Teens, tweets and tensions

Teens, tweets and tensions

Recent studies indicate that social networking
sites offer both risks and benefits to teens.
Negative wall posts etc may cause adolescent anxiety on the one hand, and these sites
may teach introvert teens to socialise, on the other hand. Shoma A. Chatterji
checks out

WHAT
is social networking? It is a virtual social world where you
make friends, exchange photographs, strike business deals, play games,
fall in love, split, fight, argue and quarrel without having met these
people in flesh and blood. Is this good for friendships, business,
love and long-lasting relationships? Or does it eat into direct
contact by taking you away from your immediate family, real friends
and work? Does it get youngsters addicted to different forms of social
networking?

More than 150 million
people use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, share photographs
and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts. A
further six million have signed up on Twitter, the micro-blogging
service that lets users circulate text messages about themselves. But
while the sites are popular and extremely profitable a growing
number of psychologists and neuroscientists believe they may be doing
more harm than good. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Ibibo are
said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and
make young people more self-centred.

Social networking sites
(SNSs) have their own pros and cons. They serve to be a good medium to
stay connected with friends and family, to meet new people, and make
new friends. Often, we see people using the platform to make important
announcements, inform each other about new businesses and personal
developments in one’s life. It serves as an effective method for
reaching out to people and get instant reactions. Those who are shy
and slow to warm up are seen to find this a safer zone to initiate
conversations. It is less threatening and gives the space to be out
there, yet not lose your control. This can be comforting for people
who are otherwise fearful of having to make direct, head-on
conversation with others. Our society is not a homogeneous group. It
comprises all kinds of people, from varying backgrounds and mindset.
This can neither be controlled nor overlooked.

Siddharth Iyer, who
began logging on to Facebook when he was on the cusp of adolescence,
is very positive about his experience on the site. He is logged in for
an average of 15 to 16 hours a day and around 105 hours in a week!
“I have made some good friends, also learnt some unknown things
about my friends, have been able to showcase my musical, trekking and
photography talents to a large audience due to social
networking.” But he admits that it can be extremely addictive.
“I used to read a lot more than I do now due to time spent on the
Internet. It has happened that my social networking has eaten into my
real relationships time.”

Social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become nearly inescapable facets of modern life, particularly for kids. A new report suggests they can have real benefits and risks for children. These sites, and virtual gaming worlds, allow users to interact with each other and they are where children and adolescents are spending a lot, if not most, of their free time, according to a report on the impact of social media just released by theAmerican Academy of Paediatrics. The report says that more than half of adolescents log on to a social media website at least once a day, and nearly one-quarter of teens say they log on to their favourite social media sites 10 or more times each day.

Thinkstockphotos/ Getty images

Delhi-based psychiatrist
Dr Sanjay Chugh says, “Any technological creation used in
moderation, to a degree where it doesn’t affect other important
aspects of one’s life, is acceptable. Problems arise when it is
misused, abused or when one becomes dependent on it in a manner where
it starts to take a toll on one’s overall quality of life. This stands
true even for social networking sites. Often, people, especially
youngsters suffering from insomnia, are reported to be hooked on to
these sites all through the night. This dependence, in turn, continues
to maintain the insomnia, as the person may not be able to withdraw
and focus on other lifestyle changes that need to be created in order
to deal with the problem. Similarly, it is seen that those who are
depressed and experience acute boredom, tend to find refuge in logging
on to networking sites and eventually get hooked to it as the only
medium for social engagement.”

Dr Chugh says that
problems arise mainly because most of these sites have an age criteria
where one needs to be 18 or above to create an account and start
accessing it. “But unfortunately, there is little attention paid
to this and we see children as young as 10 using Facebook. In such
cases, it is important that parental supervision is maintained, for
often the site’s privacy settings may not be very secure by itself.
Due to this, young children may get exposed to information, material
that may not be age appropriate. Children’s mental and emotional
maturity level to understand certain kind of content must be kept in
mind,” he says.

Social media websites,
such as Facebook and Twitter, have become nearly inescapable facets of
modern life, particularly for kids. A new report suggests they can
have real benefits and risks for children. These sites, and virtual
gaming worlds, allow users to interact with each other and they are
where children and adolescents are spending a lot, if not most, of
their free time, according to a report on the impact of social media
just released by the`A0American Academy of Paediatrics. The report,
published online on March 28, 2011, in`A0Paediatrics, says that
more than half of adolescents log on to a social media website at
least once a day, and nearly one-quarter of teens say they log on to
their favourite social media sites 10 or more times each day.

Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta,
dean, humanities, Calcutta University, says, “Social networking
is more a fad in India. We are perhaps identifying the
English-speaking youth population who regard themselves as the Che
Guevaras of cyber space. After all, the virtual space is also about
performing incognito. Perhaps it encourages the reclusive, introvert
folks to engage socially without coming into face-to-face contact. The
blogs are fascinating, for without realising it, young people are
perhaps honing their composition skills. The essay writing as
compulsory homework has been replaced by blogs, composition writing is
voluntarily undertaken. It has generated countless writers and
readers, and this is very good.” But she adds that exposure to
audiovisual and social media throughout their adolescence makes them
sceptical, disillusioned and even cynical by the time they reach
adulthood. It is a strange and very significant phenomenon. Inspired
adolescents drugged into consuming media stories and images become so
indifferent by the time they reach adulthood.

In a recent debate on
the pros and cons of social networking by youngsters, Anuj Tiwari
(name changed), a student, said, “Social networking on the
Internet is important in this day and age because the Net is the place
to be for everything. People head to the Internet to shop, to sell
things, to learn things, to meet others and to find what theyre
looking for. And the Internet is full of Web 2.0 social networking
sites and tools that make it very easy to connect with others. You
want to involve yourself heavily in social networking via the web
because the reach youll have is literally global you have the
potential of coming into contact with millions of others. You can make
friends and make business contacts. These will impact your future
success with an online business.”

He cites the positive
side of social media networking. In 2001, Ajay Mamuktala from Mumbai
was able to raise around 20 lakh from a campaign he ran on Twitter for
cancer patients. In 2005, John Bunnel, a US-based sheriff was able to
mobilise 5000 youngsters for a basic life-support training campaign
only through his Facebook campaigns. In 2008, President Barack Obama
reached out to millions of people on a very personal level with the
help of Twitter. And the latest are the Facebook and other online
campaigns in support of Anna Hazares fight against corruption. This
is what social networking can do for people.

Sanjay Jain (name
changed), however, does not agree. “It is especially the
younger ones who are more prone to being addicted to SNSs. They have
taken to it like they were earlier gripped by comic books or video
games or smoking or some other teenage fad. Teenage and early
adulthood is the time when were growing out of the secure cocoons
of our homes, and begin to come into contact with the outside world.
At this stage, when our young minds should be engaged in dealing with
the realities of life and relationships, they are dipping their body
and souls into a virtual reality. You can never be sure of the real
person behind the profile that he/she has put up. Some do not even
live double lives they just have one identity: online. This also
poses the threat of an addicted, avid social networker becoming an
actual social outcast. We have heard of youngsters committing suicide
over rumours spread over some networks about their identities.”

friends with facebook

A new study published in April 2010 from the International Centre for Media and the Public Agenda
(ICMPA) at the University of Maryland concludes that most college students are not just unwilling, but functionally unable to be without their media links to the world. “I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening,” said one person in the study. “I feel like most people these days are in a similar situation, for between having a Blackberry, a laptop, a television and an
iPod, people have become unable to shed their media skin.” The new ICMPA study, “24 Hours: Unplugged,” asked 200 students at the College Park campus to give up all media for 24 hours. After their 24 hours of abstinence, the students were then asked to blog on private class websites about their experiences: to report their successes and admit to any failures. The 200 students wrote more than 1,10,000 words: in aggregate, about the same number of words as a 400-page novel. However, the American Psychiatric Association does not recognise so-called Internet addiction as a disorder.

Parent participation

Social media sites are mostly good. They’re where kids socialise and where they connect together today, says Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, CEO and Editor-in-Chief ofPediatrics Now, who authored the report. Kids’ social spaces are shrinking. They do not have the place or the
time to hang out like their parents did. Social media allows them to have time to reconnect. But, it has to be done in a way that’s not all-encompassing, she adds. For this to happen, it works better if kids have parents that they can engage with. The bestrule of thumbis to be ‘friends’ with your child on Facebook. If a kid won’t friend a parent, it’s usually a sign that something’s not right, she cautions. Just like most people wouldn’t let kids cook in the kitchen or drive a car without first teaching them, kids need to know how Facebook works and how to be on it appropriately. Do not assume that your kid knows all these things, she sums up.
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