INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY 5.1.

ARTICLE WRITING

NAME: CHRISTINE JOY R. BRIN STRAND/GRADE/SECTION: GAS 12 - MAXILOM

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS EACH LEARNER’S OWN FAMILY, COMMUNITY,

AND SELF

In our current generation, technology is unavoidable and has a big role in our daily lives,
one of these is the usage of social media being used by many people around the world – to shape
the way we communicate with our family, establish relationships with the other people, and
connect with the world (Zsila & Reyes, 2023). By using social media, people around the world
can influence family dynamics and promote community interaction, so social media has become
an essential part of the modern era. When we delve into the details of social media and its
effects, it becomes clear that this virtual world has a significant impact on the well-being of
individuals, the structure of families, and the unity of communities. From a learner's perspective,
social media has a transformative effect on family dynamics, community connections, and
individual well-being while this enables unprecedented connectivity, it also brings challenges
that require careful consideration and hands-on management.

In family aspects, through social media, every guardian has an opportunity to watch their
children anywhere. It helps them to be informed on what are the possible impacts of these online
sites on their children's mental health. Social media makes it possible to be together as a family
with people who are physically or emotionally distant. The lockdown during the COVID-19
pandemic showed a particularly strong need for contact and a desire to create shared moments at
a distance, especially with older family members for whom the account was created. Families
developed new communication habits that are often still used (Pasteau, 2023). Social media
significantly shapes family dynamics, influencing communication patterns and interpersonal
relationships. Platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp provide opportunities for families to
instantly communicate and share everyday experiences, fostering a sense of closeness even
across distances.

In the community, social media allows everyone to participate by expressing their ideas,
establishing relationships, sharing their interests, and gaining new knowledge. According to the
journal by Giri (2023), as time goes by, social media has a big impact on the community and
helps especially on how to communicate with people around the world by spreading information
easily without face-to-face communication and immediately having various reactions. Social
media platforms like Facebook and Twitter act as virtual meeting places that allow community
members to connect, share information, and organize events. There are positive effects of social
media in the community these are: building relationships and staying connected, finding your
voice, showing empathy and kindness, offering support, better communication, spreading news,
learning and education, and motivating young people through these it gives anyone to have a
freedom to engage with different kind of activities (Hashem, 2023).

Related to self, social media have a big impact on individual’s lives many people in
today’s world rely on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and
Instagram to find and connect. Children under pre-teens and teens can also receive important
health messages on social media and other media. This may include messages aimed at
preventing youth depression and suicide, promoting positive, respectful relationships, or
encouraging healthy eating and lifestyles (Media Influence on Pre-teens and Teenagers: Social
Media, Movies, YouTube and Apps, 2022). Moreover, in the journal The Common Sense Census:
Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021 (2022), about half of the 1,500 young people surveyed
about the impact of social media on teenagers said social media is very important for them to get
support and advice, feel less alone and express themselves creatively, and keep in touch with
friends and family membership. Strategies for maintaining a healthy relationship with social
media include setting usage limits, maintaining a positive online environment, recognizing that
the virtual world is only one aspect of a multifaceted self, and cultivating self-compassion.

While social media certainly brings many benefits, it also has disadvantageous effects on
families, communities, and individuals. In families, constant communication can weaken face-to-
face communication, contributing to feelings of separation despite virtual closeness Christian
Licoppe argued that: “The more we see each other, the more we communicate” in privacy issues
and potential online conflicts can strain family relationships. In communities, the rapid spread of
information can lead to misinformation and opposition, which highlights division rather than
promoting unity it was emphasized in the study by Luo et al. (2021), that social networks are
filled with a large amount of false information, which often misleads the public into making
wrong decisions, creates negative feelings in the public and seriously threatens public safety and
public order. Individually, the pressure to live up to ideal Internet personalities can lead to
anxiety and low self-esteem, especially among younger users in a recent study by Rife (2022),
the more people use social networks, the more they experience negative emotions, including
depression and cyberbullying whether it is directed or not it may lead to more negative thoughts
and a more negative view of humanity as a whole also this can be particularly harmful to the
individual who have previously been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

In conclusion, by navigating the complex social media landscape of this time, it becomes
clear that technology, especially through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms,
plays a central role in how people interact with their families, connections in their communities,
and connect with the wider world. The transformative effect on family dynamics is evident,
allowing guardians to monitor and communicate with their children while facilitating virtual
togetherness, such as during the COVID-19 lockdown situation. In communities, social media is
a powerful tool for participation, information sharing, and relationship building, although issues
such as misinformation and separation need to be addressed. On the individual level, social
media acts as a double-edged sword, providing support and creative expression while increasing
pressure and negative emotions. Strategies for maintaining a healthy relationship with social
media, including setting boundaries and increasing self-awareness, emphasize the need for
conscious engagement in this digital world. However, it is important to recognize potential
difficulties such as the decrease of face-to-face contact within families, the risk of
misinformation within communities, and the impact on mental health for individuals, especially
the younger population by balancing the benefits and harms of social media requires constant
reflection, responsible use, and practical measures to reduce the potentially harmful effects on
families, communities, and individuals.

REFERENCE

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/impact-social-media-society-krishna-giri
Luo, H., Cai, M., & Cui, Y. (2021). Spread of misinformation in social networks: Analysis based
on Weibo tweets. Security and Communication Networks, 2021, 1–23.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/7999760
Media influence on pre-teens and teenagers: social media, movies, YouTube and apps. (2022,
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