Impact of Social Media on Current Generation (Essay Sample)

Impact of Social Media on Current Generation: A Literature review
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Impact of Social Media on Current Generation: A Literature review
Social media has been identified to have both positive and negative impacts on current generation. Social media refers to internet websites or applications that use the internet to ensure that people worldwide have interacted by sharing content, chatting, and video calling. For an individual to be a member of a social media platform, they are taken through a process where they have to sign up and log in to the social media platform to access content, share content, and interact with other users in that particular platform. The most used platforms include Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, Tiktok, and Instagram. They have been significant growth in the usage of social media over the last two decades. The impacts of social media, health complications observed among the youth; as a result of social media addiction, the most used social media platform among the youths aged 18 years and below, and essential recommendations that can effectively help in creating awareness about the impacts of Facebook among youths below 16 years will be discussed in this literature review.
Impact of Social Media on Current Generation
A study by Greenwood, Perrin, & Duggan (2016) has shown that social media has positive and negative impacts on the current generation. The first positive impact is bringing the current generation up to date with events happening around the globe. A youth using social media platforms in one part of the world can learn about happenings in other parts of the world, making it easier for the current generation to connect with their peers from all over the world. It has strengthened relationships with friends who no longer stay in the same content because they can connect and still share their life events with their long-distant friends (Greenwood, Perrin, & Duggan, 2016).
The second positive impact is that the current generation can bridge gaps by creating groups and pages based on their mutual interests, i.e., religion, profession, and careers. This, in turn, creates more opportunities and connections being built based on their different disciplines. This could also lead to job opportunities through the different social media platforms. According to O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson (2021), the job opportunities created by social media platforms show that the youth indulge in constructive activities and deter them from participating in harmful activities such as crime. The advertisements that are done on their social media platforms can also guide the youth towards successful careers. It is easier for most youth to identify careers that suit their qualifications through social media platforms. In some cases, the youths can work directly in the social media companies and generate income to ensure that their families are comfortable. 
Social media platforms can be a source of inspiration for most young people who can find inspiration from role models who have accomplished various goals That are desirable and acceptable in the community. Through the testimonies that accomplished role models have given, young people can pursue their dreams. The inspirations that young people get from social media platforms can help them avoid situations that may lead to depression since their testimonies from the role models in the social media platforms help them feel accepted. Research done by O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson (2021) showed that social media is responsible for giving young people the autonomy to explore and experiment tentatively enough to make informed decisions since they have control over how or who they share their information with. The opportunities, in turn, can be significant during the Covid-19 pandemic when real-life opportunities to identify jobs were scarce.
Social media platforms can also be used to educate the current generation on the rights and how to use them, such as on proper channels that they should use when expressing their rights. In other cases, social media platforms can be used to link the government and the Citizens because all the government policies and activities will be published on the social media platforms (O'Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, 2021). Educational programs that help the young generation learn and be in positions where they can develop their intellect and skills by watching various programs since visual effects Make it easy for the young people to understand the concepts being taught and the social media platforms. Social media platforms can also create awareness about new educational material that may have been released that the young people were not previously aware of. 
Research done by Sayyed & Gupta (2020) indicates that young people can use social media platforms to get awareness about current issues such as racism, police brutality, feminism, equality, discrimination, women's rights, and any emerging issues in society. Through social media platforms, young people can be educated on how to approach current issues. Through various pages created on social media platforms, people can learn the importance of disregarding evils in society, such as discrimination, racism, and crime. Young people can also use the educational programs found in social media platforms to learn essential skills to use when expressing themselves (Sayyed & Gupta, 2020). for the young people in the LGBTQ community can use social media platforms to create awareness about their existence. The awareness has made it possible for society to appreciate and accept them by providing them with avenues of expressing themselves freely. 
A study by Bolton et al. (2019) indicates that social media platforms have also heard negative impacts on young people. One of the primary impacts of social media is introducing cyberbullying. Many young people have been bullied online on social media platforms which have led to adverse effects on their lives, such as poor performance in their academics or development of depression. In some severe cases of cyberbullying, young people have become suicidal, with some young people committing suicide since they cannot take the cyberbullying anymore. Cyberbullying has also seen young people's lives destroyed through cybercrimes. Young people may be involved in sexual escapades leaked on social media platforms. In such cases, the involved young people may be unable to process the whole scenario and sink into depression or commit suicide. Leaking personal information on their social media platforms or threatening to leak the information can be used as a form of blackmail (Bolton et al., 2019). Such types of blackmail can destroy the lives of young people. In some cases, the young people may be blackmailed to participate in criminal acts that might land them in jail.