# data[].attributes.body
"How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers"

My research covered how social media transformed the whole approach towards socializing, and a few points from the article "How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers" fell in line with my findings. First of all, the article states how social media help people maintain relationships and at the same time feel shallow while driving loneliness among teenagers. It would confirm my hypothesis that, despite social media making it much easier to keep in contact with people now, it does not satisfy the same order of social needs as face-to-face communication can. It goes further to talk about concerns of social displacement, saying whereas social media does not take the place of in-person communications, it may coexist with them, and all that connects with my curiosity about whether digital communication is changing the quality of real-life conversations. It goes on to outline how social media shapes social skills and self-esteem in teenagers, more so complementing my view through growing up with digital communication that hinders deep connections and social skills. This will be revealed through how idealized images on social media make people feel inadequate and like impostors; thus, reinforcing my observation concerning how comparisons with the curated versions of other people's lives take an emotional toll. It goes on to explain how social media shapes the younger view regarding relationships and communities, relating to my research in redefining what connecting truly means through digital means. My paper shows, similarly, that while this article discusses the dual effects of social media, on one hand, it connects people, and on the other hand, it brings immense emotional and psychological concerns. It thus helps my research with empirical evidence regarding the effect of social media on social skills, the relationships of teenagers, and their emotional well-being, and underlines the need to adopt a balanced understanding of the role of social media in our lives.

# data[].attributes.body
Dear Reader,

Social media features so heavily in our lives today, and it really has changed the way we socialize. What used to be simple face-to-face conversations, phone calls, or even letters has turned into texting, video calls, and status updates. It is so easy to be in touch with people no matter how far away they are by using social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. As far as I know, social media does make our lives easier in maintaining relationships; at the same time, there is a lot to question in what kind of relationships we are getting.

One of the ways it really impacts socializing is the ability of people to stay in touch much easier through social media. For instance, I have kept my friends who relocated out of the country by using these media platforms. Using applications such as WhatsApp or SnapChat, we share and get updated in minutes regarding what we are doing this very moment. This kind of communication is really convenient and has allowed me to maintain friendships that might have faded otherwise. I have also found it useful for keeping up with family members in other states or countries, which has been a big help.

On the other hand, I am curious about deeper levels of all of this. It is true we can, through social media, stay in touch, but I am not convinced that it does much for relationships that are close. At least superficially, with what I have seen, instead of those deep and profound conversations, a lot of the communication on the social media is fast, simple, little content-just like texting or something with an emoji. It doesn't really compare, though, with the kind of conversations that I have face-to-face, where I can pick up body language and tone of voice. I'd like to look deeper if social media can really replace real communication and does it affect how we communicate in real life.

I also feel that despite the fact we are connected on social media all the time, it can make people feel even lonelier. We might talk to our friends on the Internet all the time, but it will feel surface-level connections. Sometimes, the feeling after scrolling through posts is that everybody else is living a better life or doing more exciting things; I'm still wondering if other people feel the same way. It may also be that, with social media allowing us to see curated versions of other people's lives, we somehow feel left out-even in the face of our putting in the most hours online.

My project will be about how social media interacts with us specifically face-to-face. After being online so much, is it harder for people to converse with others? I will also be interested to see how social media shapes the younger generation, such as teenagers, growing up with this. How does it influence the way they make friendships, or develop social skills? How does all this digital interaction change our understanding of what it is to be part of a community-to actually form real connections?

In a nutshell, while there are gains to social media, such as keeping in touch and making relatively new friends, it also has changed the way we relate to people. I am excited to dig further into how it is structuring our relationships anew and what we can do to make sure that, even with modern times, we still make proper and meaningful connections.

Best regards,

Jordan Aikens

# data[].attributes.body
This multigenre project challenged me to approach social media research from a variety of perspectives. Probably the biggest challenge was balancing factual accuracy with creativity while constructing the engaging pieces. It was not easy to translate data and findings into creative genres in such a way that the depth and complexity of the research would still get across.

The most successful elements were the connections between creative genres and the research itself, with particular attention to how creative pieces can assist in illustrating the emotional impacts of social media. Such examples include writing a fictional diary or a poem on loneliness bringing the statistics alive in ways mere analysis could not achieve. I will further investigate other forms, such as short videos or graphic arts, with the view of showing the visual nature in social media.

Through the analysis and production involved in this project, I learned how a deeper analysis of the effect of social media was better understood with the inclusion of a creative point of view. It also made more clear how challenging it is to represent complex issues of the real world both accurately and emotionally.

# data[].attributes.body
Ehmke, Rachel. "How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers." Child Mind Institute, 2023, www.childmind.org

Allen, Summer. "Social Media's Growing Impact on Our Lives." Psychology Today, 2024

Ashar, Linda C., J.D. "Social Media Impact: How Social Media Sites Affect Society." Psychology Today, 2 May 2024

# data[].attributes.body
The screen the memes the videos sent

Over text so easy to forget

Interactions over social media are what we dreamt

The faces glow but can’t be touched

Screens gleam and shine bright

Lives contrived not what they seem

Conducted to seem better than it may be

Ehmke believes its no replacement

For human interaction, face to faces

Now I know whats real and fake

Not seeing real people causes hearts to break

I’ve made a grand mistake

And will value in-person interaction to not lose whats at stake

# data[].attributes.body
"Social Media Impact: How Social Media Sites Affect Society."

My research looks into how social media has reshaped the way people socialize. The annotated summary makes great sense with the idea of detailing how the positive and negative impacts of social media influence relationships and communications. This summary shows that social media is a medium that connects people from all over the globe, and so has been in my paper since it said that Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok allowed one to keep up with relationships over long distances. Whereas, on one hand, the sources acknowledge that one of the major advantages of these social media platforms over conventional forms of communication is the immediacy with which one could inform others of their lives and get immediate responses, my paper questioned the way online interactions could become shallow. The summary echoes fast word exchanges and emojis, and an absence of non-verbal communication often reduces emotional depth. These, in turn, make the possibility for meaningless relationships when it comes to person-to-person forms of contact. In this case, both sources address loneliness in the course when all human beings are connected constantly. The above summary justifies how social media can be a certain thing that makes its users feel isolated, by the idea of social comparison-a concept explored in my paper where most of the users feel left out or 'not good enough' while being online. This also relates to the study of how social media influences young generations. It points to those aspects of digital communication that delay the further acquisition of social skills, changing the perception of community in teenagers. It has something to do with my fear that, with all this at hand, younger people are going to be influenced via social media as a way to build friendships and relationships. Ultimately, both the annotated summary and my research paper discuss how social media has dualities within it: while it enables communication easily, there are several vital questions about the quality of such relationships and loneliness, let alone what these habits portend for social skills and building communities in this, the digital present.

Ashar, Linda C., J.D. "Social Media Impact: How Social Media Sites Affect Society." Psychology Today, 2 May 2024

# data[].attributes.body
Jordan: I think I will message Alex about it.

Jordan- Hey Alex I was wondering do you think I have people skills?

Alex- Whats up man, I don't really know in general I think our generation lacks key social skills

Jordan- wym (what do you mean)

Alex- I mean that because of social media, a lot of people in our generation began to stop interacting face-to-face with others.

Jordan- ohh

Alex- Social Media has completely changed the way we interact with each other instead of going up to someone and asking how their day was you just text them and ask them through dm's (direct messages) this has affected a lot of peoples abilities to communicate effectively with others in person

Jordan- yeah your right! on top of that Quarantine only amplified that so I understand what your saying now.

Alex- Yeah its crazy isn't it but for you I think a great step would just be to talk to more people in general in person and gradually build yourself up.

Jordan- Thanks man ttyl (talk to you later)

Alex- no prob ttyl

# data[].attributes.body
October 3, 2024

I’ve been missing it lately… The interaction with other humans. Its my own fault to be honest. I convinced myself of the idea that the lives and faces we see on social media are adequate replacements for real human beings. Social Media. They say “comparison is the thief of joy” I’ve grown to realize they are quite right in that sentiment. I have spent countless hours comparing myself to other peoples lives I see on social media. Although I am comparing myself to the very best versions of themselves to my own life in totality it makes me question the way I’m living myself. All these things are what comes with social media. I still communicate with friends online through SnapChat and Instagram but i’ve come to realize that although they’re real they aren’t really there only inside of a piece of technology. I am not communicating with real human beings in the traditional sense. Although I was satisfied for a period of time I’ve grown to see from a different perspective on what real interaction is. Rachel from the Child Mind Institute seems to agree with the idea that despite interaction through social media people feel more alone then ever. It seems despite the amount of time I spend communicating with others online I cannot seem to shake the emptiness I feel on the inside. It’s almost as if when the screen turns off I lose all of those connections. The article "How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers."has really had me thinking about how this all has been affecting me. I think I’m going to start going out of my way to communicate with others face to face. The relationships i’ve cultivated through social media all feel superficial so i’ve decided to try and interact with those people in real life as well. I hope this effort can positively impact the way I feel.

# data[].attributes.body
Above follows a cartoon by Carlos Amat illustrating how social media has turned out to be one of the most changing ways in which people socialize today, focusing on the quantitative aspects of relationships rather than the qualitative. The figure representing Instagram boasts of catching 4.89 billion while the traditional fishermen catch small fish. It's a reflection of how, with social media, one easily connects with many, though mostly at the expense of more deep and significant relations.

It may save time and be easier to communicate via social media, but so much of it has a superficial feel to it, like quick messages or emojis rather than the richer quality of face-to-face conversations. The cartoon drives that point home by showing the contrast between the digital "catch" and the smaller, more personal efforts of traditional fishing.

It also points toward loneliness emerging from the usage of social media: as plain as the relationships can get on social media, it is still superficial since one might be living less than those whose lives come up in ideal forms that are observed online. In this cartoon, the dock was meant to be shared by the people; however, individual preoccupation with one's catch shows the preoccupation with metrics of social media more than a medium connecting people.

The cartoon finally shows how social media sites are redefining socializing, broader indeed yet less personal thus raising quite several questions to which real-life relations and interactions stand.

# data[].attributes.body
unfortunately these video recordings can only be 2 minutes long