Posting pictures, commenting on posts, sending streaks, and viewing stories have become the standard for any teenager. Today’s teens are expected and encouraged to use all outlets of social media to their fullest potential. Teenage society today is not recognized by their rebellious behavior or crazy hair, like in the past, but instead by their extreme use of social media. Every teen uses it, it’s the norm.

“I use Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and I have Facebook but don’t really use it,” junior Drew Weber said. “Pretty much everyone I know uses social media.”

So what do teenagers think of social media?

“It definitely helps you see, this is what happened then, and it was fun or it was bad,” sophomore Tommy Hashbarger said. “It just helps you to experience the world in a new way definitely different than 1000 years ago when you had to have a scribe bring it up to you or something.”

Although we thankfully may no longer need a scribe to help us recant our memories, teenagers also admit social media does much more harm than good.

“I think overall social media is a negative.” Drew Weber said. “People spend more time on their phones now than they ever did before, and it also makes kids feel self-conscience about themselves and insecure about themselves.”

Not only does social media alienate people and make them feel more secure about themselves, but it also can make people, despite its intention, more isolated.

“I’d say that social media distracts people from the community around them,” Tommy Hashbarger said “Let’s just say you’re at a friend’s house, you might be trying to talk to them but they might be on their phone looking at Instagram or sending streaks… it distracts people from the community around them.”

Social media bring forth insecurities and isolation, but it also provides a place for people to be connected and share their lives with one another. It’s a curse and a blessing. But to many, the negative definitely outweighs the positives.

“I think just stay away from it as a whole, because it’s an addiction honestly,” Drew Weber said, “I see a lot of people falling victim to that, in my opinion it pulls them away from reality a little bit and it sucks away a little bit of your happiness.”

The problem is teenage society is addicted to social media. They over use it and abuse its capabilities, and turn what could be a major positive into a major negative. Although it allows users to stay connected, it does so at the risk of one having their happiness sucked away. No one wants their happiness sucked away. Some teens have an easy way to deal with this.

“If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed and you think the cause is social media, delete it or log out,” Sophomore Gabe Lasek said. “Take a step back and calm down. Take the time to sort things out.”