Teen.ly is Made by Shawn Mcknight and Amy Stewart
We are trying to help them understand how social media has some problems.There are some problems with social media we can't fix, but there are some we can.
The question that you have to ask yourself is, am I posting to show everyone what is going on in my life or am I just posting to get a lot of likes? People, especially teens, have become obsessed with the idea of receiving “likes" on their pictures. Even Twitter, which used to have a “favorite" button, has now switched over to the word "like." To be honest, it is a pretty strange concept if you think about it. The first step is posting. You put filters on your pictures, or decide to just leave them as they are. You crop it to make sure it is perfect, maybe add a border for Instagram, and then you leave it out there for your friends/followers to see. Then, next is the waiting stage. You are either someone who constantly checks their phone to see the amount of likes, or you turn off notifications and check your phone once a significant amount of people have liked it. Either way, the last step is gratification. However, even though countless likes might make you happy, it is only short term. That instant gratification might satisfy your “social media need," but it is kind of sad to think that we all rely on "likes" to make us feel good about ourselves.
As a student, my life is consumed with studying, homework, and projects. However, in the modern technology era, my life is also consumed with Twitter, Instagram, and countless other social media sites. It might seem a bit crazy, but it is hard to resist the daily scroll on Instagram. Leaving my phone on does not help when I am trying to get my work done, but it is quite the addiction. Even when I am focused, most work is completed online. Being online while doing homework is difficult because you are surrounded by tempting sites on the internet. It seems like a simple option to just turn off your phone, but it is not that simple.