Instituto Superior Josefina Contte

Profesorado de Ingls
Lengua Inglesa III
Profesora: Avila, Patricia
Alumna: Rueda, Romelia

Essay N 3
Topic: how social networking can have a negative effect on teenagers.
Thesis statement: social networking can a be a dangerous place for teenagers in several respects.
Topic sentences:
I. Social networking negatively influences teenagers relationships with friends and family.
II. The high usage of online social communities has a negative effect on teenagers psychological
health.

III. The unrestricted access to online social communities exposes teenagers to be victims of cybercrime.

Social networks and teenagers: how social networking can be dangerous meeting place.

The boom of social medias popularity and its presence in virtually every aspect of life play a vital role
in the adolescent world. Although social networks have endless advantages, under no circumstances
can their risks be overlooked. Firstly, it is noticeable how young peoples social life has changed from
what it was when neither the internet nor social networking exist.

Social sites have become the

preferred medium through which teenagers interact with one another. In fact, rarely do you find a
teenager without a profile in a social network these days. As a consequence, face-to-face
communication has gradually been diminished, affecting teenagers relationships with friends and family.
Secondly, its excessive usage causes psychological disturbances such as depression, low-esteem and
narcissism. Lastly, the free access to these communities makes young people an easy target for
dangerous people.
To start with, social networks reduce real world social interaction, which is one of the most relevant
aspects of teenagers social development. Nowadays, we are familiar with situations in which friends are
sharing the same physical place but are unable to maintain an oral conversation, each one with their

Instituto Superior Josefina Contte

Profesorado de Ingls
Lengua Inglesa III
Profesora: Avila, Patricia
Alumna: Rueda, Romelia

eyes fixed on their phones. The scene gets ridicule, when these friends who are not exchanging a
spoken word or even glance, paradoxically are connected in the virtual world created by social networks.
In addition, the presence of social media in the teenage way of life affects the emotional dimension of
relationships. Essential experiences of any social life such as making friends, and ending relationships
occur more frequently in these virtual spaces, thus changing their affective quality. If they are allowed to
choose, teens prefer telling how they feel rather on their status than to someones face. Certainly they
are more comfortable having an argument behind the screen since in this way they are able to express
thoughts and emotions that they would not if they were in front of others. For instance, if they want to
avoid someone, they can easily block them by one click of the mouse. Unfortunately, this far-from-reality
manner of facing conflicts deprives the young of the opportunity to develop problem solving skills outside
the cyberspace.
Not only does social networking has a negative impact on teenagers social life, but also it can affect
their mental health. Teens tendency to addiction makes them vulnerable to adopt an obsessive behavior
regarding the usage of social networking. Although they have key role in broadening social connection
and producing new communities of interest, social networks -if used without self-regulation- can have a
detrimental effect on teenagers psychological health, such as emotional disturbance. Spending a
considerable number of hours communicating on this medium makes adolescents experience isolation.
In other words, the time used to socialize through the internet reduces real world social interaction,
which is critical to young peoples emotional development. Besides, teens whose social life depends
only on social sites are susceptible of suffering depression caused by comparing themselves with others
regarded as inferior or superior. The fact is that the virtual world created by the internet facilitates users
to make up profiles that match with their ideal image of self, thus negatively affecting their selfperception. Such is the case of adolescents with what is defined as either a narcissistic or insecure
personality. They use online social communities so as to update their status every ten minutes, post
quotes venerating themselves. And a great amount of pictures of themselves as if they were celebrities.
Finally, social networks can expose them to being victims of cyber-crimes such as harassment from
others and identity theft. Teens did hardly create a profile on a social community, when they are posting
personal information without being aware of the risks they are taking. It is well known that the
information someone posts on the internet is available to anyone who knows how to access it. For
instance, all thieves need is access to some pieces of personal information to steal ones identity. On the

Instituto Superior Josefina Contte

Profesorado de Ingls
Lengua Inglesa III
Profesora: Avila, Patricia
Alumna: Rueda, Romelia

other hand, the usage of these online socializing tools exposes young people to inappropriate contact
from others. Take as an example the alarming number of cases in which adults create a fake profile on
a social networking, and befriend teenagers so as to lure these into meeting them, the consequences
being only but abhorrent. Such could be the end of many adolescents who are in contact with people
they do not know in person. In 2010, Peter Chapman, a thirty-three-year-old serial sex offender, was
sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, raping and murdering a teenager whom he cheated using a
fake profile on facebook through which he pretended to be a good looking young boy. They victim
suffered from low-esteem and what the criminal did was take advantage of her vulnerable state so as to
wove a web of attraction and deceit that has had a murderous ending (xxx)
To conclude, it can be said that the omnipresence of social networking in every aspect of life has a
detriment impact on people in general and on young people in particular. Seldom can teenagers resist
the temptation to overuse online social communities thus becoming vulnerable to the downsides of the
virtual world. This extensive use of social media reduces real world social interaction, a constitutive
experience any adolescent must have in order to build relationships. What is more, young peoples
psychological health is susceptible of being disturbed since the more connected they are, the more
isolated they become. Last, but not least is how social networks expose adolescents to be victims of
cyber-crimes.

WORKS CONSULTED
Facebook and the social media. 2012. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com
Facebook murderer who posed as teenager to lure victim jailed for life. 2010. Retrieved from
www.theguardian.com