Today’s society is mainly based on social media and what we see online. We as teenagers and even adults, rely on social media for entertainment, forgetting about what we have around us. We focus so much on what the internet is saying, we don’t think about what we need to say before we say it. We let social media like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more dictate what we think instead of thinking it for ourselves.
Although social media does have its pros many cons cancel those out. Some of the pros are being able to talk to friends, taking pictures, and sharing experiences with others but there are so many cons that can outweigh those.
Social media creates unrealistic expectations for young teens everywhere, we think we have to live up to these expectations of being a perfect human when in reality being perfect is not possible for anyone. We see someone on Instagram or TikTok getting thousands of likes and automatically think that we have to look like them for people to think we’re attractive. Another con is that social media influences most of our opinions. We learn to take the easy route and agree with what others have to say, especially popular influencers because we are too afraid to stand out and disagree. An article I read, OPINION: Social media is distorting our opinions | Opinion | redandblack.com , explains how much the internet influences us and takes over our ability to function and think properly.
Every once in a while, you should take a break from social media. According to multiple sources, including www.jpost.com, deleting social media can help you a lot. It makes you realize how much you have in front of you and teaches you how to live in the moment and have more fun. We’re so glued to our phones that we don’t even think about how much we have around us. We’re more worried about the likes and views online that we don’t think about how people see us offline. We let what people say about us online carve our whole personality, and looks, which makes us want to grow way too fast.
Along with reading some articles, I did get the chance to interview one of my friends, Lauren who is a junior here at Agua Fria, about her opinions on social media and see what she had to say. I asked her if she thinks social media affects us and she said yes, in both a positive and negative way, “social media can be both positive and negative, depending on what you decide to see, post, or react.” Lauren believes that social media can be more negative sometimes because it can be biased and distract us from the important things in life. She also thinks that social media can be draining because of all the negative people on the apps.
Another question I asked her was if she thinks social media/the internet can influence people’s opinions and she responded, “ I feel like social media does influence people’s opinions on certain topics because some people do tend to try to fit in so they don’t feel left out or get bashed.”
Overall, I would say that social media has a negative effect on a lot of people, and even if people aren’t negatively affected they are most likely going to be influenced. Many people I know, including myself, feel the need to fit in with others so badly that we’ll do anything for people to like us even when we don’t agree with what they’re saying. Over the past couple of years, I’ve learned you shouldn’t change your opinion on something just because you want to be liked.