The Effect of Social Network Sites on Adolescents’ Social and Academic Development

Facebook use has become an integral part of our daily routines, regardless of whether we’re aware of its impact. Therefore, it’s not too surprising that studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between Facebook usage and its impact on our happiness, well-being and self-esteem. From the article, June Ahn discusses how adolescents spend a long period of time on the internet daily and how this was associated to “increased depression, loneliness, and smaller social circles” (Ahn, p. 7). I found this issue resonated with me because I was one of the victims who experienced reduction in personal well-being due to the internet. I was a student with low self-esteem and afraid of social interaction during my freshman year in high school. The year was 2005 and that was the time when social network sites went viral (i.e., Facebook). When an adolescent is feeling depressed, he or she will try to spend more time online. In my case, it is mainly because I was able to find fulfillment from the internet that I can’t achieve from school. These fulfillments include social interaction, joining clubs, and making friends. However, the time spent using the Internet indeed isolated me from others and increased my loneliness. Addiction to the internet can cause isolation because people are less likely to be communicating with the real humans in their homes or schools. So instead of escaping from their problems, adolescents like me before dwell on them even more. The reason is stated from Ahn’s observation where “adolescents who frequently use an SNS have more friends on the site and also more reactions on their profile (i.e., friends posted more comments and wall posts). In conclusion, the researchers findings truly applies on my case because when I received more positive reactions on my personal Facebook profile, my self-esteem increased, and “higher self-esteem is significantly correlated with satisfaction with life” (p. 7).
The issue I discussed from Ahn’s

Bibliography: Ahn, J. (2011). The effect of social network sites on adolescents’ social and academic development: current theories and controversies. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62(8), 1434-1445. Whitehill, J.M., L.N. Brockman, and M.A. Moreno. (2013). “Just talk to me”: Communication with college students about depression disclosures on Facebook.