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Social Media and Adolescent Consumption:
The Problematic Pocket Problem
Treyshon Clark
Bowling Green State University
Professor Bird
WRIT 1120
April 24, 2022
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Social Media and Adolescent Consumption:
The Problematic Pocket Problem
Growing up, adolescents go through extreme developmental stages in their early lives,
causing many anatomical changes and personal interest shifts. Adolescent behavior can
sometimes be unpredictable and tracking their exact behaviors can be difficult leading to
changes in their social, academic, and personal lives alongside their mentalities as well.
Gaining access to personal devices that can access the internet and allow access to create social
media accounts at such a young age is not ideal. Around these young ages, children cannot
manage something as such nor make responsible decisions for themselves. Across the world,
adolescents can create a social media account at the ripe age of 13 on almost every social
media platform currently available. In recent years it has been seen that adolescents are using
social media before they turn 13 and even after they reach that age, they can experience content
that is not ideal for them. This premature usage has led to a variety of severe effects including
mental disorders (Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, etc.), the risk of being cyberbullied,
risks of being exposed to online predators, potentially engaging in harmful behaviors, and
much more. Research and Data Analysis for this topic has helped support and break down what
causes teens to be attracted to SNS (Social Networking Sites) to help create solutions to protect
adolescent SNS usage. The now early exposure/access to mobile devices and the ability to lie
about your age on social media networks is the leading cause of the Problematic Pocket
Problem which refers to adolescent social networking usage.
Throughout their developmental year's adolescents typically are easily persuaded and
can be steered into many things very quickly. Social media is the new trend amongst this age
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range of children, pre-teens, and teenagers. It is seen to have effects on teens' mental health and
also on their physical health as well. Despite social media just being a digital media source, it
can cause teens to develop psychological disorders which leads to physical complications also.
Today, it is seen that 53% of children have a cellphone by age 11, and by age 12 over 69%
have them which is already more than half before a child reaches 13. Social networking has
become an essential in every developing adolescent mind since its creation and how it was
adopted into society in the early-to-mid 2000s. With such a large percentage of adolescents
having cellphones it increases the numbers of premature adolescent usage which therefore
creates more problems in this generation across the world. Meta-analyses yielded associations
of general use of social network sites (SNS use) with higher levels of adolescent ill-being
(Valkenburg et al., 2021). These linear associations show that social networking sites are not
ideal for adolescent age groups and their connections are plaguing young generations, which is
why more effective policies need to be put in place to ensure proper usage and age verification.
A major component that leads to premature social media usage is personal attractions
they have to fit in and connect with others on social platforms. They spend more time using
online media than any other age group and are the first cohort ever to be linked with Internetbased communication as an integral part of their upbringing (Best et al., 2014). This
opportunity to have access to these sorts of resources gauges curiosity and promotes the usage
of SNS. The motives related to maintaining contact and following friends have been positively
associated with higher perceived social support in real life and therefore with lower perceived
loneliness (Pertegal et al. 2019). The journal connects the motives of social media use to the
amount of time being used, which reflected unique reasons behind each adolescent SNS use. A
few mentioned were overall as a leisure activity, a way to seek approval from others, an
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escape/coping method, the desire to make new connections, and a lot more. They stated that
extraversion and neuroticism are usually common causes that increase the motive to spend
more time within these platforms. Adolescents have been doomed to be dragged into SNS
before they can even grasp a concept as to what it is. The social adoption of SNS and the
continued progression of tech has created a danger when it comes to young social media usage
causing a downward spiral in adolescent wellbeing overall.
Having individuals under the age of 13 create and actively engage with social media
poses extreme threats when it comes to the data being collected on them. When an underage
adolescent creates a social media account and provides false information about their age it
breaks a law and they do not quite realize what is being done is illegal due to the federal
COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) law that was created in 1998. The law was
intended to be a way to eliminate minor data tracking across all online platforms and protects
them tracked without their permission but the law only enforces what it says as long as the
individual is being honest about their age. These screening methods are technologically
ineffective, as computer-savvy children often know how to circumvent these attempted
roadblocks (Matecki, L. 2010). With the law focused on protecting minors, it does not enforce
much when it comes to age falsification because it is not required to verify your age through
authenticator sources. Not only does this promote lying but it allows COPPA to be easily
bypassed and allows issues meant to be avoided to easily occur. It does not protect adolescent
groups allowing them to gain easy access to SNS.
When an adolescent begins to start being active on social media they do not often think
about how it will affect them. It has been seen that adolescent social media usage contributes to
an increase in mental issues such as anxiety, depression, and all other mental issues affecting
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their self-esteem. With social media being so broad there is so much to be seen when it comes
to the content and what an adolescent sees. It is common to see younger individuals have a
stronger desire to obtain something they may see online or associated with someone else
because they are typically unfamiliar with the reality of life itself. Problematic social media use
was associated with anxiety, depression, and insomnia, but not stress, which was confirmed to
be a mediator between PSMU (Problematic Social Media Usage) and mental health (Malaeb et
al., 2020). Many adolescents can start having feelings of depression and anxiety when it comes
to viewing content on social media. What causes it is typically the content they see does not
match up to what typical societal standards are because influencers or other content creators
online have access to the things someone usually would not. It creates false realities and
expectations of things which leads to adolescents having a decrease in their self-perception of
themselves. It is noted that Increased time spent or frequency of SNS use, and problematic and
addictive behaviour on SNS were significantly associated with higher levels of depressive
symptoms. (Piteo & Ward., 2020). As adolescents spend more time on SNS they are slowly
causing their mentalities to weaken and allowing problematic issues to make their way into
their lives.
Due to depression being commonly associated with social media usage, it has been
discovered that suicide rates have increased within the last decade in the United States.
According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of adolescent death in the U.S. and
it correlates to how their mindsets are when dealing with depression. Youth with mental health
issues spent more time on social networking websites and use it to communicate their thoughts
with others and seek social support (Memon et al., 2018). Although it can be used to
communicate and gain support from others digitally it can be destructive if an adolescent
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receives poor advice that encourages negative self-harming behaviors. Negatives/risks included
trouble regulating use, stress related to social media metrics, encounters with “triggering”
content, hostility and meanness, self-denigrating comparisons, and burdensome friendship
expectations (Weinstein et al., 2021). These are all the result of poor social media usage and
how an adolescent interacts with the platforms they are on. A study on Instagram discovered
that depression was more common in teenagers involved in social comparisons following
strangers compared to teenagers who followed only friends (Memon et al., 2018). Components
such as whom the adolescent follows or often views daily can have ruinous effects on their
perceptions.
With improper SNS usage leading to a shift in adolescent mentalities, it can be seen
how they can lead to the change in how they view themselves. When often viewing what is
going on in other people's lives it can be very easy to begin comparing oneself to someone
else's lifestyle or the way they look. Adolescents who feel ashamed of their bodies because of
the perceived discrepancy between their appearance and culturally promoted standards appear
to be engaged in strategies of control over their body image in photos (Gioia et al., 2020). This
means that even at such a young age are going to the extremes to make sure the picture they
post on social media platforms represents what they see. This is unhealthy as it can lead to the
cause of eating disorders that can affect an adolescent's weight and also their nutrition. The
widespread use of social media in teenagers and young adults could increase body
dissatisfaction as well as their drive for thinness, therefore rendering them more vulnerable to
eating disorders (Jiotsa et al., 2021). It is seen by Health Children's Organization that on
average a teenage boy needs about 2,800 calories and an average teenage girl needs about
2,200 calories daily to sustain a healthy intake for their body. With eating disorders an
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adolescent can fall short on the nutrition they need for their bodies due to mental issues leading
to a decrease in appetite and the preoccupations over their weight, body shape, or work out
habits that are causing a change in their lives. Apart from that, we found that low levels of
perceived social support seem to be particularly detrimental for ED symptoms in adolescent
girls (Cohrdes et al., 2021). With self-esteem issues caused by social media strikes adolescents
and leads to EDs it can be dangerous as it causes issues such as heart problems, disrupted
hormones, digestive issues, weakened bones, abnormalities in electrolytes, and lots more
posing a serious health threat.
As teens often try to put their best foot forward on SNS by only posting their best
photos/videos and even sometimes editing them to change their appearance rather than what
they look like. This creates more issues for adolescents as this can cause them to slowly
sexualize themselves at a young age. Only among girls and early adolescents, it was found that
the extent to which they believed that an ideal and attractive appearance is rewarded, related to
their engagement in self-sexualizing behaviors (Trekels et al., 2018). Once the desired outreach
is obtained it is easy for an adolescent to continue to follow those behaviors allowing them to
become worse. These behaviors can be a threat to an adolescent's safety as the actions they are
engaging in can consume their mindsets to the point where it could change them. They can
start becoming an individual who can gain more attention and alter their real-life mentality and
personality also.
Adolescent self-sexualization is already one issue but sexual solicitations from
strangers online also pose a problem with minor social media usage. As they can begin self
sexualizing themselves it is seen that it causes an attraction from online predators who may try
to engage with them leading to the unwanted solicitation. Sexual solicitation is the act of being
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approached with unwarranted requests to speak about sexual activity, being asked to disclose
personal sexual info, and being pressured into doing a sexual act. There are instances of online
harassment that involve sexual content and comments that are rude or mean, or the spreading
of rumors. Among targeted youth, solicitations were more commonly reported via instant
messaging (43%) and in chat rooms (32%), and harassment was more commonly reported in
instant messaging (55%) than through social networking sites (27% and 28%, respectively)
(Ybarra & Mitchell, 2008). As social media platforms now have story replies and private chat
features which allows sexual solicitation to happen more easily. If measures were enforced and
put into place it could help decrease youth sexual solicitation and educate adolescents on the
things they can avoid to help prevent sexual solicitation from predators faced online.
Mature content that adolescents can be exposed to while using SNS is a drastic issue that can
shift their developing minds and allow them to view content they are not ready for. Typically
with social media, there are not many pre-set content filters that block out what the user is
viewing unless the user goes to do it themselves. Social media advertisements expose
adolescents to the substances of abuse including alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana which could
lead to potential self-harm (Memon et al., 2018). As their minds are developing they can be
persuaded into almost anything as they are naive to the world truly. If they get involved with
the content they see while online it can alter their developing process leading to delays or
overall changes.
Focusing on the content adolescents see and how gullible they can be for what they see
online. A primary example of this is trends and how they come and go, usually having extreme
popularity at first but then slowly dying down. Trends often consist of individuals having to
engage in extreme behaviors or performing dangerous acts overall. The part of the brain that
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handles rational thought, the prefrontal cortex, is not fully developed until the mid-20s. This
means teens are naturally more impulsive and likely to act before thinking through all of the
ramifications according to the Healthy Children Organization. When partaking in trends can
boost adrenaline in adolescents which also decreases the thought of what will result in the
decisions they make. Trends such as the TidePod challenge from 2018 or the Ice and Salt
challenge that started in 2012 show how easily they can be swayed and engage in dangerous
acts for “fun” measures. Trends are another way to show how social media is not ideal for
younger groups as they are the ones most prone to danger.
It is argued by the opposing party that social media can be a useful tool for adolescents
as it can help benefit their social connections. They believe that SNS can help adolescents feel
included within a community of people that can help support and make them feel represented
as well. I agree with the points they make about how they can use it to make social connections
but it does not make up for all the cons that premature social media usage has. A lot of where a
teen feels discriminated against comes from social media in the first place which shapes the
societal norms. If adolescents did not have exposure to SNS they would not be as worried
about finding a community to interact with to represent them because they would not be
engaging in cross-comparisons to what makes them different from someone else. A part of the
downfall of adolescent mentality comes from premature adolescent usage and adolescents
using the platform does not benefit them more than it hurts them.
Adolescents' developing minds are so fragile and delicate while they go through many
stages in their early stages of life. Much of their thought processes are not always the most
critically thought out nor are they typically responsible. Factors such as such pose reasons as to
why the social media creating age should be raised and policies should be put in place to
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enforce age verifications. As adolescents can officially create social media accounts at 13 and
even before they lie they can enter themselves into a platform full of trouble as SNS are not
ideal for them. Premature usage can lead to worsened behaviors and mindsets that can affect
them in both short and also long-term ways. Adolescents are always at stake when engaging in
social media too early in their lives since they are bound to be using it improperly. Those
young will eventually be the ones taking charge of the world, do they not deserve to be
protected?
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References
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