Carolina Simental Ms. Lehmann English2-2A 6 February 2020 Social Media is Complicated Seneca once said,”Everything that exceeds the bounds of moderationhas an unstable foundation". This applies to social media as well. Some media’s impact on teens is complicated, affecting well-being, connections with others, and even academicperformance. In order to be wise users of social media, teens need to know how it impacts their well-being. In order to be wise users of social media young adults need to know how it impacts their well being. The effects of social media on teens’ well-being is complicated.Social media offers teens theability to talk to people with similar experiences, challenges,and struggles anonymously, which gives them desired support. James et al write,“Theability to communicate anonymously can mitigate barriers, such as shame, that interfere with support-seeking offline”(72). The authorsexplain that socialmedia allows teens to ask for help without feeling ashamed because they are anonymous. While social media doesoffer anonymous support, that is not the only way adolescents use social media.Often times, people who use social media.compare themselves to others or even experience crimes such as cyberbullying. James et al explain the negative impacts of social media on young adults’ well-being. “Several investigations document correlations between heavy media use and reduced well- being-related outcomes, such as diminished life satisfaction, internalizing negative experiences, and various dimensionsof ill-being,such as depression, anxiety, attention problems,and stress”(James et al 72). When social media is used too much or irresponsibly, it can have serious negative effects on people’s lives. Limiting time on social media and using it responsibly could help increase the positive effects on well- being while decreasing the negative.Social media not only impacts well-being,but can influence our relationships to other people as well. When examining the effects of social media, we cannot only examine the media itself, but must also consider the personalities of its users. “The child’s personality-the platform-is the more important factor when determining the influences of social media” (K.Y.18). Every social media user is different, so its impacts are different for every user.The one consistent finding is that an excessive use of social media increases negative effects.When looking at this article, teens connect more in person than when on screen. “Teens’ preference for face-to-face communication with friends has declined substantially, and their perception of social media’s interference with personal interactions has increased. only 32 percent say their favorite way to communicate with friends is in person, and teens are more likely to say they are distracted by social media when they are with other people.(K.Y.18). This matters because friends might you would never be able to know if anything is wrong with someone they are having a conversation with on the phone.If they are talking to someone in-person,communication is valuable and important.Theyknow if they are ok or not. Some argue that social media has only positive effects. While this sounds good, the reality is that social media’s impact is complicated and can be negative. Research has shown that too much time is spent on screen media has a negative impact on academic performance. Peiró-Velert el al write, “Regarding academic performance, overall sedentary SMU[screen mediausage] is indirectly related to it, either because screen time displaces homework and learing... or because it involves intermediate processes that negatively affect academicperformance” (7).When young adults use social media excessively, it lowers sleep time, which causes lower academic achievment. It is obvious that social medias effects are not all positive. Social media’s is complicated and should be used responsibly. Teens can control how social media affects them.If teens use social media wisely, it can improve their well-being, connections with others, and academic performance. Monitoring time spent on social media can curb negative effects. When spending time in peron with others, teens can strengthen connections by putting down their phones. Scheduling time to be off the phone and sleep can improve academic performance.By exercising moderation in social media use, teens can create a more stable foundation for their lives. Works cited James, Carrie, katie Davis, Linda Charmarman, Sara konrath, Petr Slovak, Emily weinstein And Lan yarosh.”digital life and youth well-being, social connectedness,Empathy, and narcissism.”pediatrics,vol.140, no. S2,Novenmber 2017,pp.71-75. Academic search premier, doi : 10.1542/peds.2016-1785F. Accessed 21 January 2020. K.Y.” social media and teens.” school Lidrary journal, vol.64, no 10,pp18-18 October 2018, academic search premier, Accessed 21 January2020. Peiró- velert, Carmen, Alexandria Valencia- peris, Luis M. Gonzales, xaviergarcia- massó, Pilar serraAño, and Jose devís. “screen media usage,sleep time and accademicperformance in adolecents:clustering a self –organizing maps analysis.” Plos one.vol.9, no.6, June 2014, pp1-9. Academic search prmier, doi: 10.1371/jounal.pone.0099478. Accessed febuary 2020.