ESSAY: Do You Think Social Media is Good for Teens?

Do You Think Social Media is Good for Teens?

Social media is a platform that allows users to have conversations, share information and create web contents. There are many forms of social media, including blogs, micro-blogs, wikis, social networking sites, photo-sharing sites, instant messaging, video-sharing sites, podcasts, widgets, virtual worlds and more. There are many things that we can do on social media, of course there are positive and negative things, depending on how we see from what we experience.

Social media allows teens to create online identities, communicate with others and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with valuable support, especially helping those who experience exclusion or have disabilities or chronic illnesses, and it serves as an educational tool. 

Teens also use social media for entertainment and self-expression. And the platforms can expose teens to current events, allow them to interact across countries and teach them about a variety of subjects, including healthy behaviors. Social media that's humorous or distracting or provides a meaningful connection to peers and a wide social network might even help teens avoid depression.

However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives and peer pressure. It can cause teens to feel anxious when they see social media influencers doing things that they are not able to do. It is also easy for teens and teens to bully one another on social media. Oftentimes, teens are sensitive. Their brains are still developing, and their mental/emotional health is unstable, just one cruel comment left on an Instagram picture can send them into overthinking. 

At the end, I think social media has a good influence, it can be from sharing experiences, adding new friends and adding new knowledge. Of course it goes back to each person how to manage their own social media.