Social media can be both positive and negative. It can bring people together and help keep you informed of what’s happening in the world. It can even help you build a digital platform for people to search for you and follow you on, but social media also has its negatives, like cyberbullying, misinformation, fear of missing out, and negative feedback.

Dr. Judd Starling, a teacher, shared, “Social media is very positive in how it can be used, but it can also be negative. I think communication is good in ways where it is an outlet for people to share on.”

Social media is a good way to communicate with others, but it has also stopped people from reaching out in person. People will tend to think they don’t need to talk in person because it is easier to text.

Some ways social media has been negatively affecting teenagers and students is by causing anxiety, depression, and loneliness among their peers and themselves. Teenagers will go online to view content and photos; most individuals automatically compare themselves to others, causing self-esteem and mental health issues.  

David Napoleon, a junior, stated “I think social media can be negative because it makes people self-conscious in a bad way by seeing edited images of people.”

Recently, at a conference about online safety in Washington, D.C, a group of senators gathered with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and owner of Instagram, along with other CEOS from TikTok, X and Meta to talk about how children are being exposed to content that would be considered inappropriate. Concerned parents were also upset that their children are being negatively influenced and wondering why there weren’t certain policies in place to make sure this wouldn’t happen. Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the families that were harmed or traumatized by the content they saw.

Teens have also been spending an average of five to six hours a day on social media, and some spend more hours than they do sleeping or at school. If a student spends six hours a day on their phone every day for one year that equivalentes to 91 days total. However, there are some students or teens, who will, of course, be on their phones longer than six hours so they are spending most of their days on their phones.

Overall, there are many pros and cons to social media. It can be a powerful tool for communication, information and privacy, but it is up to the individual to use it wisely.

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