What stuck with me in our first week’s readings was the component of peer pressure raised by the American Academy of Pediatrics article. “Because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and experiment with social media.” I believe this is the key to understanding how and why young people use social media in certain ways.
This quote reminded me of when I signed up for Facebook. It was the end of the seventh grade, and I was one of the final students in my class to give in and join the social network. All the hype was there. Everyone had it. There was a movie about the founding of Facebook about to come out. Everyone was always talking about Facebook, on the news, in the paper, everywhere. It was inescapable. So I joined. The rest is history…I was an annoying pre-adolescent on Facebook, posting statuses about Jersey Shore and Yankees trades, even a few Eminem lyrics. And now, I hardly use Facebook.
But back to my earlier point. People act on social media how they see others act. If you are a Clinton supporter and see your fellow #ImWithHer friends posting HuffPost articles, you may do the same (especially since it’s now proven you are more likely to click a link on social media to a news site than actually going on a news site). This also goes for the bullying and sexting component of the first article. If you see your friends bullying the outcasts of your circles, you are likely to join in. If your friend is sexting his partner, you will feel more inclined to do the same. Social media and its affects on youth’s psychology is a topic that is still developing, but one thing is for sure: when it comes to the internet: monkey see, monkey do.
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