As adolescents, social media is a major part of our lives. Over the years, the social media sphere has upgraded with many social media platforms serving different purposes. I remember during my childhood days. At that time, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and the other popular platforms that we have today were not widely recognized. Although they might have existed, they were not widely used, at least not in my part of the country. Facebook and a platform called 2go were the talk of the town. They were on the lips of almost all adolescents. If you were not on these two platforms, you were not in the hot league. You were not cool at all. There were no really Android phones, people made use of small button phones. I remember how my siblings and cousins would stay up all night, chatting with friends on 2go.
I don’t really know how 2go worked because I never used it, but I think the more you chat with friends, the more your rank/status increases. There were different ranks, from Amateur to grandmaster and all. Every day, I'd hear them bragging about their ranks. I wasn't really interested in 2go, but I jumped on the moving train when Facebook became popular. I remember how I opened a Facebook account “mistakenly” on my dad’s button phone. I had been hearing about Facebook, so one night while my dad was asleep, I picked up his phone and opened Facebook. I didn't expect that it'd work. I actually thought it was just there for the sake of being there. I saw a space to create an account and add a password and after filling in the necessary details, I had an account. Every night, I’d sneak into my dad’s room and use his phone to explore Facebook.
Looking back, we have come a long way in the social media world. Today, there are so many social media platforms for different purposes. There is no doubt that the things we see, read, and watch on social media platforms impact our lives. This brings me to this week’s Sci-Fi multiverse prompt; THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH. Social media is a double-edged sword. It has both advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you choose to interpret and consume the things you see or watch.
One of the advantages of social media is that it lets you know about different things. Not only things that are happening in your country or around you, but also things that are happening around the world. Instagram and Twitter are my go-to platforms when I need to get updates about anything. I didn't know about the war between Iran and Israel until I came across a reel on Instagram. Then, I went ahead to use the Twitter search bar and I saw a lot of tweets regarding the war. The advantages of social media go beyond getting information. A lot of people use social media to advertise their businesses, learn skills, and make money in different ways.
On the other hand, if adolescents are not careful, they could easily get exposed to the negative part of social media. A very good example is a person who gets misled by fake rich people online. Social media can be deceptive. You see people your age riding big cars and flaunting rich things, and you start thinking about your life. You start to compare yourself with them. However, most of these people are fakers who borrow things here and then, then create content to generate traffic.
Social media has both advantages and disadvantages. We are in control of how we let social media affect our mental health. We can either choose to lay comfortably on the positive side, or we can choose to let ourselves fall into traps.
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Thanks for reading.