I’m About to Snap!

Rachael Jarman, Staff Writer

Social media has improved greatly over time and has a big effect on people and the world. Social media seems to be taking over people’s attention span towards others. There are several things that are good about social media, such as: it allows people to stay caught up with people, stay up to date with news, and not miss anything that is going on. 

Snapchat is one of the most popular social media apps out there. This app is very influenced by advertisements, as they pop up when you watch people’s stories. Snapchat allows people’s stories to be available for 24 hours, and a snap is available until you open it and possibly replay it. It supposedly “disappears” after that, although not many people believe this. It is claimed that all snaps stay in a single folder somewhere, which is a little scary. Everyone that has Snapchat seems to really enjoy using it, but if there is anything they don’t like about this application, it is probably only one to two features.

Instagram is also a very popular used social media app. This app is used to post pictures and/or videos to everyone’s feed, trying to entertain and get people’s attention, with the desire for more followers. Instagram has started to have features very similar to Snapchat, such as sending disappearing photos, and unique filters when on camera. People will spend money on more followers, how could someone want clout so bad? 

Facebook was one of the first social media applications; Facebook has been around for a very long time. I hear people say all the time, “Facebook’s for old people.” Well, most people that use Facebook are adults, including people that are in their 70s or 80s. I’m not going to lie, though, I use Facebook sometimes. I feel that it is very organized and family-friendly, unlike other apps. Facebook was made for pretty much anyone.

One con of social media is cyber-bullying. Some people tend to get pleasure from hurting other people’s feelings, and if they can’t get to that person, or aren’t tough enough to say it in person, they will do it online. Most bullies do that instead of doing it in person, which is very irritating. If you can’t say it to them in person, you shouldn’t say it at all. Actually, you shouldn’t bully people at all, but I am talking about other situations as well.

Another con of social media is when someone steals another’s identity. This is called “catfishing.” People will act like someone else, or they will lie and say that they look like the person in the picture they sent. They will steal someone’s identity by using their picture or even sometimes their name. One excuse of catfishers might be “Oh, I’m not allowed to have any social media” or something along those lines. They either catfish people just for the fun of it or because they are insecure and desperate to talk to people. They think that if they look different, they will be liked better.

Social media has a huge effect on society and can influence people in even the slightest. I really enjoy having social media, but it can get very stressful and overwhelming at times although it is very convenient in lots of ways.