Social Media Satire

In the sixties, teenagers communicated face to face with each other and there was less trouble maintaining their identity. Unfortunately, today dark times are upon us; we have social media. Humans have developed the internet to be used for creating and sharing content. In two-thousand sixteen, most teenagers participate in this lifestyle. Following this regimen, I connect with others regularly, be more public about my personal affairs, and gain popularity. But, can’t this public lifestyle open a door to the dark side of social media? — Judgment, stress, and disconnection from one’s “true self”. Surely! Today, the use of social media has prompted teenagers to question their morals, allowed us to experience extra stress, and consider disregarding
our “true” identities.
Through the use of social media, I have seen some of my peers become more self-conscious of themselves and consequently, they have questioned their morals.
In the eighth grade, while considering these doubts, some of peers decided to make “exceptions” as to what adhered to their morals. One factor, of course, was their phones. Our phones pose a great challenge between right and wrong. On our phones, many things such as alcohol, sex, and drugs are advertised as fun. When we see something that is common amongst others, we may feel empowered to participate in it. Sadly, some teenagers may choose to participate in actions such as underage drinking and sending or sharing inappropriate photos. The decent morals and principles that teenagers may have followed are all neglected because of what is advertised by social media. Personally, with three older siblings, I was given better knowledge of and warned about the damage social media could have on my life. This allowed me to protect myself and persuading a few friends to rethink their choices. Even though my actions were potentially status damaging, I stayed true to my morals. My experience with social media and its effect on the teenage mindset has opened my eyes to the reality of our connected world today. As a teenager, I have realized that worrying about social status can make us question our morals and behave in ways that are
unreasonable.
Status is very important in the social media world, and this social way of recognition creates stress in addition to the stress from school. In school, we worry about academic success, athletic achievement and how others think of us. Now that social media is part of the equation, for 24 hours throughout the whole week, a student is stressing about success in school and online. As a 14-year-old, I believe I should not be growing gray hairs faster than my parents! But figuratively, you could say social media is a gray hair. A gray hair everyone in my generation has grown that their parents have not. For teenagers, when stress is affecting us physically as it does mentally, maintaining a good physical appearance in front of others at all times is imperative to sustain our status. Transitioning into high school this year, I have noticed many of my peers failing to acknowledge this uneasy and perturbed feeling of dealing with their status and its unnecessary stress. I, nor can any of my peers, thrive the way we are supposed to in school without recognizing the stress social media creates and doing our best to not let it dictate how we present ourselves to others.
Unlike myself, many of my peers allow social media to create a virtual identity that distracts from what reality presents. Social media creates a virtual world that teenagers slowly begin to confuse with their own world—the real world. In this virtual world, we can be more public and can gain more “followers”. However, we can also become more vulnerable to these “followers”. On the internet, emotional attacks are endless and omnipresent. Every day, teenagers are criticized by others, who may even be people they do not know. Susceptibility to this negativity can cause us, teenagers, to believe appalling things about ourselves. As negativity continues, our online lives reassure us that we are popular. Today, our online lives get us more fame than our regular lives, so in the mind of a teenager, our real world lives must be the target of the negativity. Many kids my age hide behind their phones and computers like shadows cast by their owners. We hide behind ourselves. Teenagers like myself can lose ourselves on the internet and confuse our identities because who we are is not appreciated by everyone online. The second voice we have online makes it easier to disregard our true selves. With a false identity, we will always be, in some way, confused and troubled. Social media is a complete disturbance in our lives, our state peace, and our acceptance of who we are.
Transitioning from middle school to high school, I have realized the effect social media has on teenagers physically, mentally, and emotionally.
This destructive piece of communication in disguise haunts teenagers in school and out of school. We struggle to stay true to ourselves and our morals. Social media can also be a great addition to stress that only troubles us teenagers and leaves us in the dark, hoping for a way out. In our world, social media’s negativity can cause depression, a lack of an ability to express ourselves, and confusion about who we truly are. It clouds our thoughts and encourages inappropriate behavior through advertisement. Teenagers are constantly struggling to manage the demands of school and social media, and as a result, the chance of success in school decreases noticeably. Social media is a distraction to our future and maintaining our identities. It is easy to get caught in the concealed webs of social media, neglect it and eventually, regret our choices. Without acknowledging the dark effects of social media on our lives, no teenager will ever escape its webs and will continue to be isolated in the dark—in the dark
side.