The pros of social media

In our generation, a majority of our teenagers are consumed with social media on a daily basis. We hear every day from almost every adult that social media is bad. It’s not good for your self esteem, your confidence, digital footprint etc., and while all those are still true to an extent, social media has proven to be very beneficial in many ways. 

Especially in recent years with the beginning of COVID-19, and the original time of quarantine where no one ever left their house, social media allowed us to connect in ways we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. We were able to go through something along with the rest of the world, and not have to experience it alone. Trends happen. Jokes are created. Ideas spread. It’s all a part of what makes our generation, our generation. It’s the type of thing that creates a unifying force in our time. 

I am genuinely so thankful to be a teenager in a time where I have access to the internet and technology and different social media platforms. I know it may sound silly to say, but seriously it brings so many more benefits in my life. Platforms like Instagram allow me to connect with people that I may never talk to on a daily basis, or random friends that I had many years ago from school that I can still keep up with their lives. I even follow some of my old teachers on Instagram. Not only that but I can also connect with my family, that doesn’t live in the US, that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to have contact with. 

Social media can also be very informative in a way and can help you find different people you can relate with or different things you can discover. Social media is like always having entertainment and having people who relate with you at the same time. It can help people not feel alone when they have no one in their life that can understand and help them get through whatever they are going through. Platforms like TikTok provide you with a form of entertainment that helps you find people similar to you or things that you are interested in. 

I don’t know the science behind the TikTok algorithm, but whatever it is, it’s genius because it draws you into the app even more when everything you see while you’re on there is what you want to see. The day after watching the new Spiderman movie, No way Home, I went on social media and that’s all I saw was posts about the movie. It was like living a universal experience where everyone came together on this one topic to talk about it. I see things on social media that are inspiring, or make me feel understood, or help me discover different things that I want to adapt into my life. Not only that but it helps kids in school to connect with each other and form better friendships or even do better in classes. I have classes where I have group chats on social media with my entire class that allow us to help each other when we don’t understand something or confirm due dates or class information that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do without social media. 

It can also allow you to connect with other people in real life over the topic of social media. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had conversations with people and they bring up a TikTok they saw, or something going on with a celebrity, or a current event spreading around social media. It gives us commonality across our generation to connect with. Now I do understand how social media can be negative and toxic to teenagers in our generation, however with a lot of self control and discipline with your social media usage, it can be a very beneficial thing to have in your life to a certain extent.