 2012 ) and Zeng et al. ( 2017 ). Furthermore, the findings indicate that young people use more social networks’ to reinforce their self-esteem.The results confirm with those of Denti et al. ( 2012 ) and Błachnio et al. ( 2016 ).Influencers via social media play a role in digital distraction. Thus, the result found by Emerick et al. ( 2019 ) supports our findings.

Based on the results of zone 3, we can sum up that the behavior and cognitive biases of teens are affected by social media influencers. Therefore, H2 is accepted.

Collective cognitive maps

During this study, we have gathered the individuals’ matrices to create a collective cognitive mind map. The direct influence graph (Figs.  2 and 3 ) present many interesting findings. First, the high experience of influencers via social media enhances the production of original content. Furthermore, the more expertise the influencers' are, the higher their degree of persuasion on young people will be. As similar to this work, Kirmani et al. ( 2004 ) found that the influencers' experience with persuasion emerges as factors that affect customers. Beside the experience, the more an influencer provides unique and uncirculated content specific to him, the higher the originality of the content will be. Previous studies hypothesized that unique ideas are the most stringent method for producing original ideas (e.g., Wallach & Kogan,  1965 ; Wallach & Wing, 1969 ).Generally; influencers that produce different contents have a great popularity because they produce new trends. Therefore, our results indicate that young people want to be one of their fans just to feel their belonging. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the originality of content can be a source of digital distraction. Teenagers spend a lot of time on social media to keep up with new trends (e.g. Chassiakos & Stager, 2020 ).

The collective cognitive maps (25% of links)

The collective cognitive map (100% of links)

The influencers' experience and their degree of trustworthiness, besides the originality of the content, enhance their abilities to persuade adolescents. During adolescence, young people look for a model to follow. According to our results, it can be a social media influencer with a great ability to persuade.

In recent years, the increasing use of social media has enabled users to obtain a large amount of information from different sources. This evolution has affected in one way or another audience's behavior, attitudes, and decisions, especially the young people. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature in many ways. On the first hand, this paper presents the most distinctive features of social media influencers' and tests their effect on teenagers' behavior using a non-clinical sample of young Tunisians. On the other hand, this paper identifies teens' motivations for following social media influencers. This study exercises a new methodology. In fact, it uses the cognitive approach based on structural analysis. According to Benjumea-Arias et al. ( 2016 ), the aim of structural analysis is to determine the key factors of a system by identifying their dependency or influence, thus playing a role in decreasing system complexity. The present study successfully provides a collective cognitive map for a sample of Tunisian young people. This map helps to understand the impact of Facebook bloggers and Instagrammers on Tunisian teen behavior.

This study presents many important findings. First, the results find that influencers' distinctive features tested on this work affect teenagers’ behavior. In fact, influencers with a high level of honesty and sincerity prove trustworthiness among teens. This result is in line with those of Giffin ( 1967 ). Furthermore, the influencer’s ability to provide original and unique content affects the behavior of teens. These findings confirm those of Casaló et al. ( 2020 ). In addition, the ability to influence is related with the ability to persuade and expertise.

The findings related to the direct influence graph reveal that the influencers' distinctive features are interconnected. The experience, the degree of trustworthiness, and the originality of the submitted content influence the ability of an influencer to persuade among adolescents. In return, the high degree of persuasion impresses the behavior, attitudes, and decisions of teens with influences in their identity formation. The high experience and uniqueness help the influencer to make content that is more original. Young people spend more time watching original content (e.g. Chassiakos & Stager, 2020 ). Thus, the originality of content can be a source of digital distraction.

The rise in psychological problems among adolescents in Tunisia carries troubling risks. According to MICS6 Survey (2020), 18.7% of children aged 15–17 years suffer from anxiety, and 5.2% are depressed. The incidence of suicide among children (0–19 years old) was 2.07 cases per 100,000 in 2016, against 1.4 per 100,000 in 2015. Most child suicides concern 15–19-year-olds. They are in part linked to intensive use of online games, according to the general delegate of child protection. However, scientific studies rarely test the link between social media use and psychological disorders for young people in the Tunisian context. In fact, our result emphasized the important role of influencers' distinctive features and their effect on teens' behavior.

Thus, it is necessary and critical to go deeper into those factors that influence the psychological health of teens. We promote researchers to explore further this topic. They can uncover ways to help teens avoid various psychological and cognitive problems, or at least realize them and know the danger they can cause to themselves and others.

These results have many implications for different actors like researchers and experts who were interested in the psychological field.

This work suffers from some methodological and contextual limitations that call recommendations for future research. Fist, the sample size used is relatively small because of the epidemiological situation that Tunisia experienced at the time of completing this work. On the other hand, this work was limited only to study the direct relationship between variables. Therefore, we suggest expanding the questionnaire circle. We can develop this research by interviewing specialists in the psychological field. From an empirical point of view, we can go deeper into this topic by testing the indirect relationship among variables.

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Lajnef, K. The effect of social media influencers' on teenagers Behavior: an empirical study using cognitive map technique. Curr Psychol 42 , 19364–19377 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04273-1

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Impact of media use on children and youth

The influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children is profound. Thus, it is important for physicians to discuss with parents their child’s exposure to media and to provide guidance on age-appropriate use of all media, including television, radio, music, video games and the Internet.

The objectives of this statement are to explore the beneficial and harmful effects of media on children’s mental and physical health, and to identify how physicians can counsel patients and their families and promote the healthy use of the media in their communities.

Television has the potential to generate both positive and negative effects, and many studies have looked at the impact of television on society, particularly on children and adolescents ( 1 , 2 ). An individual child’s developmental level is a critical factor in determining whether the medium will have positive or negative effects. Not all television programs are bad, but data showing the negative effects of exposure to violence, inappropriate sexuality and offensive language are convincing ( 3 ). Still, physicians need to advocate continued research into the negative and positive effects of media on children and adolescents.

Current literature suggests the following:

• Physicians can change and improve children’s television viewing habits ( 4 ).
• Canadian children watch excessive amounts of television ( 5 , 6 ).
• There is a relationship between watching violent television programming and an increase in violent behaviour by children ( 2 , 7 ).
• Excessive television watching contributes to the increased incidence of childhood obesity ( 8 , 9 ).
• Excessive television watching may have a deleterious effect on learning and academic performance ( 10 ).
• Watching certain programs may encourage irresponsible sexual behaviour ( 11 ).
• Television is an effective way of advertising products to children of various ages ( 12 ).

The average Canadian child watches nearly 14 h of television each week ( 13 ). By his/her high school graduation, the average teen will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom ( 2 ). Studies show how time spent watching television varies between different age groups and cultures ( 1 , 13 ). This is especially relevant when studying the effects of excessive television exposure on disadvantaged populations.

The amount of time that younger North American children currently spend watching television has not decreased significantly ( 14 ). A substantial number of children begin watching television at an earlier age and in greater amounts than what experts recommend ( 15 ). Evidence suggests that television’s influence on children and adolescents is related to how much time they spend watching television ( 1 , 2 , 16 ). As a result, with prolonged viewing, the world shown on television becomes the real world ( 1 , 2 ).

Television viewing frequently limits children’s time for vital activities such as playing, reading, learning to talk, spending time with peers and family, storytelling, participating in regular exercise, and developing other necessary physical, mental and social skills ( 9 ). In addition to the amount of time spent in front of the television, other factors that influence the medium’s effect on children include the child’s developmental level, individual susceptibility and whether children watch television alone or with their parents.

Television can be a powerful teacher ( 17 ). Watching Sesame Street is an example of how toddlers can learn valuable lessons about racial harmony, cooperation, kindness, simple arithmetic and the alphabet through an educational television format. Some public television programs stimulate visits to the zoo, libraries, bookstores, museums and other active recreational settings, and educational videos can certainly serve as powerful prosocial teaching devices. The educational value of Sesame Street , has been shown to improve the reading and learning skills of its viewers ( 18 ). In some disadvantaged settings, healthy television habits may actually be a beneficial teaching tool ( 17 ).

Still, watching television takes time away from reading and schoolwork. More recent and well-controlled studies show that even 1 h to 2 h of daily unsupervised television viewing by school-aged children has a significant deleterious effect on academic performance, especially reading ( 10 , 19 ).

The amount of violence on television is on the rise ( 20 ). The average child sees 12,000 violent acts on television annually, including many depictions of murder and rape. More than 1000 studies confirm that exposure to heavy doses of television violence increases aggressive behaviour, particularly in boys ( 2 , 21 – 23 ). Other studies link television or newspaper publicity of suicides to an increased suicide risk ( 24 – 28 ).

The following groups of children may be more vulnerable to violence on television:

• children from minority and immigrant groups;
• emotionally disturbed children;
• children with learning disabilities;
• children who are abused by their parents; and
• children in families in distress ( 2 , 7 ).

Physicians who see a child with a history of aggressive behaviour should inquire about the child’s exposure to violence portrayed on television.

Because television takes time away from play and exercise activities, children who watch a lot of television are less physically fit and more likely to eat high fat and high energy snack foods ( 9 ). Television viewing makes a substantial contribution to obesity because prime time commercials promote unhealthy dietary practices ( 15 , 29 ). The fat content of advertised products exceeds the current average Canadian diet and nutritional recommendations, and most food advertising is for high calorie foods such as fast foods, candy and presweetened cereals ( 14 , 29 ). Commercials for healthy food make up only 4% of the food advertisements shown during children’s viewing time ( 8 ). The number of hours of television viewing also corresponds with an increased relative risk of higher cholesterol levels in children ( 8 ). Television can also contribute to eating disorders in teenage girls, who may emulate the thin role models seen on television ( 8 ). Eating meals while watching television should be discouraged because it may lead to less meaningful communication and, arguably, poorer eating habits ( 29 , 30 ).

Today, television has become a leading sex educator in Canada. Between 1976 and 1996, there has been a 270% increase in sexual interactions during the family hour of 2000 hours to 2100 hours( 31 ). Television exposes children to adult sexual behaviours in ways that portray these actions as normal and risk-free, sending the message that because these behaviours are frequent, ‘everybody does it’. Sex between unmarried partners is shown 24 times more often than sex between spouses ( 32 – 35 ), while sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy are rarely mentioned.

Teens rank the media as the leading source of information about sex, second only to school sex education programs. Numerous studies document adolescents’ susceptibility to the media’s influence on their sexual attitudes, values and beliefs ( 34 , 35 ).

A detailed guide to responsible sexual content on television, and in films and music can be found in other peer-reviewed publications ( 35 ).

Some people believe that the media can influence sexual responsibility by promoting birth control, such as condom use. No current empirical evidence supports this concept; it is expected that the debate will continue.

Alcohol and smoking

Canada’s two largest breweries spend $200 million on advertising each year ( 36 ). On an annual basis, teenagers see between 1000 and 2000 beer commercials carrying the message that ‘real’ men drink beer. Convincing data suggest that advertising increases beer consumption ( 34 , 37 ), and in countries such as Sweden, a ban on alcohol advertising has led to a decline in alcohol consumption ( 38 ).

Tobacco products are not advertised directly on television in Canada. However, passive promotion occurs when, for example, a soap opera star lights a cigarette in a ‘macho’ act, a Formula One race car has cigarette advertising on it or sporting events carry the names of tobacco companies. There is evidence that passive advertising, which glamorizes smoking ( 28 ), has increased over the past few years.

Television is not the only way that children learn about tobacco and alcohol use; the concern is that the consequences of these behaviours are not accurately depicted on television. One-half of the G-rated animated feature films available on videocassette, as well as many music videos, show alcohol and tobacco use as normative behaviour without conveying the long term consequences of this use ( 39 ).

Advertising

Advertising can have positive effects on children’s behaviour. For example, some alcohol manufacturers spend 10% of their budget on advertisements warning about the dangers of drinking and driving. In addition, although some health care professionals disagree about the health benefits of appropriate milk use, milk consumption has increased as a result of print and broadcast advertisements.

The developmental stage of a child plays a role in the effect of commercials. Young children do not understand the concept of a sales pitch. They tend to believe what they are told and may even assume that they are deprived if they do not have advertised products. Most preschool children do not understand the difference between a program designed to entertain and a commercial designed to sell. A number of studies have documented that children under the age of eight years are developmentally unable to understand the difference between advertising and regular programming ( 12 , 40 , 41 ).

The average child sees more than 20,000 commercials each year ( 12 ). More than 60% of commercials promote sugared cereals, candy, fatty foods and toys ( 12 ). Cartoon programs based on toy products are especially attractive. Advertisements targeting adolescents are profoundly influential, particularly on cigarette use ( 4 ).

The question of whether children are more resilient to the influence of television is debated frequently. Most studies show that the more time children spend watching television, the more they are influenced by it ( 4 ). Earlier studies have shown that boys may be more susceptible than girls to television violence ( 25 ).

Education and parental involvement

High school programs promoting media awareness have been shown to be beneficial ( 4 ). They give students more understanding of how the media may affect them socially. In Canada, the Media Awareness Network has a number of resources that can be used by both professionals and the public to promote media literacy. Their resources are comprehensive, current and specifically applicable to Canadian culture ( 42 ).

Parents may use ratings but they must be used with caution. Currently, there is no consensus as to which rating system works best ( 43 ). Parental involvement in determining desirable programming is the best choice. Parents have to monitor and control their children’s viewing habits.

Studies show that parents play an important role in their children’s social learning ( 44 ), but if a parent’s views are not discussed explicitly with children, the medium may teach and influence by default. Other media, such as magazines, radio, video games and the Internet, also have the potential to influence children’s eating habits, exercise habits, buying habits and mental health. If children are allowed to be exposed to these media without adult supervision, they may have the same deleterious effects as television.

MUSIC VIDEOS

Music videos may have a significant behavioural impact by desensitizing viewers to violence and making teenagers more likely to approve of premarital sex ( 45 ). Up to 75% of videos contain sexually explicit material ( 45 ), and more than half contain violence that is often committed against women. Women are portrayed frequently in a condescending manner that affects children’s attitudes about sex roles.

Attractive role models are the aggressors in more than 80% of music video violence. Males are more than three times as likely to be the aggressors; blacks were overrepresented and whites underrepresented. Music videos may reinforce false stereotypes. A detailed analysis of music videos raised concerns about its effects on adolescents’ normative expectations about conflict resolution, race and male-female relationships ( 46 ).

Music lyrics have become increasingly explicit, particularly with references to sex, drugs and violence. Research linking a cause-and-effect relationship between explicit lyrics and adverse behavioural effects is still in progress at this time. Meanwhile, the potential negative impact of explicit music lyrics should put parents and paediatricians on guard – paediatricians should bring this up in anticipatory guidance discussions with teenagers and their parents. At the very least, parents should take an active role in monitoring the music their children are exposed to ( 45 ).

VIDEO GAMES

Some video games may help the development of fine motor skills and coordination, but many of the concerns about the negative effects of television (eg, inactivity, asocial behaviour and violence) also apply to excessive exposure to video games. Violent video games should be discouraged because they have harmful effects on children’s mental development ( 7 , 47 ). Parents should be advised to familiarize themselves with various rating systems for video games and use this knowledge to make their decisions.

The effect of violent video games on children has been a public health concern for many years. No quantitative analysis of video game contents for games rated as suitable for all audiences was made until 2001 ( 47 ). The study concluded that many video games rated as suitable for all audiences contained significant amounts of violence (64% contained intentional violence and 60% rewarded players for injuring a character). Therefore, current ratings of video games leave much room for improvement ( 43 ).

Parents may feel outsmarted or overwhelmed by their children’s computer and Internet abilities, or they may not appreciate that the ‘new medium’ is an essential component of the new literacy, something in which their children need to be fluent. These feelings of inadequacy or confusion should not prevent them from discovering the Internet’s benefits. The dangers inherent in this relatively uncontrolled ‘wired’ world are many and varied, but often hidden. These dangers must be unmasked and a wise parent will learn how to protect their children by immersing themselves in the medium and taking advice from the many resources aimed at protecting children while allowing them to reap the rich benefits in a safe environment. The physician is in a good position to encourage parents and children to discover the Internet and to use it wisely.

The Internet has a significant potential for providing children and youth with access to educational information, and can be compared with a huge home library. However, the lack of editorial standards limits the Internet’s credibility as a source of information. There are other concerns as well.

The amount of time spent watching television and sitting in front of computers can affect a child’s postural development ( 48 ). Excessive amounts of time at a computer can contribute to obesity, undeveloped social skills and a form of addictive behaviour ( 9 ). Although rare, some children with seizure disorders are more prone to attacks brought on by a flickering television or computer screen. No data suggest that television viewing causes weakness of the eyes. It may be different when a child is closely exposed to a computer screen for long periods, although there are no definitive references to support this.

Other concerns include pedophiles who use the Internet to lure young people into relationships. There is also the potential for children to be exposed to pornographic material. Parents can use technology that blocks access to pornography and sex talk on the Internet, but must be aware that this technology does not replace their supervision or guidance.

There is a wealth of information on coping with the vast resources of the Web, both good and bad. Above all, parents should be encouraged to appreciate that there is potential for more good than bad, as long as one has the knowledge to tell the difference. Canadian youth claim the Internet as a defining part of their culture and an integral part of their daily lives ( 6 ). Physicians and parents alike must be armed and ready to face that challenge and ensure that they reap the potential benefits as safely as possible ( Table 1 ).

Benefits and risks of Internet use by children and youth

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Physicians should regularly inquire about media habits when taking a psychosocial history, using the Media History Form developed by the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) and the Media Awareness Network ( 51 ). They should also ask about video watching, use of video games, radio programs and time spent in front of the computer, especially when dealing with aggressive and particularly vulnerable children and families ( 7 ).
• Physicians should become more familiar with the kinds of media to which their patients may be exposed, such as programs that portray irresponsible sex and violence, and questionable Internet sites.
• Physicians should make parents aware of the significance of television early in a child’s life. By the end of the first year of a child’s life, there should be ground rules for television viewing and healthy viewing habits should be established in the second year of life. Patient education tools developed by the CPS and the Media Awareness Network can be used to supplement teaching. Visit www.caringforkids.cps.ca for more information.
• Physicians should continue to increase their own level of awareness about the most recent data on the influence of media on the development of their patients’ psychosocial health ( www.media-awareness.ca is one of the most comprehensive Canadian resources for further education).
• Physicians are encouraged to learn about the scope of Internet-related issues to adequately advise parents during their visits for anticipatory guidance. The Media History Tool ( 51 ) can be used to identify areas of concern and to facilitate discussion with parents and children. They can be encouraged to develop a family agreement for on-line use at home. The Media Awareness Network Web site ( www.media-awareness.ca ) has suggestions on how to do this.

Physicians should encourage families to do the following:

• Families should be encouraged to explore media together and discuss their educational value. Children should be encouraged to criticize and analyze what they see in the media. Parents can help children differentiate between fantasy and reality, particularly when it comes to sex, violence and advertising.
• No child should be allowed to have a television, computer or video game equipment in his or her bedroom. A central location is strongly advised with common access and common passwords.
• Television watching should be limited to less than 1 h to 2 h per day. Families may want to consider more active and creative ways to spend time together.
• Older children should be offered an opportunity to make choices by planning the week’s viewing schedule in advance. Ideally, parents should supervise these choices and be good role models by making their own wise choices. Parents should explain why some programs are not suitable and praise children for making good and appropriate choices.
• Families should limit the use of television, computers or video games as a diversion, substitute teacher or electronic nanny. Parents should also ask alternative caregivers to maintain the same rules for media use in their absence. The rules in divorced parents’ households should be consistent.

Physicians who want to get involved in their communities can consider the following:

• Provide parents with resources and information to promote media awareness programs in their communities and schools. The Media Awareness Network ( www.media-awareness.ca ) has resources and research reports for parents, teachers, teenagers and others.
• Promote the implementation of high school programs in media awareness, which have proven to be beneficial ( 4 ).
• Express support for good media. In addition to writing to stations that broadcast responsible and good television programs, physicians and parents can support legislation that encourages more responsible media use.
• Support efforts to eliminate alcohol advertising on television with the same enthusiasm that led to the elimination of tobacco advertising.
• Consider accepting invitations to talk to parent groups, school boards and other organizations about the impact of media on children and youth. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Media Awareness Network have kits that include a fully scripted text, colourful slides, a fact sheet and audience handouts. Visit www.cps.ca or www.media-awareness.ca for more information.
• Support further research on the impact of media on the mental and physical well-being of children and adolescents.

PSYCHOSOCIAL PAEDIATRICS COMMITTEE

Members: Drs Anne C Bernard-Bonnin, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Quebec; Kim Joyce Burrows, Kelowna, British Columbia; Anthony Ford-Jones, Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, Burlington, Ontario; Sally Longstaffe, Children’s Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba (chair); Theodore A. Prince, Calgary, Alberta; Sarah Emerson Shea, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia (director responsible)

Consultants: Drs Rose Geist, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario; William J Mahoney, Children’s Hospital-Hamilton HSC, Hamilton, Ontario; Peter Nieman, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta

Liaisons: Drs Joseph F. Hagan, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont (American Academy of Pediatrics); Anton Miller, Sunnyhill Health Centre for Children, Vancouver, British Columbia (Developmental Paediatrics Section, Canadian Paediatric Society)

Principal author: Drs Anthony Ford-Jones, Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, Burlington, Ontario; Peter Nieman, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta

The recommendations in this statement do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or procedure to be followed. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.

Essay on Effect Of Social Media On Youth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Effect Of Social Media On Youth in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Effect Of Social Media On Youth

Introduction.

Social media is a popular tool used by many young people worldwide. It’s a platform that lets them share photos, ideas, and stay in touch with friends. Despite its benefits, social media can also have negative effects on the youth.

Positive Effects

Social media allows young people to connect with others globally. They can learn about different cultures and opinions, enhancing their knowledge. It also provides a platform for creativity and self-expression, encouraging youth to share their talents.

Negative Effects

On the downside, social media can make youth feel pressured to look or act a certain way. It can lead to feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem. Additionally, it can distract them from schoolwork, leading to poor academic performance.

Health Impact

Excessive use of social media can lead to health problems in youth. It can disrupt sleep patterns, lead to addiction, and even cause physical health issues like eye strain and sedentary lifestyle diseases.

In conclusion, while social media has its benefits, it can also have negative impacts on youth. It’s important for young people to use it wisely, balancing their time online with other activities. Parents and teachers can play a key role in guiding them.

250 Words Essay on Effect Of Social Media On Youth

Social media is a powerful tool that connects people from all over the world. It has become a significant part of our lives, especially for the youth. While it has many benefits, there are also negative effects that we need to be aware of.

Social media provides a platform for young people to express themselves and share their thoughts. It can boost their confidence and help them develop their communication skills. Social media also offers endless learning opportunities. Students can find educational resources, join study groups, and even attend online classes.

On the downside, social media can be addictive. Many young people spend too much time online, which can affect their studies and health. Cyberbullying is another serious issue. Some people use social media to hurt others, which can lead to stress and anxiety.

Impact on Mental Health

Spending too much time on social media can also affect mental health. Seeing the perfect lives of others can make young people feel bad about themselves. This can lower their self-esteem and cause feelings of sadness or loneliness.

In conclusion, social media has both positive and negative effects on youth. It’s important for young people to use it wisely and parents to monitor their usage. By doing so, we can enjoy the benefits of social media while avoiding its negative effects.

500 Words Essay on Effect Of Social Media On Youth

Social media is a tool that has become a part of our everyday lives. It is like a digital meeting place where people from all corners of the world can connect and share ideas. It has a strong influence on the youth of today. This essay will explore the effects of social media on young people.

Impact on Communication

One of the biggest changes that social media has brought about is in the way we communicate. Young people today use social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to chat with friends, share photos, and post updates. This has made communication quicker and easier. It has also made it possible for young people to connect with others from different parts of the world.

Learning and Awareness

Social media also plays a big role in learning and creating awareness among the youth. It is a platform where they can learn about different cultures, current events, and trending topics. It helps them stay informed and aware of what’s happening around the world. It also provides a platform for them to express their views and opinions on various topics.

Effects on Mental Health

On the other hand, social media can also have negative effects on the mental health of young people. Spending too much time on these platforms can lead to feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety. This is because they often compare their lives with others, leading to feelings of inadequacy. It can also lead to cyberbullying, which can have serious effects on a young person’s mental health.

Impact on Physical Health

Spending too much time on social media can also affect the physical health of young people. It can lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which can result in obesity and other health problems. It can also affect their sleep patterns, leading to sleep disorders.

In conclusion, social media has both positive and negative effects on the youth. While it has made communication easier and has provided a platform for learning and creating awareness, it can also affect their mental and physical health. It is important for young people to use social media responsibly and to be aware of its potential risks. Parents and teachers should also play a role in guiding young people on how to use social media in a safe and healthy way.

In the end, social media is just a tool. It is up to us how we choose to use it. If used wisely, it can be a powerful tool for learning, communication, and creating positive change. But if used irresponsibly, it can have harmful effects on our health and wellbeing.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Effects of The Media on Youth

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Essay on Impact of Social Media on Youth

In the era of digitization, social media has emerged as a powerful force that shapes the lives and perspectives of the youth. With platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter becoming integral parts of daily existence, it is imperative to examine the impact of social media on the younger generation. In this essay, we delve into the complexities of this digital landscape, exploring both the positive and negative influences it has on the youth.

Quick Overview:

• Social media facilitates instant communication, enabling youth to connect with friends, family, and peers irrespective of geographical distances.
• This connectivity enhances social relationships and fosters a sense of community, providing a virtual space for shared experiences.
• The constant exposure to curated images and lifestyles on social media can impact the self-esteem and body image of young individuals.
• Comparisons with idealized representations may lead to unrealistic expectations, contributing to feelings of inadequacy and a quest for validation.
• Social media serves as a valuable source of information, offering educational opportunities, news updates, and awareness campaigns.
• Youth can engage in discussions, access diverse perspectives, and stay informed about global issues, contributing to a well-rounded worldview.
• The anonymity provided by social media can also be a breeding ground for cyberbullying, causing mental health issues among the youth.
• Online harassment and the pressure to conform to societal standards may contribute to anxiety, depression, and other psychological challenges.
• Social media plays a pivotal role in shaping trends, hobbies, and lifestyle choices among the youth.
• Influencers and online communities contribute to the dissemination of new ideas, fashion trends, and cultural influences, creating both positive and negative impacts on youth culture.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the impact of social media on youth is a multifaceted phenomenon with both positive and negative aspects. The ability to connect instantly, access information, and engage in global conversations provides unprecedented opportunities for personal and intellectual growth. However, the dark side, including the influence on self-esteem, exposure to cyberbullying, and potential mental health concerns, cannot be overlooked.

As we navigate this digital landscape, it becomes imperative for society, parents, and educators to foster digital literacy and responsible social media use. Encouraging critical thinking, self-awareness, and a healthy balance between online and offline activities can empower the youth to harness the benefits of social media while mitigating its potential pitfalls.

The impact of social media on youth is a dynamic and evolving topic, and as technology continues to advance, the relationship between the digital realm and the well-being of the younger generation will require ongoing attention and reflection. By fostering a culture of responsible digital citizenship, we can ensure that social media becomes a tool for empowerment, connection, and positive influence in the lives of the youth.

Rahul Kumar is a passionate educator, writer, and subject matter expert in the field of education and professional development. As an author on CoursesXpert, Rahul Kumar’s articles cover a wide range of topics, from various courses, educational and career guidance.

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Middle and high school students compete for share of awards totaling nearly $3 million.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is now accepting entries for its 78th annual 2024-2025 Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen youth scholarship competitions. This year’s themes ask America’s high school students “Is America Today Our Forefathers' Vision?” while middle school students will have the opportunity to contemplate, “My Voice in America's Democracy?”

The Voice of Democracy audio-essay competition is open to high school students in ninth-12th grades, with the national first place prize scholarship totaling $35,000. The first place Department (state) winners receive a special Parade of Winners trip to Washington, D.C., sponsored by Twisted X, where they compete for more than $170,000 in national scholarship awards. Nearly 22,000 high school students worldwide compete in the competition each year. This year’s winner, Sophia Lin, is a junior at BASIS Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was sponsored by Scottsdale VFW Post 3513. Listen to her read her award-winning audio-essay  during the 2024 Parade of Winners ceremony at the VFW’s annual Washington Conference.

Open to middle school students in sixth through eighth grade, nearly 55,800 students participate annually in the Patriot’s Pen essay competition. Bryant Day, the 2023-2024 Patriot’s Pen first place winner, was sponsored by VFW Post 9943 and its Auxiliary in Mansfield, Ohio. Listen as he delivered his award-winning essay .

Student entries may be submitted (along with a completed entry form) to their local participating VFW Post. The deadline for both contests is Oct. 31, 2024.

Read more about the contests , or submit your essay and entry form at your local participating VFW Post .

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Gannett and McClatchy Cut Back Relationship With A.P.

The Associated Press said the decisions by the two major newspaper chains “would not have a material impact on our overall revenue.”

By Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson

Two major American newspaper chains, Gannett and McClatchy, plan to drastically curtail their business relationships with The Associated Press, which supplies news reports and images to outlets around the world.

Gannett, the largest newspaper company in the United States and the publisher of USA Today, said on Tuesday that, starting Monday, it would no longer use articles, photos and videos from The A.P. in its hundreds of publications.

“Between USA Today and our incredible network of more than 200 newsrooms, we create more journalism every day than The A.P.,” Kristin Roberts, the chief content officer of Gannett, wrote in a company memo.

Ms. Roberts noted that Gannett would continue to use The A.P. for election data and its stylebook, which provides guidance on language and journalistic practices. She added that Gannett had signed an agreement with a rival news agency, Reuters, for global news “while we build our capacity.”

Lark-Marie Antón, a spokeswoman for Gannett, said in a statement that the decision “enables us to invest further in our newsrooms.”

McClatchy, which the hedge fund Chatham Asset Management bought out of bankruptcy in 2020 , told its editors this week that it would stop using some A.P. services next month. McClatchy operates about 30 newspapers, including The Miami Herald and The Kansas City Star, as well as a bureau in Washington, D.C.

In an email sent on Monday, Kathy Vetter, McClatchy’s senior vice president of news and audience, said that The A.P.’s feed would end on March 29 and that no A.P. content could be published after March 31. She said, however, that McClatchy would continue to use The A.P.’s election results data.

“With this decision, we will no longer pay millions for content that serves less than 1 percent of our readers,” Ms. Vetter wrote in the email, which was viewed by The New York Times. “In most cases we have found replacements. However, we are still working on a universal solution for state ‘wires’ content.”

McClatchy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for The A.P., said conversations with Gannett and McClatchy over their contracts “have been productive and are ongoing.”

“We appreciate that these are difficult decisions to make and deeply understand the challenges the news industry faces,” Ms. Easton said in a statement. “At the same time, this would be a disservice to news consumers across the U.S. who would no longer see fact-based journalism from The A.P.”

The A.P., which was founded in 1846, has reporters in every state and nearly 100 countries. It provides wire content, including articles, photos and videos, to publications and broadcasters around the world, including The New York Times.

It also has a central role in U.S. election coverage: Many major news organizations use its election data, and some wait for The A.P. to call a race before they report a winner.

The A.P. once relied primarily on licensing fees from newspapers but now has a variety of other revenue streams, including a news website, an e-commerce site, and software and production services. According to an article on its website, fees from U.S. newspapers account for roughly 10 percent of The A.P.’s income.

“The loss of McClatchy and Gannett would not have a material impact on our overall revenue,” Ms. Easton said.

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at [email protected]. More about Benjamin Mullin

Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email:  [email protected]   More about Katie Robertson