Social media is one of the biggest platforms in our day and age, and like many other things, there are positives and negatives. As a teenager, you probably already have social media or will have some in the near future, so in this blog we will explain to you all of the pros and cons, as well as how to be safe on social media. Before you begin, we recommend you take this quiz to see how much you know right now. ( CLICK HERE )

Interact with Others

One of the biggest pros of social media is that it allows you to interact with others. Most of the people in our society interact with each other online because one, it is more convenient to do so, and two, the majority of people have it. You can talk, text, and more, all on social media. Even if you are not doing these things you an also share your thoughts and ideas and other people can react or comment. Just make sure you are being safe when interacting with others online.

Stay Connected

Another big pro of social media is that you are able to stay connected. Usually you live far from friends and family, or at least you are not connected with them 24/7. Social media breaks this boundary. Speaking to our own experiences, in college most of us had to travel far from home and all of our friends and family, so social media gives us an opportunity to share and update our lives with people from back home.

The Bad

Social media can be a very dangerous tool if you do not know how to use it correctly. You must be aware and careful of everything that you do and post online. One bad move and you could be left in a very bad and venerable position. As a young teenager you want to avoid these types of situations that could lead you to negative aspects of social media. The dangers and bad of social media could be implicit and explicit. You may be able to notice some of the bad things but some other things are not that easy to catch. Here are a list of the bad things of social media that you may want to look out for:

Stranger Danger

One of the more obvious dangers of social media is the unwanted attention from people who you do not know. There are people all around us that have bad intentions who could easily have access to our every move because of social media. Most of us nowadays post a story to either Snapchat or Instagram to show off where they are at without thinking twice of who watches. Some apps like Snapchat, even have a feature where you can see the exact location of a person. Social media makes it easier for the wrong people to know where you are at with a simple status update. Be sure to take all the measures you need to in order to avoid unwanted attention from strangers.

Personal and Mental Health Safety

Another major negative part about social media is the amount of personal information that is put and the access that others have to it. It is easy to put everything out there on the social media platforms, but you gotta take a step back and figure out not to post online for the safety of you and the people around you. With this also comes the problem of cyberbullying.

There are toxic people online that can make your life miserable by harassing you online. This could have a great effect on your mental health causing depression and anxiety. There are numerous examples of people that commit suicide because of cyber bullies. When being on social media it is important to take care of your mental health and not get consumed by the online world. It is important to moderate yourself and have a healthy balance between social and real life interactions.

If you are interested in further information and statistics about this problem here is a related article Click Here.

Here is an interesting article that goes into further detail about what social media can bring to people. Click Here to learn more.

Tips

As you may know there are many pros and cons regarding social media, it is important for you to know how you can be safe online and use social media in a moderate way. If you do not know already there are many simple things you can do to prevent your account from being hacked and implement simple self care habits for your mental health. 

Safety

1. Remember, Stranger Danger.  Be selective of friends’ requests,  social media can be a great way to connect with people, sadly you can come across someone with bad intentions. Do not just accept friend requests for  followers. 
2. Keep Personal Information Personal. Do not post your home location out to the world or other sensitive information, you do not want the wrong hands to get hold of that information. 
3. Stay Unhacked. Keep your passwords to yourself, and make sure you have a strong one. Do not have a single password for all of your online accounts, it is best to have multiple ones incase someone does hack you they will only be able to hack one of your accounts. 
4. Don’t Press on Unknown Links. Don’t fall for the trap. If you get a link saying you one money and it asks for your information it is a scam. Hackers send links to people of fake websites  to get information off them, these websites sometimes contain a virus. 
5. Avoid Games That Ask For Personal Details. Most games that require you enter personal information will use your information and give it to spammers.Once again, you do not want your information to fall into the wrong persons.

Mindfullness

1. Track Your Usage. It is not healthy for you to be on social media all day. Check to see your daily usage on all social media apps, if they are taking most of your time, then cut back on your usage.
2. Do not Compare Yourself To Others. People use social media to post their highlights, although the person may seem they have a perfect life they most likely don’t. You do not know what is happening behind the scenes. Remember that every person is unique and perfect in their own ways.
3. Acknowledge Your Feelings. Take notice of how you feel after using social media.  If social media is making you feel angry, depressed or envy first reflect on your feelings and then try to understand where they are coming from. It is probably a good idea to take a break from it. 
4. Positive Vibes Only. Do not go online to spread hate through a comment or post. There is no need for you to do that, because there is enough hatred in the world.  
5. Don’t Check Social Media First Thing In The Morning. Do let social media be your main priority. Enjoy your morning by interacting with others face to face first, before you go online. 

Conclusion

Now that you have learned a lot more useful information about being online and on social media, retake the quiz to see how you improved! ( CLICK HERE )