Assignment 16- Will Stone

Works Cited

Social Media and Teen Self-Esteem

Orlowski, Jeff, director. The Social Dilemma, Exposure Labs, 9 Sept. 2020,    www.netflix.com/title/81254224.

    This documentary is what got me thinking about the effects of social media. It explores how people can use social media and other forms of technology to harm the user. It includes testimonies from tech whistleblowers such as Tristan Harris, the Former Design Ethicist for Google, Jeff Seibert, a former Twitter Executive, and Bailey Richardson from the early Instagram team. These people and others talk about how their creations learn from us and our behaviors. Vincent Kartheiser plays the role of an A.I., trying to trap a teenager, Ben, played by Skyler Gisondo, into using his phone after Ben makes a bet not to use it for a week. The portrayal is hilarious and then sobering when you realize that this problem is real, even if it is being exaggerated. I will use the whistleblowers' first-hand testimonies to show that social media and similar technology are being used the wrong way. It needs to be out in the open for everyone to see.

Ortutay, Barbara. "Poll: Teens Say Social Media Makes Them Feel Better." AP NEWS,     Associated Press, 10 Sept. 2018,     apnews.com/article/a0982977344e413e9af1a77b86c1ec9c.

    This article talks about a 2018 poll conducted on teenagers ages 13-17 around the U.S. on many specifics regarding social media. Based in San Francisco, Common Sense Media found that 89 percent of teenagers have their smartphones, a 41 percent increase since 2012. According to the survey, 46 percent of kids think parents would be a lot more worried if they knew what "actually happens" online. Thirty-five percent of teens said that texting is their preferred way to communicate with friends, and only 32 percent of teens prefer to share with friends in person, which is down from 49 percent in 2012. The trend of communication is going toward digital, which will affect teens' social and emotional well being. I will use this article to give statistics and factual evidence to back up my 
"Social Media and the Development of Self-Esteem." Disconnected: How to Reconnect Our     Digitally Distracted Kids, by Thomas Kersting and Thomas Kersting, CreateSpace, 2016, pp.     25–34
    This chapter in Disconnected talks about how adolescents' exposure to what they perceive as everyone else's "perfect life" can lead to feelings of insecurity instead of gratitude for what they have. It also talks about what adolescents are being exposed to and how it can impact them emotionally. Kersting says that children are on the receiving end of hundreds or thousands of narcissistic photographs from their peers and start questioning their quality of life compared to everyone else's. I will use this source to show that even the average post on social media can negatively affect teens.
"Social-Media Use 'Disrupting Teen Sleep and Exercise.'" BBC News, BBC, 14 Aug. 2019,     www.bbc.com/news/health-

    This article talks about the difference in social media usage between boys and girls ages 13-16. The study says that the amount of times you check social media, not the cumulative time, affects you. The research shows that boys and girls who checked social media sites more than three times a day had poorer mental health and more significant psychological distress. It also shows that girls were more likely to say they were less happy and more anxious. These effects were due to disrupted sleep, cyber-bullying, and to a lesser extent, lack of exercise. In boys, these factors had an impact, but it was much smaller. I will use this article to support my claims that social media disrupts teens' sleep and social well. 
Tanner, Lindsey. "Rise in Teen Suicide, Social Media Coincide; Is There Link?" AP NEWS,     Associated Press, 14 Nov. 2017, apnews.com/article/
    This article talks about the proportionality of social media usage and suicide thoughts. The article says that teens who reported more than five hours of device usage daily were 70% more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who reported one hour or less. According to this study, out of the 87% of girls who used smartphones daily, 39% reported suicidal thoughts. I will use this article for these correlations.