Teen culture has developed from an online presence to a greater existence for influences. Society has become increasingly captivated by digital realities, which have drastically changed how current youth communicate worldwide.
Social media has realigned former social interactions between people. Relationships are largely affected, often leading to questions about their worth.
“I think it has a big impact because of what you see, especially if dating or relationship status-wise. You see what other couples are doing, and you think that you’re not doing enough,” junior Marianna Schottler said.
Social media has changed the trajectory of friendships. Social media has given people access to communication with people globally. However, it also comes with the feeling of having an insincere friendship if online expectations are not met.
“You’ll see what other friend groups are doing, and you think that you have to be doing that in order to be considered like actual friends,” Schottler said.
The internet shifts communication to a greater distance. Although advancements in technology are beneficial to society, it threatens the normalcy of interacting face-to-face. Many interactions lack body language when online, which results in more miscommunications.
In addition, junior Sienna Standal said that people become less connected with each other and ultimately do not talk. Further indicating that social media creates personas of people that, otherwise, in person would not be achieved.
Teen culture is impacted heavily by social media, especially with social status. Instead of determining a person’s worth by personality, it is determined by how many views and likes someone achieves from a post. A person becomes more validated by a greater number of likes or followers, and can be drawn to deleting a post that does not perform as expected.
“I think it’s a big influence on teen culture, because of that, just really has, because of like the attention seeking, it’s made clicks of like either you’re popular and TikTok famous and you have a lot of Instagram followers,” Schottler said.
Online presence impacts everyday lives from the outfits people wear to the personality traits adopted from public figures. Whether deciding to have an active account or a private feed, exterior influences will impact ordinary actions.
“I’m usually constantly on it. I don’t really post a lot anymore, but I watch Instagram reels a lot,” Standal said.
Social media comes with many responsibilities, primarily including positive use on a platform. A lot of people will stray away from positive comments and only reflect upon negative remarks. Social media can be harmful to a person’s self-image, which often contributes to poor mental health.
“It would be more negative, probably because I’ll see things about myself, and maybe one person will say something bad, and I’ll notice that more than anything else positive,” junior Parker Harris said.
A lot of posts often have the same visuals among people. Locations, clothes, and poses are frequently shared within a group of people. Standal said people will generally post similar content “just to fit in” with social norms.
Social media is a tool to connect with people and give opportunities that otherwise would not be available. However, it has indicated a disconnect from reality and directed the youth to a less interactive lifestyle. The impact of social media has gone beyond the goal of popularity and has reached a depth of unmet expectations and miscommunication.