Teens and Social Media

Social media has become more relevant in the last decade and just keeps getting more popular. There are very few teens or young adults that do not have at least one type of social media account. Almost everyone is guilty spending more time than they should on social media. Just like with everything else, there are pros and cons to the world of social media. For example, it can be a great place to update family members near and far on exciting news or accomplishments. It’s a great place to keep in touch with those you do not see every day. However, with all the great tools that social media provides, there are also serious downfalls and teens seem to suffer the most from those.

I can remember signing up for my first social media account in elementary school. With our emails, we could MSN messenger each other, which we did all the time. Then in middle school I got MySpace along with my friends, then Facebook, then Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram in high school. We all get on social media initially with good intentions, however sometimes that is not always how it ends. In every single form of social media I have been a part of, I have witnessed some form of cyber bullying. There have been times where I stepped in and a lot of times where I have not. I personally feel that majority of the reasons so many teens and young adults suffer in the form of depression, anxiety, of self-esteem is due to social media.

It is sad that so many people care what they post and how people perceive to an unhealthy extent. It has also made teens addicted to their phone in a way that leaves them with separation anxiety to be apart from their phone and in constant contact with their friends. I will be honest, I definitely do not like going places without my phone, but I do more scrolling than posting on social media. Social media and technology can be great tools for teens but if they are not taught how to appropriately and responsibly use social media then they should not be using it period. It is not okay for people to hide behind a screen and bully others, or bully in general. Teens need to know that what they post on social media affects them and others and they do not need to try and look or be like someone they are not.