Kids Love Social Media, but Should they Have It?

(Cover image credit: Kristina Webb)

Everyone loves social media, especially our generation. Social media is something that connects us to our friends, but there are also some downsides. But, why do kids love social media? Well, from experience I can tell you that…

• Platforms such as TikTok allow for an infinite scroll of videos of all of your interests.

Platforms such as Snapchat allow you to snap with your friends, even those who are distant, to keep in touch. You can also chat there which allows for yet another messaging platform.

• On Instagram, you can watch Instagram reels (lots of them) and you can post pictures and look at other people's pictures, to keep in touch with them. You can also message them.

This is why I believe social media is good for connecting with others and for keeping in touch. Now, what are the downsides of social media? From www.lifespan.org, I found some information that may help us find some of the downsides. *I did not use direct quotes from this source* Here are some cons:

• Online vs. Reality → People only post happy photos of themselves and you can’t really tell exactly how they feel. They may be really upset, but they put on a smile, which may fool you.

• Increased Usage → It gets pretty addicting, and you may find yourself on it all the time. On TikTok or Instagram, an infinite scroll of videos may seem nice, but they really aren't.

• Fear of Missing Out → If you see everyone else looking happy and healthy, you may feel like you aren’t as good as them and that you could never feel like them.

Using these pieces of evidence, hopefully, you can understand that social media can make you have self-esteem issues and you can also find yourself getting addicted to it, which is never a good thing.

Lastly, a common one, cyberbullying. Cyberbullying causes lots of mental issues and is not okay. This happens when people online start bullying others either in the comments or for example, on Instagram live. As you can see, there are pros and cons contradicting why kids love social media and why they should or shouldn't have it. So, what do you think… is this why kids love social media? Should kids have social media?

Author: Meena Giambone.