How Social Media Is Shaping Our Lives

 

How Social Media Is Shaping Our Lives

By Olivia Rotondo

 

 

Social media plays a role in everyday life, helping people stay connected and entertained but it can also lead to anxiety, comparison, and misinformation.

 

People can stay in touch, communicate with each other, and have fun using apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.

 

People who spend too much time on social media may experience feelings of loneliness, anxiety, or sadness. It is simple for users to compare and feel as though they are not doing enough when they scroll through images and videos of other people leading their "best lives."

 

Stonehill senior Amanda Brown believes social media can be positive and negative.

 

“Social media has both positive and negative impacts. It allows people to maintain connections with past and current friends but can also place unrealistic expectations. There is often a pressure to get the best angle or best photo to share,” said Brown.

 

Editing apps and filters can change an individual's appearance in pictures. Users' self-confidence can drop because of feeling pressured to look a specific way, particularly for teenagers.

 

Social media is where people get their news nowadays. This makes it simple to stay current, but it also means that misleading information is out there.

 

A Senior from the University of New Hampshire, Samantha Filipi says that she finds news on social media all the time that is not true.

 

“I feel like I am always finding stuff out on TikTok, but then later I realize it is not even true. Social media spreads things very quickly, and sometimes it is hard to tell what is real and what is not. It is hard sometimes to know if the info your reading is accurate,” said Filipi.

 

Social media can be a great way to connect with people and gain support, despite its negative aspects. People used social media to connect with others and express how they felt during difficult times, such as the COVID-19 epidemic.

 

Freshmen Stonehill student Lorelei Rademacher sees social media as a positive impact on our society because it allows us to stay up to date with others, especially during the covid.

 

“During the pandemic Families could not travel to see each other, social media kept me from spiraling due to the lack of contact with my family and friends. It allowed me to feel close to them when I was not able to be physically close to them, this left a lasting positive impact on my life,” said Rachemacher.

 

Keith Malaguti from Plymouth MA shared his thoughts on how social media can be both helpful and harmful.

 

“Social media can be a great outlet for news and information and to read other people’s opinions, but you must be careful not to believe everything you see and read. Social media can quickly cause divisions as it is so easy to push your opinion through a keyboard and screen. It is easy to fall into the negativities of social media but if you use it correctly for the resources it was designed for, it can help you out tremendously in so many ways,” said Malaguti.