Article April 3, 2017 Issue

Social media and the teenager

Katherine Stephen

A competition to be humanly perfect. That’s what often seems to be the focus in the venue where many teenagers spend much of their free time—social media platforms, frequently those that involve picture-sharing that are accessible via smartphones and computers 24/7. On such sites, perfectionism—striving to attain material perfection in all aspects of life—can seem to be the dominant message and a strong influence on teen behavior.

Social media certainly have positive uses, and some research shows that if they are used appropriately, they can be constructive for teens. But many teenagers, particularly girls, also find them stressful because of the pressure they feel to portray themselves and their lives as perfect. The Office for National Statistics in the UK points to a rise in unhappiness among teenage girls as probably attributable to the increase in social media use among girls in the past five years.

Most teenagers rightly want to express their best qualities, feel loved by their peers, and live a life that expresses beauty, intelligence, and achievement. But difficulties can arise when these natural desires become a willful drive toward perfectionism involving constant comparison to what others are doing, or pressure to conform or live up to what’s approved by others. If teens fall short of the advocated perfectionism, the result can be immediate criticism or bullying by their peers through social media. What can an individual do to help teens who find themselves immersed in an online culture that may be producing stress or negativity in their lives?

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