When asked to write a research paper on social media, the majority of the students concentrate on the obvious. Keenness is necessitated where you need to write a catchy and highly captivating research paper.
You are probably wondering about how to write a research paper on social media in a smart and captivating manner. Social media has, for years, become part and parcel of human living and existence. Almost everyone is using social media but for different purposes.
There are groups of people out there who use social media for information garnering, while others look for social or business connections there. Regardless of the purpose, writing research on social media is not a simple task. Nonetheless, with the right approach, the task gets simpler hence enabling you to meet the requirements accordingly.
Explained below are guidelines that, when followed, will allow you to craft a smart and exciting social media research paper.
Crafting An Ideal Topic For Your Research Paper On Social Media
Focusing on the obvious doesn’t help portray your skills and might dismiss the attention of your professor or reader. Therefore, ensure to understand the commonly dealt with subjects and focus on topics that will be surprising and fun to read.
You need to understand the level of argumentation required by the research paper hence choosing a topic with the potential to stir up stimulating arguments.
For instance, settling for a topic like “When was social media invented” limits your arguments. Therefore, keenness must be employed while selecting your topic of focus.
Below are some of the topics to choose from:
- Is social media an influencer leading to the increased suicide cases among millennials?
- What are the impacts of social media on school kids?
- Is social media addictive, and if yes, how can one treat the addiction?
- How is social media creating a platform for small businesses today?
- Is Cyberbullying common in social media, and how does it affect people?
- Is it appropriate for parents to protect and monitor their children while using social media?
- Can social media save lives?
- How has social media affected human value?
The idea of choosing a captivating topic is to narrow your focus. Shift from the obvious and settle for an area that has not been dealt with by other scholars.
How To Write A Research Paper On Social Media
Once you have specified your area of concentration and focus, you should consider organizing all your ideas and points. Therefore, ensure to define an outline. Your outline must consist of an introduction, the body, and a conclusion.
Introduction
The majority of the readers read the first sentence and paragraph of your research paper to determine its validity. For your essay to remain interesting and credible, ensure to craft an interesting introductory sentence and paragraph.
Your social media research paper must have a thesis statement. The statement must be included in the introductory paragraph.
Through reading the thesis statement, the reader gets to determine your main idea. Therefore, consider crafting a concise but powerful thesis. Ensure to agree with your readers in your opening sentence and then preview your main idea.
The Body
The body consists of several paragraphs in support of your introductory paragraph, especially the thesis statement. Therefore, ensure to identify ideas and points in support of your thesis and have them developed into paragraphs. Every paragraph in the body part deals with one single idea but in harmony with the thesis.
The majority of students are unable to synchronize their body paragraphs with the introduction. Consistence to your main idea is necessary and must be evident. Remember, you can not write everything all at once. Therefore, ensure to prioritize your ideas and focus on the major points.
Conclusion
The conclusion must concisely remind the reader of the main idea and the points deliberated throughout. Therefore, keep it short but very engaging. Through reading the conclusion, a reader will have a thorough understanding of what the essay covers. Craft a punchy ending.
Proofread And Edit Your Research Paper
It is impossible to answer the question, ‘how to write a research paper on social media’ without capitalizing on extensively proofread work. You need to read through and re-read your work while revising all the grammatical errors.
Your research paper must remain organized and consistent. The research paper can not attract a good grade where it is full of grammatical errors.
Being practical and keen while crafting your research paper on social media helps you meet the instructions given by your professor.
Always follow the guidelines strictly and harmonize it with your predefined outline. Do not dwell on the obvious but instead get a unique topic to deal with.
An Example Of How To Write A Social Media Research Paper
The influence of social media on mental development
Name of institution
Student’s name
Course
Date
The influence of social media on mental development and behaviour of young scholars
Technology has revolutionized the way we live. In modern society, accessing social media is very easy. Social media is used all over the world to connect with others, receive information, and to share the news. A study done by the pew research Centre in 2018, showed that 7out of 10 people use social media. The young generation also uses social media for entertainment, and for connecting with the world (Bekaulu & Viswanath, 2019). 92% of children access social media. But the biggest question that is asked is, how does it affect the young person, and does it change their behaviour?
It is crucial to understand the mental health of a young person. At this young age is when most development happens and will always have an impact on their lives. Social media could have a lot of positive and negative impacts on a young person. In regards to their mental development and behaviour, there is a lot of connection with how the child turns out. On the positive side, social media has helped young people to be able to express themselves. They are a lot of platforms that they use to post pictures of themselves and describe what they feel. They begin to have a sense of themselves and creates an identity for themselves.
For others, they use social media as a way to connect with others. Strong relationships and friendships have been created on social media that could have not been created in the outside world. It also helps in the discovery of new different things and that helps them become more creative. The positive side of social media is very important for the development of a young person. Their mental development is also affected because of the different things that they are exposed to on the internet. They get to identify with themselves and create connections that are very important for their development (Keles & Grealish, 2020).
However, social media has had a downside on the mental growth and behaviour of a young person. If not controlled, social media could become problematic. Addiction is one of the impacts of social media. They are always glued on their devices and are unable to engage in other social activities. They cannot be able to relate with others physical and this hinders their development. Psychologists say that children who are always on social media could be socially impaired. In the long run, this will affect their mental development in the world (Keles & Grealish, 2020).
Phycologists have reported that young people who spend a lot of time on social media are likely to have mental illnesses as compared to those who socialize with others. Depression, anxiety, and psychological distress are the high risks associated with social media. This impacts there social development and could have more impact as they develop into adulthood. Social media also impairs sleep, which contributes to mental illness. When they engage in multiple platforms they will take a lot of time on them and will hardly get enough sleep. This will eventually lead to anxiety because the body will be demanding a lot of alertness, which they cannot be able to deliver (Kales & Grealish, 2020).lack of sleep will also affect their behaviour and performance in activities they do.
Cyberbullying is also a problem that young people experience on social media. It could be in the form of threats, hurtful comments, or intimidation on the content that they post online. It causes a lot of distress to the young person. The victims of cyberbullying may find it difficult to exist on the internet, and they will just stay at home. They will feel humiliated and lose self-confidence and self-worth. In turn, they will start to feel depressed, lonely, and anxious. Body shaming is also linked to social media. Society has created a notion of how the ideal body of a person should look like. It mostly affects young girls between the ages of 16 to 30. They lose confidence in their bodies and develop conditions such as eating disorders (Glazzard & Stone, 2019).
Social media may lead to self-harm behaviour. There is a lot of content that is on the internet. A young person can come across it and decide to try it. Some content promotes self-harm and suicide which they try to replicate. An unhealthy comparison is also a problem with the internet generation. Young people will compare their assets, relationships, bodies, and all sort of things. If they do not have what they desire they get depressed. The comparison will also affect their behaviour and attitude. The bad attitude will make them feel even worse than they already feel and they can have a mental breakdown.
In conclusion, social media can have both a negative and positive impact on the development of a young mind. Because everything is now digitalized and the internet is all over it will be hard to avoid it. A young person will need it to be on social media to be able to connect with friends and family. However, social media can create alt of mental problems like depression and anxiety. One should know how to balance their live and social media to avoid getting mental illnesses. It can also affect the development of a young person and will lead to a change in their behaviour and attitude. Despite the negative, one can use social media to create good relationships and connections with others. The impact of social media on mental development and behaviour must be discussed and, solutions are given to safeguard the youth.
References
Bekalu, M. A., McCloud, R. F., & Viswanath, K. (2019). Association of social media uses with social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health: disentangling routine use from the emotional connection to use. Health Education & Behavior, 46(2_suppl), 69S-80S.
Keles, B., McCrae, N., & Grealish, A. (2020). A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety, and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 79-93.
Glazzard, J., & Stones, S. (2019). Social media and young people’s mental health. In Technology and Child Mental Health. Intech Open.
What is a social media research study?
A social media research study refers to a collection of tools and techniques used for obtaining and analyzing social media channels and the internet.
What are the six types of social media?
Below are the types of social media:
Social media network examples linked in, Instagram, etc
Microblogging examples Facebook, Twitter
Social news example Digg
Blog comments and forums
Media sharing examples Vimeo, Youtube
Bookmarking sites examples Diggs, Pinterest
Is social media taking over our lives?
Social media is taking over our lives already. Almost everything now is done online, especially during this COVID 19 pandemic.
