Social media has grown so much from the early 1970s until now. It has become a major part of the average teenager’s daily life. People need to reflect on if they acquire too many hours on social media. According to The Telegraph, a United Kingdom newspaper, the average teenager spends about 7.5 hours on the Internet a day and 31 hours a week. That will total up to be about 3 ¼ years of an average persons lifetime spent on a computer or phone. Isn’t that insane? There are so many other things someone could be doing with their time.
If somebody looked back on the day, or week, or year, they will probably regret spending all of their time on their phones/electronics. Rather than doing their homework, finishing a project, or studying for a test, they were wasting their time on social media. As teenagers we know all about not studying. We say we are going to our rooms to study, and then we pull out our phones and become mesmerized by them until 11 o’clock, and by then it’s too late to study. What social media mainly does for anybody is waste their time and can get them into fights, which could lead to cyber bullying.
Today, over 6 billion people use the Internet off of their mobile phones. That’s about 86% of the world’s population. Based off of CNN’s recent study, 2/3 of cell phone owning Americans use their phones to surf the web. Hopefully those shocking statistics will open up some people’s eyes to see what social media can do to people. What’s so important that someone can’t spend time with their family or go outside and get some exercise? Do people really care that much about what other people are doing? That’s what social media is mainly about, what others are doing. Why doesn’t everyone just go do those things for him/herself instead of making a “tweet” about it?
Don’t get us wrong, we both have social media ourselves and we think it comes in handy a lot. Anyone can log on and ask friends what the homework is or if they want to hang out and all that good stuff. The problem with it is when it gets overused or used for inappropriate reasons.
According to commonsensemedia.org the top 11 most used apps/ websites used by teens are:
1. Twitter
2. Instagram
3. Snapchat
4. Tumblr
5. Google+
6. Vine
7. Wanelo
8. Kik Messenger
9. Ooovoo
10. Pheed
11. Ask.fm.
An app that did not make the top eleven list is a helpful app for parents called Mama Bear. This free app is compatible with both Apple and Android devices and can bring a parent peace of mind. This app has many features like tracking your kids to know where he/she is at all times. Also there is an option that bans profanity on his/her phone. Another cool aspect is that this app can set a maximum speed limit on your teen’s phone to send you an alert if they go over the set speed. Initially this might send your teen into a panic. However, they might change their minds when their parents are saying yes to more activities because they can use this app to ensure their child’s safety.
