The Impact of Social Media Trends on Behavioural Patterns of Youth (PDF)

Essay from the year 2023 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, University of Ghana, Legon (School of Social Sciences), course: Sociology, language: English, abstract: This sociological term paper explores the profound influence of social media trends on the behavioral patterns of today's youth. With the advent of digital communication platforms, social media has become an integral part of the lives of young individuals, shaping their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. The paper delves into the various ways in which social media trends impact the behavioral dynamics of youth, examining both positive and negative consequences. Various sociological perspectives were applied to analyse the impact of social media trends on the behavioral patterns of youth, including functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

The rise of social media has revolutionized the way individuals communicate and interact. Today's youth are the primary users of these platforms, making it imperative to understand the impact of social media trends on their behavioural patterns. The consistent exposure to a wide range of content like; influencers, memes and viral challenge has a prospective impact on the youth's behavior and decision-making processes. Getting to comprehend the association of these social media trends and the behavior of the youth is very vital for mental health professions, educators, policymakers, parents to ensure the well-being and development of the younger generation.

Nowadays, younger generations grow up having good contact with different types of social networks: easily acquire digital culture and live in a digital world where only adults are naturalized citizens. Social networking in recent times is popular among young people, particularly university students. According to Rida Noor (2000), the term "social media" refers to a group of applications like (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and YouTube). Due to the rapid growth of internet usage around the world, there are many youths deserting from the electronic media specifically, those who watch and listen to television and radio respectively to social media. Social media has brought both positive and negative effects on the youth.