Written by Joanna Mijares
Social media is the fastest growing social phenomena of the new age. Platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok, etc. are well known as the most used social media sites. Amongst the 3.9 billion people using social media in the world, the largest demographic is teenagers and young adults*. Approximately 97% of American 13-17 year olds use at least one social media platform**, meaning the students at MAST@FIU are no stranger to the digital world.
Social media is amazing in the way it allows people to communicate over long distances and spread important news quickly. Despite how useful social media may be, these sites may also have a darker side, particularly for teenagers. Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter are designed to grow to be addicting, with people paying excessive attention to likes and comments***.
Taking into consideration the good and bad of social media, I decided to ask some MAST@FIU students their thoughts on these platforms.
I questioned Senior Brunella Fernandez DeCordoba on how much she uses social media and how it affects her. “I use social media everyday whether it’s Snapchat, Insta, or TikTok. It’s very entertaining but can also be distracting. My daily average is like 5 hours lol. Social media has always helped me keep in contact with friends,” said Brunella.
As Brunella mentioned, most teenagers, myself included, use social media on a daily basis for several hours at a time. The entertainment that social media provides may be distracting, but it also allows people to remain in contact, especially when most students are doing school online.
I also wanted to get the perspective of Senior Alessandra Zanardi, who decided to limit the amount of social media she consumes. I first asked Alessandra why she left social media. “I started adding value to myself through superficial manners. I was so impacted by the numbers of likes or my longest streak. Having such a large dependency on such a trivial thing brought me much anguish,” explained Alessandra. This serves to further prove how addicting social media can be.
I next asked her to elaborate on how social media affects her and if she’d ever go back to it. “I know there are people who make a living off of social media and create positive content, which is something I look up to and applaud, but social media isn't for me. Considering that I have been off social media for some years now I think I can go back to it with a more mature standpoint and change the relationship that I had with social media,” said Alessandra.
At this point in time, social media is an integral part of our world’s culture and society. Like many things in life, social media has a good and a bad side. As mentioned by Zanardi, it’s important to approach social media with a mature mindset and to be wary of its addictive nature. If you make sure to take that into account, you can properly enjoy the global connections and endless entertainment that social media offers.
Sources
Comments