Courtney Stallings

April 27, 2015

Professor Sipin
Paper 4
Social Media and Video Games, Good or Bad?
In todays society the use of social media has increased and the amount of video
games on the market has increased as well. There are many forms of social media,
which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr (which is more of a blog), kik, and
yikyak, etc. Social media can be used for many things such as, getting world news out
quickly or just simply keeping up with friends, but this can become very addicting very
quickly. It is uncommon to hear that someone in adolescence doesnt have some sort of
social media account. Not to say that 100% of adolescent youth have social media
accounts. Video games can have some pretty major negative effects that people now
considered to be normal and aren't seen as serious, but as well as some problem
solving skills. Its is more common that adolescent boys and grown men play violent
video games, such as call of duty or grand theft auto. Both social media and video
games have a problem of its users developing an addiction to them. As well as positive
and negative effects from the use of social media and video games. Therefore, it is
important that the older generations have an understanding of this, because social

media wasn't around until a little over 10 years ago and not nearly as developed as it is
now. Yes there were online chat rooms and video games, but those things have
transformed into what is available now.
All things have the potential to be addicting, some addictions are more harmless
than others and no I am not at all referencing drugs. I am talking about social media and
the addiction that the adolescent youth face and that really anyone can face, but I am
more focusing on the adolescent youth. The reason I am focusing on adolescent youth
is because they are the generation that is growing up with all of this at their finger tips,
they dont remember or really know the days before smartphones, Twitter, and
Instagram. As we have all seen or may have been guilty of ourselves, is constantly
checking our phones or sitting in front of our laptops on hours on end. With the
advancement in technology, we basically have a computer in our hands with modern
smartphones. These smartphones are constantly connected to the internet in some way
shape or form, so there for any social media account we may have, we have access to
them 24/7 by the apps that we can download for our phones. I know I have been guilty
of sitting in a class and not paying any attention to the teacher while scrolling through
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. With all of this at our fingertips, it is so easy to get
distracted from what we are supposed to be doing and doing what we find entertaining
or other than what we should be doing. As there is an addiction to social media, there

also is an addiction to video games, but more so violent video games. Some examples
of violent video games are call of duty, battlefield, and grand theft auto. In todays world
parents are struggling to get their kids to go outside because they are glued to their
gaming systems, laptops, or phones. Or even just getting their kids to do their
schoolwork, it is a constant battle of what we find entertaining and what we have to do.
Also, more recently in the news there was a case where a 12 year old girl tried to
poison her mother for taking away her iPhone. This is a direct negative effect of social
media and smartphones. The addiction to them is causing negative effects. This young
girl had intent to kill her mother, at that point in time she may not have realized how
permanent death is, but she would have realized that she could not take back what she
had done if she had succeeded. It seems that this young girl was so addicted to her cell
phone that she went as so far to kill her mother for revenge.
With the addiction to social media and video games comes some negatives
effects that have the potential to do some great danger to the adolescent youth. The
reason I target adolescent youth is because they are the generation that are growing up
with all of this at their finger tips. In the article Psychological Aspects of Social Media
and Mental Well-Being by Katey Baruth, it was stated that people that spent more time
on social media were more likely to have lower self-esteem. As well as that there were
many studies that were done and show that there are many people out there that are

engaging with social media pose a greater risk psychological and physical trauma. Such
as many adolescent that are seen as unpopular, isolated, or depressed are more likely
to end up being the prey of cyberbullies. There have been many times where
cyberbullying has resulted in someone committing suicide, because they feel that there
is no way out and that they just want the pain and torture of their peers to end. So those
teens look for a quick way to end that pain and suffering. According to an article on the
CBC news website that was published on October 20, 2012, that at that point in time
there had been 41 suicides since 2003 that cyberbullying was involved in. As well as in
48% of all the suicides, social media was involved. This is devastating to know that
social media, that was not created for a purpose of cyberbullying, has turned into
something that people commit suicide over. Being in the adolescent stage, they are
seeking the approval of their peers. So, when they dont get the approval they seek they
often become depressed and when the cyberbullying is taken into account they are
looking for an easy way out. At this point in their lives they do not realize how permanent
their actions are.
With violent video games the negatives are much different and often worse than
those of social media. Video games have been known to portray women in a sense that
men now think it is okay to treat women in real life the same way they do in video
games. Anita Sarkeesian ended up becoming a victim of this misogyny, not physically,

but through the internet and social media. She is an advocate for changing the way
women are portrayed in video games. With this came backlash from players of all ages,
adolescent youth and grown men responded to this is in a negative way. According to
her Ted Talk, they created a video game where each time you clicked on the picture it
would add a bruise or cut to her face. So this video game was a way of portraying that
abusing women was okay. This comes from the way women are portrayed in video
games and that how men feel when someone tries to change something they are very
active in. In video games women are portrayed as hookers and many other things, so
therefore the men in video games treat women poorly. So therefore this is why men
think it is okay to treat women like they arent a person, that they are just an item that
they can punch, hit, cut or whatever. This comes down to being a psychological effect
because it is training men that it is okay to abuse women. According to an article called
The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Games on Players Hostile Expectations,
Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings, and Other Responses by Adrienne Holz Ivory and
Christine E. Kaestle, violent video games can increase aggressiveness, in behaviors,
thoughts and feelings. Which this directly plays a roll in how people treat others in face
to face interactions.
Even with the negative effects, there are also positive effects of both social media
and video games. With social media people can get news spread across the world in a

matter of minutes, by sharing, retweeting, and posting it for everyone to see. For
example, with what is currently going on in Baltimore, Maryland the news has spread
across the country in a matter of a day. So within 24 hours, everyone knew what had
happened. With social media, are we more connected to the world, but less connected
to our peers and the people standing in front of us. According to the article
Psychological Aspects of Social Media and Mental Well-Being by Katey Baruth, it has
been reported that there is actually an increase in interpersonal connections that is due
to the rise of social media and its usage. The users are feeling more connected to their
peers and closer to them, by creating a sense of individualism and creating a sense of
community with people they can relate to. With the sense of feeling connected and apart
of a community can contribute to a persons overall happiness. With this being said,
while yes it can get annoying that people are glued to their phones, but overall that
knowing that they are accepted by the people around them gives them a sense of relief
and overall happiness.
There are various type of video games on the market these days, and violent
video games seem to be popular. Now males tend to have higher aggression levels than
females, so video games can be a way for them to work on that or take it out on the
video games. According to an article called The Effect Of Digital Games And Game
Strategies On Young Adolescents Aggression by Sigal Eden and Yoram Eshet-Alkalai,

the aggression levels were higher after games with a presence of violence, but that
aggression levels were lower after playing games that were competitive. So while the
violent video games are most popular to adolescent and young men, they can increase
the aggression that they naturally have. In relation to that, the competitive video games
are games that lower that aggression that they naturally have can be more beneficial in
getting the aggression out of the system for that moment in time. So therefore males
can get their aggression out better though competitive video games, even though the
violent video games are more popular.
In conclusion, throughout researching how social media affects the adolescent
youth there have been some discoveries that I found interesting. Social media can have
some very bad affects on its adolescent users and they need to be more well known by
the general population. So that way if something is going on, they can get these
adolescent youth some help that they might need. Social media is a root of a lot of
problems that the adolescent youth are facing and it should not be taken lightly in
todays society. In this point in their life they are still in the stage of creating their own
identity and social media can really do some damage to someone who is seen as
someone that doesnt fit in. Parents should be keeping a closer eye to what their
children are posting and who and what is being commented on their posts. Because
those comments can and will affect their behavior and attitude, whether it be good or

bad. As well as, video games should be monitored and toned down. The way women
are portrayed and treated is leading to women being treated that same way in real life
and it is not okay. The adolescent youth need to realize what is real and what is fictional.
The video games are fictional and no real harm is done. In real life, real harm can be
done and you cannot take it back. Violent video games are so popular these days, there
isnt a single person in the adolescent and young adult age group that doesnt know
what call of duty or grand theft auto is. Grand theft auto is definitely the most vulgar of
the two and should definitely be toned down. The effects of these two major things
should not be taken lightly and that adolescents parents need to keep a closer eye on
what is really going on with their children to prevent this from getting worse.

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