The significance of the internet and social media has reshaped and molded our world today. It has left an imprint on ourselves and those around us; social media has changed how we see the world and how we view and judge others. 

“Working at a counseling office mostly dealing with adolescence, social media plays a huge role in their lives in many different ways. I do not believe social media is necessarily “bad”. The downfall with social media is that so many have easy access to it at all times,” said Ally Mora, Bachelors in Social Work at Mountain West Behavioral here in Twin Falls. 

Social media can be a fake world. It’s easy to modify the life you create on social. Confusing the fantasy with reality can come with consequences that we might not even be aware of. It can be hard to see how much it influences our life and mindset. It can be difficult to put ourselves in another perspective on how others around us might notice traits we get from being on social media.

“I believe social media has a huge influence on most teens’ mental health and physical well-being. For example, everyone wants what they can’t have, and teens are easily influenced. Being able to see on social media everything you don’t have makes you want things even more. That could be a cool pair of shoes or a cool haircut, and it could also go as extreme as seeing another person being slimmer than you are and then that could cause someone to become anorexic or bulimic.” stated Mora

People tend to overlook that it’s easy to modify your life on social media. When viewing people’s lifestyles entirely based on social media, it can lead you to glorify their lives. It can lead ourselves to compare theirs with ours, which can create a lot of issues. 

Its impact can be either helpful or harmful, especially for teens and anyone younger (A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society). When it comes to teenagers, especially having unlimited access to social media and the internet, it comes with its pros and cons. 

“Social media can be nice to go on but if you are on it too much it can be a very bad habit and can become toxic,” noted Sophia Kapeleris, a CRHS sophomore. 

Social media can be used as an escape from reality. It can help people build relationships, and social media can help guide you to people with similar interests and to develop new ones. For kids who aren’t comfortable in their current situation and can’t be themselves in real life, or who simply want another way to express themselves. 

Social media can help them be themselves in so many different ways; it can be used as self-expression, “Using social media helps me to feel like I have a place to express myself,” said Sophia Kapeleris

“I mostly get emotions out of it. I’m normally not an emotional person when I’m not around people so social media gives me those feelings. It also fills my boredom,” explained a former CRHS student Ian Oneil, now studying at CSI.

However, teenagers having too much exposure or unlimited access to social media can come with repercussions. By being able to separate your reality from social media so easily it can tempt you to consistently use it as your only way to make ourselves “feel better” when there are other more beneficial ways to do that. It can bring out a dangerous situation. 

“I, unfortunately, have seen more negative consequences from social media than positive. However, this could be because I work with troubled kids. Most of the negative situations I have noticed with most of my teen clients are selling nudes for money. To a lot of my clients, this is a quick and easy way for them to make money; however, this is not doing anything for their mental health, and it is not safe. With these teens, you will run into a lot of insecurities, attachment issues, a constant need for reassurance, and so much more,” said Mora 

“I can’t say that I have a feeling overall about my teen clients having access to social media. Like I said before, if they are going to do it they will figure out a way to do it. All anyone can do is try to lead these teens into the right direction because social media is going nowhere anytime soon and if anything it is just going to get bigger,” mentioned Mora.