Not long ago, some women,that I don’t know, kept on requesting to follow me on instagram. I kept on declining her. She texted me again and said, “ if you don’t let me follow you I will…” .THAT TERRIFIED ME! Social media like Instagram and Snapchat can be very harmful to teenagers.
It’s insane how long a teenager spends on Instagram and Snapchat. Teenagers spend an average 30 minutes a day on instagram. So many teens are part of instagram and snapchat because they have a fear of missing out (FMO.) Whenever I go on instagram and see somebody’s post and they are on a beach somewhere warm, or when they are with their friends having fun while I’m at my house alone, I feel jealous.
Another reason why so many people have snapchat is because of how perfect some of the filters make them look. I think girls especially use the perfect looking skin filter on snapchat to impress boys.I also think that teens use filters because they want to make all of their acne gone.
One study found that the use of social networking increases adolescent girls obsessive critiquing of their own bodies. I personally think that I spend way to much time on instagram and snapchat. “Snapchaters spend a total of 49.5 minutes on snapchat a day”, according to Kevin Systrom (CEO) of instagram and snapchat. If I was that addicted to snapchat I would be so mad. That’s’ a waste of time. Yeah I get it, you want to talk to friends. But come on. Why not just call you friend and have an actual conversation with them. Think about this 49 minutes is almost an hour wasted on snapchat. That is time you can spend outside, go for a walk, GET OFF OF YOUR PHONE!! To me that is crazy. I get so hooked into social media because I like to see what everyone is doing. But, then again I think to myself what the heck. According to the New York Times, It says that” instagram is so addictive because of the “like” button. I feel the ¨like button¨ makes people feel proud about themselves. Why do you need other people approval to feel good about yourself? Do you ever wonder the average time that your teenager spends on instagram and snapchat? As a parent you should really think about letting your teenager spend time of social media?
