In last week’s blog post, we discussed the negative effects of social media on teenagers, and while most research is devoted to the negative outcomes, there are a number of ways in which social media can be beneficial to teenagers. These benefits are divided into two categories: Social and intellectual.
Social Benefits
The greatest benefit of social media to teenagers is connectivity. Social media platforms allow teenagers to stay in touch with their family and friends regardless of their location. It also allows teenagers to connect with different people and make new friends, and expand their social networks. Teenagers benefit from having larger social networks not just because of the greater number of friends they make, but also because they become exposed to more learning opportunities.
Most, if not all, social media websites and applications are linked together in some way. Most platforms allow users to connect their Facebook accounts with their Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or other social media accounts. The interconnectivity between different social networking websites and applications helps teenagers develop their social skills and enhances their interactions with others in different ways. Teenagers benefit from having a greater understanding and literacy of social media and are able to stand out and advance in a technologically charged society.
The expanded social circles allow teenagers to receive additional social support, which has perhaps the greatest impact on teenagers: increased self-confidence. With a heightened and healthy sense of self, teenagers are able to reap the intellectual benefits of social media.
Intellectual Benefits
Certain social media platforms, such as Instagram and Tumblr are creative havens for individuals interested in sharing or creating artistic content. This allows teenagers to go beyond the limits to creativity and ideas by encouraging the sharing of art, music, videos, written content, podcasts, etc. Simply by being available and free to use, platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram encourage and support individuals’ work and help them develop creative and technical skills.
Critical thinking, reading, and writing skills are further polished through the availability of chat rooms, blogs, e-books, discussion boards, and forums. Documentaries shared through social media may work to promote ethical thinking in teenagers. Books, movies, video games or essays which are shared widely across social media, may work to push the envelop of critical and traditional thinking in teenagers.
Cultural Benefits
A heightened cultural and political awareness is another great benefit to teenagers. Teenagers commonly interact most withonly family or close friends, which means they may be severely limited in their awareness of different cultures and political viewpoints. Expanded social media networks expose teenagers to different types of people making them well rounded and more able to adapt to changing societies.
Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter serve as hubs for news, current events, and political information, which encourage different types of thought in teenagers, push them to question cultural stereotypes, and develop a political stance. They even allow teenagers to participate in voluntary or charitable activities.
Social media can also serve as a source of positive role models for teenagers, providing them with individuals they can look up to and learn positivity and ethical values from.
