Social Media: Good or Bad?

 If you were to open up your phone right now, how many social media apps would you have? How much time do you spend looking at social media? When I was a little girl, there was no social media. Nowadays, it is all over, whether it be Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, or some other ones that teens have discovered that you do not know about. Over the last few years, there has been much debate whether social media is good or bad for a person.


A person might say that social media is good for me. I can connect to friends and other people who live far away. This became especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, the United States shut down its borders and people were encouraged to limit contact with others. As a result, people could only talk through their phones or social media. 


However, some can say that social media is ruining people's lives. especially teenagers. Below is a YouTube clip where the United States Surgeon General is warning Americans about the dangers of social media (Today Show, 2023). 


As a school counselor, I have seen what social media has done to people first-hand. Some students are being cyber-bullied due to what is said on TikTok or the newest app going around. Students have more anxiety and depression due to social media and wanting to make friends. Teenagers live on their phones and social media 24/7. 

While this debate has been ongoing, I do not think it will be settled anytime soon. So, I will let you decide what you think. Do you think social media is beneficial or not? Why? 

References

The Today Show (2023, May 23). Surgeon General warns of social media danger to mental health [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SvqoaZzyVs

Comments

  1. Lotta S. KaosMay 18, 2024 at 5:51 PM

    I really appreciate this post! I have been voicing my concerns about social media to my husband for years. We have kids in elementary school and are already talking about social media and "posting" things. They like to take pictures and create videos at home. They always want me to "post them online", even though they really don't know what that means. It is like they already understand the social importance of posting things for others to see. I am not big into social media and rarely post anything. I didn't grow up with social media and I am a pretty private person, so it isn't something that appeals to me a lot. It is crazy to hear that statistic about teenagers spending 3.5 hours a day on social media. It is concerning to think about what they are seeing and learning during that time! Thanks for sharing that video. It gives me a lot to think about with my own kids!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SaulMay 19, 2024 at 1:21 AM

    I share your concerns about this. I do not think the good from social media outweighs the bad. I do not think finding an apple strudel enthusiast community in the Cantonese language is worth the damage the idiocy brought by social media can create. Should girls spend time in sports, church, and book club or doing the latest objectifying dance on TikTok? Is repeating the same sound bite and mouthing the words constructive to their brains? How many are actually using it for what it is intended to? In China, TikTok shows educational videos rather than the dumb dances and soundbites. It speaks to the moral and intellectual degeneracy of our society.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Idam KimMay 19, 2024 at 6:30 AM

    Hi! I enjoyed reading your post and to hear about your perspective as a school counselor. As a former elementary school teacher, I also witnessed many cyberbullying especially during the pandemic period. Like many others would agree, I do think it has pros and cons. As so many new social media platforms like Threads come out, now is a good time to think about what can be done to enhance the learning sides as students spend so much time there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wile E. CoyoteMay 19, 2024 at 10:12 AM

    Lauren, thank you for sharing. I am eager to see how this topic is addressed throughout the semester. I cannot imagine being a child/tween/teenager navigating the internet these days. Even for myself, I have days where I do much more scrolling through TikTok than I should while I am avoiding some of the more productive tasks I need to do. It really is addicting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. WilliamMay 19, 2024 at 4:51 PM

    Thanks for sharing your ideas, Lauren--they've clearly sparked some good discussion here. One thing I noticed is that several of our older readings, especially the Rainie & Wellman chapters, highlighted the upsides of social media; while those upsides certainly persist, to a certain extent, the intervening years have also revealed some of the darker aspects of how humans behave on social media. I think it's important for those of us in educational/learning contexts to keep both the good & bad in mind as we determine how we'd like to approach social media in our day-to-day work.

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