Social Media Trends and Challenges by Jane Yoo

How do trend culture and social media challenges impact teenagers?

jy900 — 2024-03-28 18:47:17 UTC

Social media trends and challenges have become immensely popular with the rise of popular social media platforms such as TikTok. With the mass of people that participate in these challenges, there are concerns over people mindlessly following dangerous trends. On the other hand, people highlight the beneficial impacts of these trends, explaining the power of how a unified body of individuals can create positive change.

Dangerous challenges

jy900 — 2024-03-28 18:49:44 UTC

People are concerned about dangerous challenges that can have lethal affects. Unfortunately, I do agree that despite the benefits that social media trends have, there are definitely threats, especially towards younger audiences who are more vulnerable to dangerous trends.

Sleepy Chicken Challenge

jy900 — 2024-03-28 18:53:15 UTC

The Council on Communications and Media explains, “Or, another that involved cooking chicken in NyQuil (the Sleepy Chicken challenge), which prompted the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to warn against the dangers of medicine misuse.”

Collaboration through challenges and trends

jy900 — 2024-03-28 18:59:30 UTC

Many social media users have proven that through a collaborative effort, they were able to promote social justice by spreading awareness and holding fundraisers for good causes. Maryville University explains that, "People have discovered new ways to communicate and collaborate through social media. Features such as feeds, profiles, and groups on social platforms provide global access to organizations that can promote and increase visibility by sharing and networking."

Psychological impacts of social media trends

jy900 — 2024-03-28 19:00:24 UTC

Social media’s trends and challenges can have a drastic impact on teenagers who are still developing in various aspects.

Introduction to negative content and its impacts

jy900 — 2024-03-28 19:05:21 UTC

Since people cannot control all of the media they have access to, teenagers may come across content that has a harmful message. This can promote indulgence in harmful behaviors.

Cyberbullying

jy900 — 2024-03-28 19:12:14 UTC

Moved by a sense to fit in, teenagers may participate in cyberbullying or be the victim of it. This can be caused by teens following harmful trends that promote microaggressions leading towards alienating an individual or a whole group of people. This can spread ingrained racism and other forms of hate as well as discrimination. I definitely agree that this is the case, with many teens often being bystanders or chiming in on hateful acts simply to not be the one who is outcasted.

Trends and challenges allow for social connection

jy900 — 2024-03-28 19:13:04 UTC

Social media is a channel that allows for countless unique users to interact. Trends and challenges add to how different individuals can connect.

Misinformation

jy900 — 2024-03-28 19:43:32 UTC

Coming across misinformation is not uncommon on social media. Misinformed teenagers may be misled and spread this false information while following trends on social media, leading to new dangerous challenges. This creates an unhealthy cycle of spreading misinformation and creating new harmful trends or challenges.

Harm towards mental health

jy900 — 2024-03-28 23:39:05 UTC

Kirsten Wier explains that, “more than 40% of high school students reported depressive symptoms, with girls and LGBTQ+ youth reporting even higher rates of poor mental health and suicidal thoughts.” I definitely believe the trends and challenges on social media can cause teenagers to feel less confident, as they often compare themselves to others. While trends and challenges can have a negative impact on a teen's mental health, it acts as a double edged sword, since it can also be used to spread a positive message and helpful information about mental health.

Death by challenge

jy900 — 2024-03-28 23:45:54 UTC

Challenges that promote misuse and ingestion of substances such as the Benadryl challenge and the Tide Pod challenge have led to several casualties. Lindsey Bever states that, "Since 2012, eight fatalities have been reported among children 5 and younger, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers."

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

jy900 — 2024-03-29 00:24:51 UTC

People were able to raise $115 million in donations for the ALS(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Association together by participating in the ice bucket challenge. This was a highly successful example of using social media challenges to spread awareness and raise funds for those in need.

Sharing and celebrating

jy900 — 2024-03-29 00:34:01 UTC

#LoveWins campaign launched after legalization
of same-sex marriage and #MeToo movement created in support of women sharing experiences about sexual assault and harassment. Those who feel alone or are struggling with a personal matter can come together with those going through similar experiences. Rather than suffering alone, people can find a community where they can empathize with and heal with others.

Underdeveloped brain in teenagers

jy900 — 2024-03-29 00:49:45 UTC

The prefrontal cortex, a region in the human brain regarding self control and making rational decisions. However, this region does not fully develop until a person's mid-20s. This serves as an explanation for why teenagers are more likely to act impulsively and without regard as to the danger they are putting themselves in by participating in certain challenges.

The brain during puberty

jy900 — 2024-03-29 00:53:12 UTC

The region of the brain that desires and perceives attention as well as feedback from peers is more prominent and sensitive during adolescence. This means an excessive exposure to negative content on social media would have a higher influence on teenagers compared to adults.

Developing social skills

jy900 — 2024-03-29 00:55:42 UTC

Teenagers are able to connect with each other virtually through trends and grow their social skills healthily online. For teens with anxiety, having more privacy and time to think before they speak can be relieving and allow them to communicate while feeling more at ease through social media.

Prevention of isolation

jy900 — 2024-03-29 00:57:19 UTC

Social media prevents isolation and as Kirsten Weir says, “Social media provides a lot of opportunities for young people to discover new information, learn about current events, engage with issues, and have their voices heard.”