Teen talks social media

South Stokes senior Lydia Caudill is an intern for The Stokes News. She’ll be attending NC State this fall and plans to major in creative writing.

It is pretty well acknowledged that presently in our day and age, our devices have taken over. Our smartphones can pretty much do anything for us now, whether it’s updating us on the latest news, looking up information, or keeping us in the loop. The accessibility isn’t bad, but it’s the seeming addiction that teenagers have with it that keeps adults on edge. But we aren’t as addicted as we may seem for social media and our devices get on our nerves probably more than they do our parents.

I asked a couple of my fellow classmates and friends what they primarily used social media for, and I got mixed responses. Some of the responses were that they used social media as an easy way to keep in touch with people they don’t see every day. Others were related to the fact that social media contains a lot of funny pictures and videos, and they simply liked to laugh. As a teen, I can personally identify with both reasons. To us, social media is a way to let us feel connected although not present, and it can be comforting to see how someone is doing so easily. Social media also can be very entertaining if you enjoy goofy jokes only a small percentage of the population would understand.

However, we recognize social media definitely has its drawbacks. Being able to post whatever you want with a basic few taps is convenient, but sometimes too convenient. Social media can become corrupt very quickly because not everyone posts positive things. The word that popped up most frequently when I asked my peers about what they disliked, or even hated, about social media was “drama”. As adults probably know, at this age it is so easy for us to get caught up in all of the things that don’t truly matter. Social media makes it that much easier. When used right, it can harmlessly and easily be a great way to post aspects of our lives and be able see others. When used wrong though, social medias quickness can be used to target and hurt others. Many of my peers and myself included have experienced this. Social media also provides us with unrealistic expectations too, seeing as though people only post what they want others to see.

All in all, teens will still use social media regardless of what goes on through Snapchat or Twitter, but what people think we think about social media may not be entirely true. There will be upsides and downsides to everything, social media included. We teens, acknowledge that.

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