By Mirjana Hutnik – 9th Grade, Peters Township High School

In today’s world, at the click of a button everyone can be in instant contact with each other. Most people only focus on the negatives of social media but there are benefits also.

Like most teenagers, I love to check my phone to look at my new feed, or check up on the latest Instagram posts and maybe even answer a few texts. Most people think only of the negatives, but there are some positives.  The biggest one is definitely how quick communicating has become.  A text can be sent and answered in under a minute which makes information travel much quicker and more people become informed.  This connectivity is obviously great for emergency situations because it is much easier to call for help.  Social media is also a good way to know what your friends are up to and what is going on in their lives.  Just by looking at the newest feed, you can know where a friend went on vacation or what show they are currently binge watching on Netflix.  In a way, it allows people to learn more about each other.

Some of the negatives that come with social media are always present but are unlikely to appear if used correctly.  To stay safe on social media, always make sure not to give any sensitive information out such as your full name, age, or where you live or go to school.  If these precautions are ignored, many awful events could soon follow.  Social media is a window for hackers and identity thieves to work under the radar. Another downside to social media is that it reduces the amount of face to face contact in our everyday lives. It is great to have a portal to quickly ask a question or get information but more and more of our interaction is being received through cell phones and computer screens.  Much of our generation is not learning the important life skills that will be needed down the road because we have never had to actually go into the world and experience it.  Lastly, social media reduces the amount of priceless moments we have.  So many moments are lost because someone had to check their Twitter feed or only ever saw something that was happening right in front of them through their phone screen to get on their Snapchat story.  Later in life, we will regret how much we end up missing.

After thinking about it, I think that social media is a great idea but was taken advantage of to create something that cannot be fixed.  In theory, it was an amazing idea that the world can be one touch away from each other.  The problem is that everyone overused it and created an irreversible way of life that is sadly only getting worse.  It is not too late to change now but it will be soon.

Mirjana Hutnik is a freshman at Peters Township High School.  She likes to play softball, travel, watch Netflix & hang out with friends.