SOCIAL MEDIA: Social media are cooperative digital channels that enable the formation and distribution of information, thoughts, benefits, and other forms of expression over effective communities and networks. Social media is a communal term for websites and applications that attention to statements, community-based input, interaction, content-sharing, and partnership. People use social media to stay in touch and interrelate with friends, family, and various communities. EXAMPLES Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter are examples of social media networks. Though more specialized than others, LinkedIn may be considered a social network, as well.

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUTH Social media is a vast part of many teens' existence. A 2018 Pew Research Center survey of nearly 750 13- to 17-year-olds found that 45% are online almost constantly and 97% use a social media platform, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat.

SOCIAL MEDIA BENEFIT Social media permits teens to generate online characteristics, communicate with others, and build social networks. These networks can deliver teens with appreciated support, especially helping those who experience exclusion or have disabilities or chronic illnesses. Teens also use social media for entertainment and creativity. And the stages can expose teens to current actions, allow them to cooperate across geographic barriers, and communicate with them about a variety of subjects, including healthy behaviors. Social media that's amusing or disturbing or offers a meaningful assembly to peers and a wide social network might even help teens avoid depression.

SOCIAL MEDIA HARM However, social media usage can also negatively affect teens, diverting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to oppression, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives, and peer burden. The risks might be related to how much social media teens use. A 2019 study of more than 6,500 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S. found that those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at heightened risk for mental health problems. Another 2019 study of more than 12,000 13- to 16-year-olds in England found that using social media more than three times a day expected poor mental health and well-being in teens. Additional studies also have pragmatic links between high levels of social media use and depression or anxiety symptoms. A 2016 study of more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use, and emotional investment in social media such as feeling upset when prohibited from logging on — were each linked with inferior sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression.

The Effect of Social Media on Teenagers During the Pandemic (COVID_19) According to a report released in 2021 by Common Sense Media on social media’s effects on teens, about half of the 1,500 young people measured said social media is very imperative for them in order to get support and advice, feel less alone, and express themselves productively, as well as for staying in touch friends and family while social distancing. And 43 percent said that using social media makes them feel better when they are depressed, stressed, or anxious. Among LGBTQ youth, 52 percent said social media helps them feel better when they are experiencing these difficult emotions. On the other hand, the report, titled “Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Used Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health,” also showed a strong suggestion between social media and teens feeling depression. Youth with sensible to severe depressive symptoms were nearly twice as likely to say they used social media almost constantly. One-third of teens with depression reported constant social media use, as compared to 18 percent of teens who did not have depressive symptoms. Besides, the simpler their symptoms were, the more anxious, lonely, and depressed they felt after using social media. Obviously, social media does not help teens who are already feeling depressed and seems to contribute to their negative views.