Social networking: psychological impact on Indian teens

Abstract

Rapid and deep penetration of Internet in India has impacted every aspect of life across all ages. Changes are brought in all facets of life and face-to-face social interactions have been transformed into virtual social networking over Internet. Children and teens being the prime users of such services, the present article discusses the psychological impact of these social networking sites on them. The article talks about the various dilemmas of teenagers regarding this issue and throws light on some lesser-known facts gathered through researching recent studies.

Introduction

Internet and teens have become inseparable. For an average school-going child in the age-range of 12-18, dwelling in the urban, semi-urban and even semi-rural areas of India, the daily dose of web surfing, gaming and social networking is a necessity now. With the advent and increased usage of Internet in all the spheres of life, social interaction has also acquired a new ‘virtual’ dimension. Various popular social networking sites have become the all-embracing definition of ‘social milieu’ for the present generation. Ironically, the so claimed ‘socially-networked’ adolescents spending prime of their time in getting connected to the virtual world are in reality, isolated and disconnected[Swaminath 2008] from the real world. The ever-increasing dependence on the social networking sites can alter the way teenagers’ mind work[Greenfield 2009] and bring about changes in the basic psychological structure.

Digitalisation of our world

Digital media and online communication have become a pervasive part of our everyday lives.[Ito et al. 2010] Internet has penetrated deep into our social and cultural set up and is bringing about a sea change in the way we think, feel and perceive. Touching all facets of our life, the web is not only exposing us to new-age information but has made our life easy-going too. Now, just a click leads us to a whole world of knowledge, information, entertainment, shopping, etc. Youth tend to be earlier adopters than adults of digital communications and authoring capabilities, and their exposure to new media is growing in volume, complexity and interactivity.[Lenhart et al. 2007, Lenhart et al. 2008, Roberts and Foehr 2008, Roberts et al. 2005] It is hard to believe that just a decade ago these technologies were barely present in the lives of our children and teens.[Ito et al. 2010] Young minds are getting highly influenced by the rapid spread of world-wide-web. World is a very small place for these net-savvy children and their life seems incomplete without its support and presence. Rightly so, in the present complex, fast-moving, media-centric world, media literacy is an increasingly important skill. If children and teens are not versed in critical analysis skills, particularly in relation to the Internet, they run the risk of falling behind, both socially and academically.[Ofcom 2008] But the unchecked and rampant usage of social media by the upcoming generation is leading to some serious ponderable issues.

Digitalisation statistics

According to Internet in India (I-Cube) 2011 report, generation Y dominates the Internet using pattern of our country with more than three quarters of our Internet population driven by young men (27%), school (21%) and college (27%) going kids.[Dholakia 2011] The same report suggests that the number of ‘claimed’ Internet users in India has crossed the landmark 100 million mark in September 2011.[Dholakia 2011] Studies indicate that youth in India is using Internet for various purposes, social networking being the most important of all.[Greenfield 2009] Social networking through Internet is now the mainstream[Ofcom 2008] and preferred mode of communication for teenagers. The “Social Media” survey by Indiabiz News and Research Services (INRS) found that tech-savvy Indian youths in major cities are spending at least two hours a day to connect themselves with others through social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut.[The Hindu 2010] The Indian statistics compiled by Ethinos Digital Marketing (United States of America) shows that Facebook has crossed 50 million users, while Twitter grows to 13 million and LinkedIn has over 15 million users in India. Further, it is predicted that India will see the fastest growth in social networking this year (51.7%), followed closely by Indonesia (51.6%), and China lagging further back (19.9%).

Trapped teens

The various social networking sites have captured the young minds completely by giving them opportunities not only to interact with other people but play online games, buy products and follow their media and sports ideals too. These sites are not leaving any stone unturned in roping in the adolescent mind and making them their loyal customers. According to neuroscientists, social networking is amongst the three areas of computing having the most marked effect, imagined online societies and gaming being the other two.[Greenfield 2009] According to Park et al.,[2009] teenagers are engaging themselves in the social media, like Facebook, because of four primary needs of socialising, entertainment, self-status seeking and information. It is a medium where social awkwardness can be easily avoided and instant feedback on your personal information is available round the clock. Specifically, Indian teens are getting highly attracted to this digitalisation of social networking as it gives them an opportunity to exercise freedom of expression, which otherwise is largely inhibited in our society.[Ethinos Digital Marketing 2012]

Oblivious of the deep psychological impact of the excessive usage of this unique culture, youngsters are totally indulged and trapped. The amount of time spent on these sites by our teenagers clearly indicates that these web interactions have crossed the boundaries of being meaningful and fulfilling. What happens round the clock on social networking sites now, is a banal, aimless and meaningless exchange of personal information leading to laziness and social voyeurism.

Narcissistic or depressed?

Quite strikingly, a recent study shows that teens, who use Facebook more often show narcissistic tendencies.[Rosen 2011] Youngsters are channelising all of their energy in self-promotion through these portals by sharing attractive pictures, profile picture being the most attractive one,[Buffardi and Campbell 2008, Mehdizadeh 2010] and videos, leading them to be self-obsessed. The virtual social networking is putting a distorted rosy cover on the self-worth of these youngsters and the already present ‘teenage grandiosity’ is being given new fake heights.

Another side of the narcissism story suggests that some teens could be affected by depression because for them, facing the constant barrage of updates from friends who present a “false reality” of themselves, results in them beginning to suffer from low self-esteem. Its common knowledge that we all try to present the best of ourselves on social networking sites, and this can make some people feel inadequate.[Online Social Media 2011] The problem, researchers found, was that the popular website’s constant feed of status, picture and message updates gives users a skewed view of reality, which could make vulnerable kids feel like they aren’t good enough.[Mandell 2011] Adolescents feel upset and sad over seeing other’s fun pictures, confident and happy status messages, increasing friends list, triggering feelings of worthlessness in them and eventually leading them towards depression and anxiety.

The dilemma of real vs. virtual

Few past studies highlighting the positive impact of social networking over web indicated that the heightened self-worth proved like a boon for the introverts, shy and teenagers with low self-confidence as they could achieve social acceptance in the virtual world, that they desired in real-life.[Wolfradt and Doll 2001] Studies indicate that social media interactions make one less conscious of the individuals involved (including yourself), less inhibited, less embarrassed and less concerned about how you will be evaluated.[Greenfield 2009] Though it sounds perfect but this attempt to alter one’s basic traits and falsely fulfill one’s desire of social connections may not to be long lasting, and may leave the naive minds confused and distressed when they encounter the real-life situations.[Ito et al. 2010] Real-life situations and human interactions are much more harder and unique and it is difficult to deal with it. As per Greenfield,[2009] real-life interaction is far more perilous than in the cyber world as it occurs in real time, with no opportunity to think up clever responses, and it requires a sensitivity to voice tone, body language and even to physical chemicals such as pheromones.

At this juncture, the teenagers who judged themselves to be socially successful by counting the number of friends on their friend list and who thought that web social networks are the way this human society works, get shocked and find themselves unable to deal with the disparity.[Jesse 2009] This repeated pattern might make preteens and teenagers more prone to anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders, and make them more susceptible to future health problems.[Rosen 2011]

Inadequate social skills

Though media social networking is fulfilling the same affiliation needs[Chamorro-Premuzic 2010] of human beings as the face-to-face social connectedness but it undermines the importance of body and its usage in such interactions. Boyd[2007] concluded in his study that youngsters who have started to prefer the virtual society are unable to understand and experience the role body serves in conveying who we are to other people and in projecting information about ourselves. While text, images, audio and video all provide valuable means for developing a virtual presence, the act of articulation differs from how we convey meaningful information through our bodies. We learn appropriate behaviour by interacting with others and by collecting cues from the society.[Boyd 2007] The missing link is the adequate development of the critical social skill of ‘impression management,’ which, according to Goffman[1959] is the process of performance, interpretation of social cues and adjustment based on the interpretation. While the process itself begins at home for young children, it is critical for young people to engage in broader social settings to develop these skills but youngsters are losing the opportunity to do so due to the reduced face-to-face social interactions. So, youngsters in today’s world may be very popular and the smartest amongst their virtual friends but are increasingly lacking the critical skills of face-to-face interactions.

Virtual empathy

Adolescents are living in a make-believe world of social networking, where anyone and everyone is a ‘friend,’ whether known or unknown. Studies indicate that youngsters keep saying yes to the friendship requests from friends of friends of friends (reference) and sometimes strangers, thinking it will increase their friend list leading them become popular and likable.[Alivenow 2011] As youngsters have started to visualise the social world through the network of collected profiles,[Boyd 2007] they do not say no to any friend request. Few studies suggest that such ‘friendship’ over web is somewhat useful for children. While discussing the positive influence of the virtual social connectivity amongst young generation, Rosen,[2011] in his plenary session at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, said that young adults who spend more time on Facebook are better at showing “virtual empathy” to their online friends. Rosen suggested that this virtual empathy can be shown to connections on Facebook and felt by those on the receiving end in much the same way as a more physical empathy and could make teens more empathetic in the ‘real world’ too. But, there are many speculations on this point. Amidst this mad race to have maximum friends, the real meaning of ‘friend’ is lost somewhere and the present generation is drifting away from the emotional bond between friends, good friends, fast friends and best friends. Researchers argue against the perceived positive impact of social media networking and indicate that children learn to relate only through artificial ways and form superficial bond with their friends over the web.[Swaminath 2008] The empathy is also superficial and is not reaching to the right depths and at the time of real-life crisis, may not prove to be a helpful asset or skill.

Social media and learning

Studies found that middle school, high school children accessing these sites several times a day and feeling the need to stay online throughout the day.[Rosen 2011] The fear and anxiety of missing something compels the youngsters to log in again and again and they end up aimlessly looking through other’s profiles, playing online games and losing on the quality time with family and significant others. Study by Online Social Media[2011] suggests that daily overuse of media and technology has a negative effect on the health of all children; Facebook can be distracting and can negatively impact learning. In teens that use technology excessively every day, including Facebook and video gaming, it was noted that there was more school absence and also that those teens were more likely to suffer from stomach problems, sleep disorders and anxiety. In those students who checked Facebook at least once in a 15-minute study period, lower grades were evident and the teens that had Facebook open more in those study periods also had lower reading retention rates.[Online Social Media 2011] Young adults who have a strong Facebook presence show more signs of other psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviours, mania and aggressive tendencies.[Rosen 2011]

Risks of social networking

Adolescents are more vulnerable and less inhibited in their communication than adults and therefore may become exposed to risks[Australian Psychological Association 2010] such as cyber bullying, online romantic relationship, sexting, active and passive gossip etc.[Jesse 2009] Harping on the risk-taking attitude of adolescents, the prime drawback of web based social connectivity is being able to secretly look into the personal life of others. Somewhere reinforcing the social voyeurism, the peeping adolescents become more concerned about other’s life and comparing their life with others. This unhealthy attitude may prove to be detrimental for their overall development.

A number of researches show that most of the pre-teens and teens are unaware of the safety and privacy concern in the context of these social networking sites. They are not educated regarding the importance of cyber-safety and as a result, all of their personal information is public and can be seen or manipulated by anyone on the web.

The other side

This dynamic area of social networking is being researched everyday and attempts are being made to study the issue from every perspective. In that regard, studies[Beer 2008] have indicated that Internet communications may supplement traditional social behaviour rather than increase or decrease it. This is consistent with a social network theory, which implies that the more a person socialises in a traditional sense, the more they will socialise online.

Increasingly, studies are indicating that social networking has a positive impact on social connectedness and well-being.[Valkenburg and Peter 2009] Teenagers are getting a sense of belongingness and feel socially accepted and important.[Greenfield 2009] These social media websites can also function as a forum, where teens can openly have discussion with their friends on a variety of topics. They can learn of new information on current events occurring all over the world through these websites too.[Alivenow 2011]

Conclusion

This discussion of the positive and negative influence of social networking leads us to find the missing links of media education and parental support and guidance. The efforts towards media education strive not only to guide children to be better, more responsible, more responsive recipient of media content, but also at times to influence the media managers and governmental bodies responsible for overseeing them.[Yadav 2009] It is of utmost importance that there is a constant guidance and support from parents in these issues. Keeping in view the importance and ‘no-boundary’ nature of Internet, it is critical for parents and teachers to understand and enforce safe, responsible use of technology among kids making them responsible digital citizens in turn. Open communication between parents and teenager may lead to frank discussions regarding the teenager’s life and its various aspects. Adolescents need someone to listen to them and if given an ear, they come up with discussions regarding their deep-most feelings and attitude. Such healthy discussions between the parent-child duos may lead them to understand the nuances of society and social interactions.

Social networking in India is not a very old concept. Like any other new fad, it is reaching its peak and various speculations are being made regarding its future course. Will it reach its plateau soon or do we expect a steady rise in its popularity? Facebook craze in teenagers is going to be permanent or is it going to die its own death just like Orkut? More and more primary researches should be carried on in this area so that data is collected and the future trend may be predicted accordingly. Whatever is the future of social networking in India, the fact remains that it has changed the outlook of our present generation, may be for better or for worse.

References

Alivenow (2011) Social media and Indian teenagers [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://blog.alivenow.in/2011/04/social-media-and-indian-teenagers.html/

Australian Psychological Association (2010) The social and psychological impact of online social networking: APS National Psychology Week Survey [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/Social-and-Psychological-Impact-of-Social-Networking-Sites.pdf

Beer D (2008) Social network(ing) sites …revisiting the story so far: a response to Danah Boyd & Nicole Ellison. J Comput Mediat Commun 13:516-29

Boyd D (2007) Why youth (heart) social network sites: the role of networked publics in teenage social life. In: Buckingham D, editor. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning – Youth, identity, and digital media volume. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Buffardi LE, Campbell WK (2008) Narcissism and social networking Web sites. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 34:1303-14

Chamorro-Premuzic T (2010) The psychology of social networking. Psychology Today [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mr-personality/201001/the-psychology-social-networking

Dholakia V (2011) India crosses 100 million internet users landmark [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://trak.in/tags/business/2011/11/08/internet-user-growth-india-report/

Ethinos Digital Marketing (2012) A snapshot of digital India [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.slideshare.net/Ethinos/a-snapshot-of-digital-india-may-2012

Goffman E (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday

Greenfield BS (2009) How Facebook addiction is damaging your child’s brain: a leading neuroscientist’s chilling warning. Mail online [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 8]. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1172690/How-Facebook-addiction-damaging-childs-brain-A-leading-neuroscientists-chilling-warning.html

Ito M, Baumer S, Bittanti M, Boyd D, Cody R, Herr-Stephenson B, et al. (2010) Hanging out, messing around, geeking out: kids living and learning with new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Jesse (2009) The psychological implications of social networking. Plasticmind [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://blog.plasticmind.com/social-networking/psychological-implications-social-networking/

Lenhart A, Kahne J, Middaugh E, Macgill AR, Evans C, Vitak J (2008) Teens, video games, and civics [Internet]. Pew Internet & American Life Project. [cited 2012 Sep 8]. Available from: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Teens-Video-Games-and-Civics.aspx

Lenhart A, Madden M, Macgill AR, Smith A (2007) The use of social media gains a greater foothold in teen life as they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media [Internet]. Pew Internet & American Life Project. [cited 2012 Sep 8]. Available from: http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2007/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf.pdf

Mandell N (2011) Teens who use Facebook, social media may suffer from new condition called ‘Facebook depression’ [Internet]. NY Daily News [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-03-28/entertainment/29372672_1_facebook-social-networking-friend-requests

Mehdizadeh S (2010) Self-presentation 2.0: narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 13:357-64

Ofcom (2008) Social networking qualitative research report [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/annex3.pdf

Online Social Media (2011) Facebook depression: parents urged to be aware [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/20110328/facebook-depression-parents-urged-to-be-aware/

Park N, Kee KF, Valenzuela S (2009) Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes [Internet]. Cyberpsychol Behav 12:729-33 [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: https://www1.chapman.edu/~kee/PDF/P04.pdf

Roberts DF, Foehr UG (2008) Trends in media use. Future Child 18:11-37

Roberts DF, Foehr UG, Rideout VJ (2005) Generation M: media in the lives of 8-18 year-olds. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation

Rosen LD (2011) ‘Poke me: how social networks can both help and harm our kids [Internet].’ Washington: Plenary session at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx

Swaminath G (2008) Internet addiction disorder: fact or fad? Nosing into nosology. Indian J Psychiatry 50:158-60

The Hindu (2010) Indian youths spend 2 hours daily on social networking sites [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/internet/article526639.ece

Valkenburg PM, Peter J (2009) Social consequences of the internet for adolescents: a decade of research. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 18:1-5

Wolfradt U, Doll J (2001) Motives of adolescents to use the Internet as a function of personality traits, personal and social factors. Journal of Educational Computing Research 24:13-27

Yadav A (2009) Media literacy in India. WikiEducator [Internet]. [cited 2012 Sep 14]. Available from: http://wikieducator.org/User:ANUBHUTI_YADAV/media_literacy_in_India