Whether it be hanging with friends and family or doing homework, I can’t resist the urge to pick up my phone once I hear that buzz. I am overcome with curiosity—“Did I just get a new follower? Did someone comment on my post?” I pick up my phone—often getting distracted from doing more important things like spending time with family and friends. Despite being distracting, social media offers me a platform to the outside world where I can meet new people and make new friends. Especially with being a senior at CLS, making friends and connections with my future classmates is very important to me.

Fellow Hawks feel the same temptation to pick up their phones once it starts buzzing and feel like social media, although great to communicate with friends and family, distracts and displays unrealistic expectations of celebrities’ lives. Liam Forshaw ‘22 said social media allows him to be able to communicate with friends and family that he does not see often and supports global change, while also displaying unrealistic expectations that make people’s lives look better. Liam Forshaw ‘22 said “Social media helps me make new friends—that’s how I got my roommate for college. Some aspects of Social media are toxic and it is really easy to manipulate.” According to Cam Egan ‘22, today’s society does not go onto social media to rank or judge others; instead social media has become a platform that welcomes everyone. Egan ‘22 said, “From the beginning of social media to early 2010, social media was very toxic because it was purely about ranking and judging others —now we don’t really care if we see a bad pic and it’s a far less judgy platform. 

Although social media distracts from school work and family conversations, it allows my peers and me to connect with distant family members, explore different places and ideas, and meet new people. Without it, we would be left wondering what is out there in the world.