By J1 Reporter Frannie Morris

Although it may not be visible all of the time, teens are heavily affected by social media and the amount of time they spend on their devices. Social media can have both positive and negative effects on teens’ mental health. 

Social media has some positive effects on teens’ lives, like connection through texting, apps like Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, or access to information. Junior Jovie Keenan explained that she “can send TikTok’s to friends as a way to connect.”  

While junior Emily Eytalis said that “she’s talking to her friends most of the time or her friends sending TikTok’s or sending texts.”  The common theme both of these girls echo is that social media can be a way to connect with others, which is almost always a positive thing.

Another reason why social media can be a positive influence on teens is, like Eytalis says, she can “bond over funny things she saw on TikTok” with her friends. Funny memes and breaking news that teens read or hear about through social media can bring them together and give them more to talk about. One last positive thing about social media is that there is access to so much information right at our fingertips, which can come in handy. 

However, social media can also affect teens’ mental health for the worse in many ways and have a bad influence on them and their actions every day, impacting them negatively. Things like comparison, anxiety, cyber bullying, or lack of sleep are all outcomes of too much time on social media. 

Keenan said that social media can be shown as disconnecting at lunch because “people just go on their phones instead of talking to each other.” This shows how addicted teens have become to their screens and life on social media because they would rather look at their phones while eating, rather than interacting with their friends face-to-face. 

Another thing that Keenan mentions is how social media can affect her academics when it comes to certain things. She talks about how she will give herself a five minute break from studying to go on her phone, but then that five minutes turns into 20, then 40, and soon enough an hour of wasted time spent scrolling passes. Once started, it can be hard to stop swiping, looking at other people’s lives and watching new videos.