Increase in the use of social media among the adolescents has become a common issue and the critical question accompanying this use is whether the use leads to positive outcomes or negative outcomes. For better understanding, it is important to highlight both sides of social media use among the adolescents.
Benefits of Social Media Use
The use of social media by adolescents creates a sense of belonging among young people (Davis, 2013) . Research indicates that casual exchanges among the youths via social networking, texting and instant messaging fosters a sense of belonging for amongst the participants (Kim, 2017) . Social media helps to connect young people with their peers regardless of the distance and time which helps them to experience connectedness.
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Social media improves the psychosocial wellbeing of adolescents. The socially anxious and lonely adolescents are encouraged to engage in self-disclosure exercises among their peers which connects them socially (Davis, 2013) . It is through the social media that lonely adolescents feel comfortable to share their experiences and thoughts. Use of Social media by young people acts as an avenue for identity development through imitation of positive individuals. Most youths go on social media to look for positive messages about life which helps to shape their future characters that translates to identity.
Risks of Social Media Use among adolescents
Social media shapes characters of youths through imitation and adaptation. For instance, several studies suggest that video game violence has a direct impact on the psychological being of adolescents (Kim, 2017) . Some of these aggressive video games are shared through social media and when adolescents are exposed to them they easily develop aggressive behaviours and thoughts. Internet harassment and cyberbullying to adolescents is one of the most notable risks of social media use among the adolescents. Some teen suicides have been attributed to cyberbullying as some adolescents have become frustrated (Abrutyn & Mueller, 2014 ). Mental health professionals in the course of their duty, have encountered teen patients suffering from online bullying and they are negatively impacted psychologically. It is difficult to trace most of the cyberbullies because they use pseudonymous accounts thus disguising their true identity.
Sexting is another major risk of adolescent use of social media. Youths often send and receive sexually suggestive content in form of texts, images or videos (Kim, 2017) . The main reason why adolescents indulge themselves in sexting is because in adolescence there is an ardent urge to look for sexual identity through exploration. When sext images or content are exposed to the public, the teens involved are psychologically affected which might lead to depression. Even when the content is deleted from the originator, information via social media circulates so quickly and it might be available anywhere else.
Another problem of social media use among adolescents is display of risky behaviours that has numerous effects. For instance, it encourages unwanted expectations on fellow adolescents such as reference to female social networking websites. Teens becomes easy targets for sexual victimization when they visit the sites.
Motivations behind the Disclosure Processes of Adolescents
First, the urge of belonging to a peer group and to actively engage in various activities (Shapiro & Margolin, 2014) . On social media adolescents do not want to be left behind or isolated in the current trends and therefore they disclose their lives as a way of comparing themselves to others. Through comparison with their peers, they attain a sense of personal identity.
Secondly, there is exploration of different norms and values through the disclosure of adolescents on social media. Adolescents have much freedom to discuss with their peers thus constructing their true self-identity (Shapiro et al. 2014) . The norms and values shared among peers may end up being discussed by parents who play the advisory role based on their life experiences. By sharing norms and values from social media with their parents, adolescents are able to make more informed decisions about their identities.
References
Abrutyn, S. , & Mueller, A. S. ( 2014 ). Are suicidal behaviors contagious in adolescence? Using longitudinal data to examine suicide suggestion . American Sociological Review, 79 , 211 – 227 . 10.1177/0003122413519445
Davis, K. (2013). Young people’s digital lives: The impact of interpersonal relationships and digi-tal media use on adolescents’ sense of identity. Computers and Human Behavior,29, 2281–2293.doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.05.022
Kim, H. H. S. (2017). The impact of online social networking on adolescent psychological well-being (WB): a population-level analysis of Korean school-aged children. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth , 22 (3), 364-376.
Shapiro, L. A. S., & Margolin, G. (2014). Growing up wired: Social networking sites and adolescent psychosocial development. Clinical child and family psychology review , 17 (1), 1-18.
