Impact of Social Media on Teens

Impact of Social Media on Teens

Riley Barr, Reporter

Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, all of those are some of the apps an average teen uses. You may be saying to yourself, “ Yeah, so what?” Well, have you ever thought about how much of an impact social media in general has on you?

Cellphones can be very addictive. There are so many apps to have and things to do. Now, Teenagers seem to get so stuck on something that they blur everything out, especially when focused on social media. Tiktok is the new problem. The app is starting trends where it’s showing teens and kids that they can do things and get clout for them. Some of those things are not good at all, including destroying bathrooms, hitting teachers, and so much more. 

Another thing is laziness. So many teens end up saying they’re going to do something, but they never do. Now, why would this be happening? Most of the time it’s a distraction. They are being distracted by messages, games, videos, and all of the technology. There are other things to do than just be on social media all the time. You must get up and do something sometimes. 

It also seems to affect your mental health. Things on social media can cause depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and oftentimes suicidal thoughts. There are more and more cases of teen suicide each year. 

Although, there are some good ways social media can impact Teens. One way would be showing teens that they can follow their dreams, by learning how to make music for example or make a career out of technology. Another way would be education. Teens can read/listen to books on phones and they read stories on apps like Instagram and Facebook. They can also have math or history apps to help them or just research things about them.

In conclusion, there are so many ways social media can impact the life of an average teenager. There are not only negative impacts but positive impacts on teens as well.