Solutions to the problems
Social media has presented many negative effects on adolescents and there are a lot of studies that focus on the hinderances that social media plays on society. On the other hand, there are many positives that social media brings and with these positives come solutions to some of the problems that plague adolescents. We want to show you these positive aspects and bring them to light.
Use social media to develop social skills
Social skills are an important part of life and learning how to communicate with others. Each person learns social skills at a different pace than others. Some learn social skills fast while others, due to their environment, learn them at a slower pace. One such problem that arises in adolescence is a lack of social skills. A Systematic Review conducted by WIlson O. Otchie and Margus Pedaste from the European Journal of Educational Research found that social media use in high schools resulted in an increase in social skill development (Otchie and Pedaste, 2020). This study found that social media was used to help facilitate learning through 7 different avenues, interaction (1), information dissemination (2), communication (3), collaboration (4), teaching, learning, and resource sharing (5), socialization (6), and entertainment (7).
Enhance well-being of LGBTQ+ youth
Discrimination towards the LGBTQ+ community is prevalent in all corners of the globe. Minorities that identify under this community face prejudice for who they are and this has an even more profound effect on adolescents due to how young they are. Even so, social media may provide opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and those of other sexual or gender minority youth to improve their well being (Craig, 2021). In our research we found a study that aims to find a connection between social media and improving well-being in LGBTQ+ youth. In this study, researchers looked at over 6,000 individuals that identified under the LGBTQ+ community and surveyed them on their most used social media sites and whether they acquired beneficial experiences and aspects of well-being. This was all measured on a Social Media Benefits Scale (SMBS). There was a large correlation between social media use and beneficial factors received by those who participated in the survey. Which seems to be that there is a positive relationship between social media use and beneficial wellness progressions in LGBTQ+ adolescents (Craig et al. 2021).
A community for those who self-harm
Does viewing self-harm content online cause adolescent individuals to conduct acts of self-harm? In this research paper, the researchers looked to understand why youths were actively looking for self-harm content on social media. According to Lavis and Winter (2020), "In contrast to widespread understandings of a causal relationship from social media to self-harm, this research has shown that young people accessing online self-harm content are likely to already be self-harming." ( p. 849). This research conducted ethnographic observations of conversations of self-harm on various social media websites and found that fellow peers were there for support. Youths seeking out this content are doing so to understand and find help for their actions due to the idea that they suffer from offline stigma and in-person support unavailability. (Lavis and Winter, 2020).
