The Role of Social Media Platforms in the Dissemination of Hateful Agendas and Its Impact on Teenage Social Life, Resulting in Real World Crimes

This research paper analyzes the correlation between social media, specifically the ones used by the younger generations, such as discord and reddit and real-life crime scenarios. To bridge this connection, we look at multiple case studies and popularly known side effects of having a strong social media presence on these apps, and how easy it is to influence the vulnerable population, the youth. We go over the basic issues with social media, such as cyberbullying and how it can negatively affect a teenager for a long time. This paper has examples and evidence of cyberbullying, specifically on discord being directly related to mental health issues. The case studies go over large-scale cases like public shootings and criminal activity, the outcomes show the direct relation and influence that social media played in these cases. The paper also goes over the smaller scale effects of social media, which are less noticeable but do exist. The findings show that unrestricted access to social media like discord and reddit where one is allowed to directly and easily manipulate vulnerable teenagers has high chances of things going wrong, and how the moderation of these apps need to be stricter in order to prevent serious issues in a child’s mental health.