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CarlaBlanco
April22,2016
Mrs.Scaife
Composition10800

TeensAndDigitalCommunication

Iscommunicationchanginghowyouthrelatetoeachotherandthemselves?Formuchof
ouryouth,digitalcommunication,suchasexcessiveuseofsocialmediaandtexting,canbe
harmfulintheirsocialdevelopment.Thisdamagecanstemfromrestrictiononpersonalidentity
formation,lackofselfreflection,andmissingdesiretoestablishauthenticfacetoface
relationships.The2015DigitalFutureReportclaimsthattherehasbeenabout94%ofinternet
users.Teensnowseetheinternetmorethanjustanentertainmentforacoupleofhours.
Therefore,teensshouldbemonitoredwhenusingtheinternet.Betteryet,theyshouldonlybe
allowedtousetheinternetwhentheyneeditastodoschoolworkorforsomethingoftheirown
good.
Theinternetatfirstwascreatedtobeonesourceofentertainment.Nowtheinternethas
becomeanaddictiontoteensthatdonothaveselfdisciplineandcannotcontrolthemselvesand
hasaproblemwithbeentooobsessedwiththings.IntodaysworldIveseenyoungkidswith
sometypeofelectronicintheirhands.Teenssaythattheyfeelliketimegoesbysofastwhen
theyreintheirphones.Thatisbecausetheyaresointowhattheyretextingorpostingthatthey
dontrealizetimeispassingby.Forexample,Ihaveafriendthatisaddictedtotheinternet.She

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sayshedoesneverhavetimetohangoutandthatsheisalwaysbusy.Shehasquittedallaspects
ofherlife.Shedoesntgetoffherphoneunlessshehastogototherestroom.Ifateencantbe
strongenoughtoresisttheinternet,heorsheshouldbemonitoredwhenusingtheinternet.
Restrictiononpersonalidentityformationisonethingteensgothroughwhenaddictedto
theinternet.Teensfeellonely,depressed,anxious,etc.Theyareseekingforpeopletotellthem
howprettytheyarebycheckingthelikebox.Teensliketoreadwhatotherpeoplethinkof
themandtheirappearance.Tothemitmatterswhatotherpeoplethinksofthem.Theywould
alwaysputtheirbestfacialexpressiononthepicturetheyregoingtopostontheirsocialmedia.
Theybecomesohappywhentheyseetheyhaveacertainnumberoflikesbuttheydont
realizewhoisreallyontheothersideofthescreen.Asocialpsychologist,SamGoslingonce
said,withoutprops,evenoutpersonalidentityfadesandgoesoutoffocus.Theselfisfragile
constructionofthemind.(Gosling)Goslingarguesthatteensworrytoomuchabouttheir
physicalappearancecomeouttobeinapicture.Also,teensliketoseethattheyhavethousands
oflikesorfriends.Withthattheyarenolongerworryingabouthowtheyredoingintheir
schooleducation.

Agroupoffriendstoo
busytohavea
conversationamong
themselvesbecausethey
havetokeeponchecking
theirsocialmedia.

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Lackofselfreflectionisanotherprocessteengothroughwhengettingobsessedor
addictedtotheinternet.Teensdontwanttoseethemselvesaswhotheyreallyare.Itisasifthey
wanttobeanotherpersonthatisnotthem.Allteenscareaboutisstayingconnectedandsharing
pictures,thoughtsandmoreontheirsocialmedia.So,lackofselfreflectionisbasicallythe
weaknessesandinsecuritiesthereareinteensandwhattheythinktheyarebuttheyrereallynot.
TheyarejustseekingattentionandseekingtobesomebodytheyrenotsaidGoslinginanarticle
intheAtlantic.

Ateenputtingonamaskand
hidingwhoshereallyis.

Furthermore,teenshasdifficultyestablishinganauthenticfacetofaceconversationand
relationship.Inatedtalkaaveryimportantculturalanalyst,SherryTurklesaid,weexpect
morefromtechnologyandlessfromeachother.(Turkle)Turkleacknowledgesthatteensprefer

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texting,emailingorpostingontheirsocialmediaratherthanhavingafacetofaceconversation
withsomeone.IntodaysworldteenshavefriendsfromallovertheworldduetoFacebook
andothersocialmedia.Teenshaveromanticrelationshipswithpeoplethattheyhavejustmet
throughtheirsocialmedia.Turkleemphasizesonhavingfacetofaceconversations.Atextisnot
thesameashavingafacetofaceconversationbecauseinatextyoucaneditwhatyouaregoing
tosay,butinafacetofaceconversationyouarewhatyouareandonceyousaysomethingyou
cantchangethat.Teensareafraidofexpressingtheirfeelingsandsoitiseasierforthemtosend
atextoremailandthatwaytheycanputdownwhattheywanttheotherpersontoreadorfeel
ratherthanlettingtheotherpersonknowtheiractualfeelingsorthoughts.Nooneeverknows
whatisontheothersideofthescreenanddontneverknowsiftheotherpersonisinreallyin
love.Onlinerelationshipsisallaboutlivingwithdoubtaboutmanythingsbecauseyoudont
reallygettoknowtheperson.
Somemayarguethattheinternettoteensisnormalorisawayforthemtoentertain
themselvessomeandtheyuseitasanescapismfromwhattheymaybegoingthroughinschool,
home,orintheirlifeandsowedonthavetoworrynone.However,texting,emailing,and
postingveryoftenwillleadtoanaddictionthatthenitwillbedifficulttotreat.
Asmanyofyoucansee,theinternetisveryaddictive,especiallytoteens.So,digital
communicationishowteensrelatetoeachotherandthemselves.Itispossibleofchangingor
helpingoutateenthatinfrontofascreentomakinghimorhermoreresponsibleontheirschool
work.AccordingtotwoHarvardresearchers,HowardGardnerandKatieDavis,teenstoday
thinkthattheyarelivinginacelebrityworld.(GardnerandDavis)Yet,celebritiesmaybeina
worldoffametheirlifeisalsofulloffakeperfectionintherealworld.

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WorksCited

Connected,butAlone?Perf.SherryTurkle.N.p.,n.d.Web.
<
http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together
>.

"IsFacebookMakingUsLonely?"
TheAtlantic
.Ed.StephenMarche.N.p.,May2012.Web.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/isfacebookmakinguslonely/308930/>.

Lebo,Harlan."SurveyingtheReligiousandNonReligiousOnline."Ed.MonicaDunahee.
Digital
MethodologiesintheSociologyofReligion
(2015):n.p.16.Web.
<
http://www.digitalcenter.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/06/2015DigitalFutureReport.pdf
>.

"PersonalIdentityIs(Mostly)Performance."
TheAtlantic
.Ed.JenniferOuellette.N.p.,31Jan.2014.
Web.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/personalidentityismostlyperformance/283043/
>.

"TheFlightFromConversation."
TheAtlantic
.Ed.LaurenCassaniDavis.N.p.,07Oct.2015.Web.
<"TheFlightFromConversation."TheAtlantic.Ed.LaurenCassaniDavis.N.p.,07Oct.2015.Web.
.>.

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