Social Media Has as Variety of Impacts on Users

Social media is widely used by many teens and adults, but it should be used wisely.

Photo hosted at https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media

Social media is widely used by many teens and adults, but it should be used wisely.

Emily Isaacs, Staff Reporter

Social media has a huge following with millions of people across the world accessing it.  Most social media platforms are available through an app as well, making the ability to access it quick and easy.   Social media can influence many aspects of our life. 

Teens and adults use social media in some way or another, whether that be expressing yourself in an Instagram photo, or just checking up on a family member or friend you haven’t seen in a long time.

While social media is simple to use and often free, it can have many negative impacts. Levi Gillespie, a senior student at GCHS, admits that social media sometimes causes issues. Gillespie explained, “Social media can be a major distraction to teenages  who have assignments/tasks to do. Sometimes they never accomplish them, because these apps pull their attention more than what they actually are supposed to be doing.”

Once individuals go online, they could be there for hours. This often impacts sleeping habits for some. “My sleeping habits were pretty messed up, because I would be on tiktok all night looking at all the different videos. Each one was just so interesting I couldn’t put my phone away, and before I knew it the time flew by,” Gillespie added. 

Social media can be a major distraction to teenages  who have assignments/tasks to do. Sometimes they never accomplish them, because these apps pull their attention more than what they actually are supposed to be doing.

— Levi Gillespie, senior

Heidi Little, a teacher at Great Crossing and a mother of two, shared her view on social media. “Things can be very negative. People share a lot on social media that they wouldn’t share in person because we have the protection of the internet. What people don’t understand is that once you post something it’s there on the internet forever,” she stated.

Little also is concerned about the effect social media can have on her children. Little explains her concern of how social media can affect her children.  “I would be really uncomfortable with my young children having social media accounts, even when they are older. I would be concerned about them having accounts I couldn’t get into. And I think a lot of us haven’t really learned to do social media safely.”

Josh Jones is the media arts teacher at Elkhorn Crossing School.  He believes there is a positive side to social media. “I think social media has a positive impact apart from what most people think. Social media can have you connected with a lot of people across the world.  It’s easy to interact with them and start conversations about the things you both like, all because they happened to scroll upon your instagram page one day.”

Jones also believes that social media can be a mood booster.  He said, “Posting things on social media can help express yourself in a variety of different ways whether that be creating something you’re really proud of. Then just getting positive feedback from people scrolling through your page and stopping to comment on something creates a really good feeling.” 

Users of social media should be aware of both negative and positive impacts and work to find balance when using it.