Social Media has its own pros and cons. For instance, Social Media is a great way to communicate with others, but it can definitely have a negative effect on mental health.
For me, Social Media is a way I can share my life with friends and family. It is especially nice when you have a family member or friend who is far away, and that is how you can keep in touch.
Social Media is also a great way to spread awareness regarding certain issues and get help to people in need.
We can also see news immediately when using social media, one button and information is sent out worldwide. However, the news that is spread online could be fake news.
That is one of many downsides to social media, but there are many more.
One of the other downsides would be the screen time teenagers spend on social media. For students around Lakeland High School, the average screen time spent on social media is four hours per day. That is just on social media apps alone. The recommended screen time per day in total is less than two hours.
“I use TikTok the most because it makes time go by fast,” Dylan Malcom, a senior at LHS, said.
When paying attention to TikTok or other platforms, we can be very distracted and not pay any attention to what is going on around us. This can be a safety concern if you are out and about or rude to the people around you. In class, kids will sneak their phones, and during that time, they miss out on class time, and that will affect them down the road, whether it is for a test or just life in general.
Although we should not be on screens that much, social media can be used for the good. “
I do not have a lot of social media apps, but I spend a lot of my time on the Bible app. I like using this platform because it helps me get closer to God,” Isabell Merideth said.
When it is used for acceptable purposes, social media can be resourceful.
Various different social media platforms offer a place to buy and sell items. One platform is Facebook Marketplace. A lot of people benefit from platforms like this because they can find things they are looking for at a cheaper price. It is also a good way to get rid of the things you do not need anymore, and you can even make some money off of it as well. This is a great use of social media in a safe and beneficial way.
Social Media can make bullying so much easier because someone can sit behind a screen and talk without having to look someone in the face.
A lot of the time, cyberbullying has major effects on a person. When bullying someone online, the person doing so is more likely to get away with it.
There are so many ways to get around it like people can make fake accounts.
There is also an app called Send It where people can leave anonymous messages to people who post question boxes. The people who post these use it for entertainment when they are bored, but the people seeing them can use it to be mean and shameless to the person posting. Leaving that person who posted it not only hurt, but confused as well.
Coordinated with bullying, social media can make people feel bad about themselves and their lives, whether it is intentional or not.
“It causes insecurities because social media presents a life you want,” Cora Burnham said.
Things you see on social media are not always the truth; people photograph the parts of their lives they think are good. People do not post the ugly and the bad. They post the moments that make their lives seem perfect. People can edit themselves and things around them to paint a more perfect picture. On social media, people are giving you a small part of themselves, a small part of their day, not the reality. When people post fake images of themselves, it makes people feel bad about themselves, especially young women.
On the other hand, social media is a way to get creative and express yourself. You can make fun videos on TikTok, find new and fun recipes, and even create your own look-alike on Snapchat for your friends to see.
Snapchat has many more fun features that are fun and useful.
“Social media is how I communicate,” Burnham said. “I use Snapchat to talk to people, so I use it the most.”
It also has a map feature where you can see your friend’s location and when they were last active.
“I like this feature because I can check up on my friends,” Malcom said.
Burnham disagreed and said, “ I find it creepy and have my location turned off.”
Safety is a big concern here for most people. People seeing your location might seem fun and okay, especially if it is online for your close friends and people you know, but people are not always as they seem. It is getting easier and easier for people to make fake accounts to trick kids, and they can access different things of yours. Safety should always be the number one priority.
Different social media platforms have a lot of your information, probably more than you think, and when you post or send something, even if you delete it or think it is gone, it will still be out there somewhere somehow.
We all enjoy connecting with the people around us and creating different things through various social media platforms, but we have to remember to take breaks for ourselves mentally and to be kind to the people around us.