Social media consumes they lives of many today. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok all prove the main social media apps that people like to use. On these various apps, people can connect with long-lost friends, share their lives with relatives, and see content from cultures across the world. However, social media also carries many dangers, and even Congress seems to recognize these as it debates a bill to help protect children from the harmful effects of social media. Therefore, when considering this form of internet interaction, Union residents should act with caution, moderation, and restraint.
Social media has many dangers for both adults and children; although these negatives should prove common knowledge, many people do not know how harmful social media can prove. A main danger of social media comes in the form of people who want to do harm to others in various ways. Using the anonymity of the internet, predators can target children more easily, and even adults may find themselves as victims of scams, fraud, and identity theft. To counter this, people should exercise a greater awareness of their social media presence; one should remain wary of following those he or she does not know, and parents should always keep an eye on children’s social media. Young children should not have social media at all, and for teenagers, parents can still help their children stay careful on social media (without becoming controlling). Older relatives may also need a bit of guidance on social media as to help avoid scams that target the elderly. Furthermore, everyone should remain wary of misinformation, which can get so easily spread by social media. As a general rule, everything one should view everything he or she sees on social media with an extremely critical eye. These general tips can help everyone stay safe on social media.
While general tips help everyone stay safe online, social media can prove extremely harmful to mental health, and teenagers have a greater vulnerability of suffering mentally due to social media. As if the life of a teenager does not constitute a hard enough time dealing with everything, social media can simply add fuel to that fire; with a constant flow of comparing oneself to others, feelings of inferiority that do not have any truth to them can set in, which makes can drastically impact a teenager’s mental health. Moreover, for children with preexisting, mental health issues, social media can feed them only their own viewpoints. In an article for ABC News, Child psychologist Dr. Dave Anderson describes how social media algorithms can show children things that relate only to their own interests instead of other views, and this can only make these preexisting mental health issues worse (Guevara). Furthermore, social media puts children and teenagers at a greater risk of cyberbullying from both their peers and from adults. No one should tolerate this form of behavior, and although they may not always mean to, parents can contribute to this by posting their children’s business on social media without their children’s consent. While many more effects on mental health undoubtedly exist, they lie beyond the scope of this article; however, hopefully, this information can help people begin to protect their mental health online.
While many negatives can come about because of social media, this does not always have to prove true. Social media does have many benefits—connecting with others, experiencing information from other cultures, and many others. Therefore, one should not believe that social media constitutes an evil or that these platforms only have bad consequences. However, the dangers present warrant a sense of caution for anyone using these services. When considering social media, Union residents should keep all these basic tips in mind.
Send your Union community news to Matt Hennington at mch.2000@hotmail.com.
