It’s not that we use technology, we live technology.
— — Godfrey Reggio
Social media have penetrated our daily lives. People share their thoughts, express themselves by sharing photos, share their daily feelings, pull out negative emotions, and discuss some absorbing social topics. People can catch up with their friends, know what’s going on with them, and “like” their posts. They can track and “like” their favorite celebrities’ lives and activities. Therefore, the primary function of social media is to provide a place for people to express themselves.
Common Sense Media (2018) collected self-report data from teenagers ages 13 to 17. Compared to the data in 2012, they found that social media use among teens increased skyrocketed in 2018. 89% of teens had smartphones, and 70% of teens used and checked social media several times a day. Among teenagers, 41% used Snapchat the most, 22% used Instagram the most, and solely 15% used Facebook the most.
According to the survey results of Pew Research Center (2021), 76% of adults 18 to 24 use Instagram and 75% of them like to use Snapchat. There was the majority of older groups utilize Facebook. 77% of people ages 30 to 49, 73% of ages 50 to 64, and half of those 65 and older say they use Facebook.
Based on these data, the older age population therefore toward using old-fashion social media, Facebook. However, teenagers and young adults like to use newer social media such as Snapchat and Instagram.
If we employ Erikson’s psychosocial approach of development, we might find the reason behind this difference. In the fifth stage, individuals reached the age around 13, Freudian thought that their development will stop at what they called the genital stage. However, Erikson thought that individuals still develop throughout their life.
At the fifth stage in Erikson’s theory, identity vs. identity confusion, individuals endeavor to figure out who they are and what is and is not significant to their lives. They also strive to find consistent and useful goals and values.
During the young adulthood stage, individuals experienced the next stage: intimacy vs isolation. In this stage, according to Funder (2019), individuals start to “find intimate life partner to share important experiences and further development, rather than becoming isolated and lonely.”
Therefore, the reason is evident. Because the major function of Snapchat is instant messaging, which people can make a tight connection and communication with their friends, adolescents and young adults use it to complete the intimacy, by making friends and finding important partners, and avoid being isolated. Thus, 71% of young adults use it every day, and some of them, approximately 6 out of 10 people, use it multiple times a day (Pew Research Center, 2021).
Vulnerable social media users — those lowest on the scale of social-emotional well-being (SEWB) — regarded social media as a creative outlet to express themselves. 37% of them assert that this function was significant to them. Some 13 and 14 years teens can post their artworks, costume and design work, and other handmade stuff. In other words, by sharing their things and thoughts, social media shape them and help them realize who they are and what is important.
However, the old age group had accomplished their identify and intimacy stage. They find what is important and who they are and find important partners in their life. Hence, they barely use some new apps to meet more people. After all, Facebook was popular at that time.
Vulnerable social media users sometimes felt bad about themselves when nobody “liked” their posts and deleted social media posts because they did not get enough likes. They still expressed that social media consoled them a lot. Common Sense Media (2018) showed that 29% of vulnerable social media users felt less dressed, 22% said they feel better about themselves, and 39% said they feel less lonely. The data seemed to be more optimistic than in 2012 when only 11% of teenagers felt less depressed. Thus, social media helped their mental health in a somewhat positive way.
The deleterious influences of social media nevertheless cannot be overlooked. 72% of teens conveyed that they believe technology companies use strategies to allure them to spend more time on their devices and services, but they still used them a lot. Social media deprived individuals of time for doing primary things such as doing homework (57%) and sleeping (26%).
Also, it distracted them when they hung out with their friends (54%), accompanied with family members (34%), and even when they were driving (20%). Individuals confronted more racist content in 2018 (53%) than in 2012 (43%) and others such as sexist and homophobic content. Although 23% of teens tried to help people who had been cyberbullied, by reporting it to adults and posting positive stuff about the person being cyberbullied, many teens (35%) have experienced cyberbullies (Common Sense Media, 2021).
Why they still use social media a lot while they notice these negative influences of social media?
First, they need attention. According to Common Sense Media, 33% of teens in 2018 wished their parents would spend less time on their devices, compared to 21% in 2012. Not only do social media distract teenagers’ attention from doing primary things, but also makes parents put less attention on their children. Therefore, teenagers do not get enough attention from their homes and try to seek out online for more attention from their friends. In other words, although many factors might influence the data, teenagers who do not get enough attention try to build an attachment to social platforms so that they will not feel lonely or depressed. Therefore, they still want to use it.
Second, because of the global pandemic, 84% of adults who do not have the digital ability find it is difficult to work. It is consequently useful that teenagers use various social media because they are developing their content-related skillsto pass the 3rd barrier of what Wan et al. claimed the digital divide :
Searching and evaluating the right information, communication skills, and also being able to generate content on the internet.
In conclusion, the difference between the using habits of social media platforms might stem from Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. Teenagers continue completing their further developmental stages, while the old ages have done. Social media possess lots of advantages, such as comforting depression and loneliness of vulnerable social media users. They nevertheless have some disadvantages such as being cyberbullied and teens are suffering lots of distractions. Although most of them notice these negative influences, adolescents still choose to use social media because they build a connection, bond, or attachment with their friends and others so that they can earn attention ignored by their parents.
