Nowadays, the young generation has been exposed to hate speech more on social media. Common Sense Media released a new survey last week which shows that hate speech is on the rise for young people. They have been facing hatred more than any other year.
According to the study, the ratio of young adults and teenagers is more on social media than any other age group. Due to the pandemic, the use of social media has been increased as young people were facing depression and mental health issues. To cope with that, they are using social media platforms but the wave of negativity is constantly roaming around them. They have been experiencing hate speech all over the internet like body shaming, color shaming, sexist, and homophobic material.
Nearly 95 percent of young people admit that they used social media at some point in time. Among 95 percent, 25 percent are of 14 to 22 aged people claiming that they use almost continuously. Since 2018, 8 percent increased usage of social media have been observed.
As per the survey conducted in 2020, younger people were found to be more depressed because of the pandemic situation. The pandemic had a huge impact on their lives and adopting that lifestyle was quite challenging especially for young adults. After the death of George Floyd, youth were also experiencing social instability and were getting more depressed as one by one tragic incident were happening.
In 2020, almost twice the number of 14- to 17-year-olds said they "sometimes" came across racist remarks on social media, compared to 2018 (12 percent). The report was conducted in collaboration with Hopelab and the California Health Care Foundation, says that unfortunately, the people who are at a higher chance of getting impacted with such content are more likely to experience it or recall it.
Racist remarks are more common among black young people than among white young people. When compared to non-LGBTQ+ youth, LGBTQ+ youth seem more prone to hear homophobic remarks (44 percent vs 18 percent). Females are more likely than males to come across sexist or body-shaming comments. On the other hand, considering the negative material that many young people encountered on social media, they often report having positive experiences.
Young people with mild to extreme depressive symptoms spend more time on social media than those with no any kind mental health issue. However, based on this analysis, it is impossible to decide if the correlation between social media use and depression is explanatory. The study indicates that when more young adults started to experience depressive symptoms, they diverted to social media to gain comfort, or feel lonely and isolated.
Read next: Researchers Conducted a Survey and Questioned Technologists About Their Thoughts on Tech Giants and Their Increasing Power
According to the study, the ratio of young adults and teenagers is more on social media than any other age group. Due to the pandemic, the use of social media has been increased as young people were facing depression and mental health issues. To cope with that, they are using social media platforms but the wave of negativity is constantly roaming around them. They have been experiencing hate speech all over the internet like body shaming, color shaming, sexist, and homophobic material.
Nearly 95 percent of young people admit that they used social media at some point in time. Among 95 percent, 25 percent are of 14 to 22 aged people claiming that they use almost continuously. Since 2018, 8 percent increased usage of social media have been observed.
As per the survey conducted in 2020, younger people were found to be more depressed because of the pandemic situation. The pandemic had a huge impact on their lives and adopting that lifestyle was quite challenging especially for young adults. After the death of George Floyd, youth were also experiencing social instability and were getting more depressed as one by one tragic incident were happening.
In 2020, almost twice the number of 14- to 17-year-olds said they "sometimes" came across racist remarks on social media, compared to 2018 (12 percent). The report was conducted in collaboration with Hopelab and the California Health Care Foundation, says that unfortunately, the people who are at a higher chance of getting impacted with such content are more likely to experience it or recall it.
Racist remarks are more common among black young people than among white young people. When compared to non-LGBTQ+ youth, LGBTQ+ youth seem more prone to hear homophobic remarks (44 percent vs 18 percent). Females are more likely than males to come across sexist or body-shaming comments. On the other hand, considering the negative material that many young people encountered on social media, they often report having positive experiences.
Young people with mild to extreme depressive symptoms spend more time on social media than those with no any kind mental health issue. However, based on this analysis, it is impossible to decide if the correlation between social media use and depression is explanatory. The study indicates that when more young adults started to experience depressive symptoms, they diverted to social media to gain comfort, or feel lonely and isolated.
Read next: Researchers Conducted a Survey and Questioned Technologists About Their Thoughts on Tech Giants and Their Increasing Power
