Over the recent years, the number of people who use social media has increased rapidly. People of all ages use it for different reasons, mostly for entertainment purposes. It has become a way to keep many occupied throughout their day. While there have been many negative outcomes from social media such as cyber-bullying and other online dangers, social media can be used in ways that promote positive and productive ideas in society.

Social media gives people the ability to communicate with others. Group chats on some social media sites help keep people updated on the latest news whether it’s school related news or worldwide news.  People are able to contact others online if they have questions involving work or school in general. Social media can be used to educate young people. Students are able to express and voice opinions, but some people take advantage of that and can be disrespectful when doing so.  

Communication can be a bad thing just as much as a good thing. Since communication is more indirect, it has made it easier to bully others online. Senior Wendy Sorto, stated, cyber-bullying “has been a major increase ever since social media has been invented.” People are able to hide behind screens instead of revealing who they are.

Some bullies feel like they aren’t bullying if they aren’t doing it to someone physically or verbally in person, since they are typing behind a screen. Ronsheka Joseph, a sophomore, stated “Cyber bullying is bad, because the victims feel sad, depressed, and lonely. This might result in them acting out or resort to self harm, and can become suicidal.”

There was an incident last Monday involving false accusations that a school shooting was scheduled to take place that day. Although it turned out to be a joke, many people didn’t find it funny. Jasmine Johnson, a senior, stated “people do idiotic things on social media all the time for attention. I didn’t think that was funny. It was childish.”

Things spread rapidly on social media, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the situation. There have been some incidents where private pictures have been leaked. This can be humiliating to the people getting exposed.

When asked if the pros outweighed the cons, junior, Joshua Iweala answered “although people tend to make dumb decisions on social media, I still think the pros outweigh the cons.”