Young People's Perceptions Of How Social Media Has An Impact On Their Lives

 Blog post #6

Long time no see, Bloggers and blogger enthusiasts!

Thank you for having a read of my previous blog post, I hope it was insightful and you are now more knowledgeable on the matter. My previous blog post discussed how social media can have an impact on young people’s mental health, in terms of depression, anxiety and in some worse cases, suicide.

This blog post will take a bit of a different approach, and will look at young people’s perceptions of what has been discussed in previous posts. To find out this information (which will be a part of my industrial investigation project) I carried out primary research which involved interviewing my guidance tutor in my old school. She was very helpful with answering the questions I asked and went a step further by asking pupils in the school what they thought as well. So I thought that was a good thing to write about - to show a bit of a different perspective rather than from an adult’s point of view.  

One of the questions that my school guidance tutor asked pupils to help her answer was if they think social media has an impact on they spend money on. The pupils thought that social media does have an impact on what they buy, and gave answers such as:

• Online fashion trends influences their purchases.
• Online make up tutorials allows them to see what the end result looks like before they buy the product, so if it looks good, they are more likely to buy it.
• They follow celebrities which show professional photos giving an idea of what clothes they would like to buy which are similar in appearance.

Another one of the questions was if they think social media has an impact on how they feel about themselves/the way they look. The pupils thought that social media does have an impact on this, and gave answer such as:

• They compare themselves to models/celebrities that are perceived to be perfect – how they look and how they dress. This makes some of them feel insecure about their appearance.
• The current trends e.g. the way make-up is applied or how eyebrows and nails are worn which are seen through adverts online influences the way the young girls want to look.
• They take so many selfies, looking for the perfect image before sending it to gain approval from people/look like others online.

The next question was if they think social media has an impact on young people’s mental health. The pupils thought that social media does have an impact on this, and gave answer such as:

• They feel the need/under pressure to follow others online.
• They feel the need to respond immediately to group chats, they know that others can see when a comment has been read and therefore there needs to be an immediate response.
• They panic when they don’t have their phones on them. This leads to anxiety.
• They think that people post all the good things that happen and the best, happiest photos are having so much fun all the time which isn’t always true. However this makes still them feel depressed that their lives aren’t like this.

The last question asked was if they think social media is a positive or negative thing in terms of how it reflects on them. The pupils gave mixed opinions, but overall thought that social media is a positive thing. They gave positive answers such as:

• It allows them to speak to friends when not with them.
• It lets them contact family who are far away.
• It offers a lot of support for many communities – e.g. LGBTQ and friendships can be established.
• It can make new friends if socially awkward.
• Learn about what’s going on in the world.

They gave negative answers such as:

•  People are more likely to say something online that they wouldn’t say in person.
• It can reduce sleep.
• It makes life harder for some people who are subject to bullying behaviours.

Overall, lots of really useful information was gathered from the primary research carried out, and it shows that young people are aware of the negatives and positives of social media, but still think that social media is a positive thing in terms of how it reflects on their lives.

Do you any have questions regarding this blog post? Then let me know in the comments section. I look forward to seeing what you have to say on the matter.

Stay tuned for my next blog post.

As always, until next time…