How many of you have social
media accounts? We’re going to guess that most of you do.
There are a lot of positives
to social media. For example, if you have friends that have moved away you can
keep in touch with them through conversations and video chats. As a teen,
social media accounts can help to generate relationships, and keep the teenage
awkwardness out of it. According to a study done by Common Sense Media, 90% of
all teenagers in the United States use social media; two thirds of all teens
text every day; three quarters of us have a social networking account
(Facebook, Twitter, etc); and one out of every three teens visit their site at
least once a day. Having these accounts helps us to share our experiences with
our family and friends. It allows us the freedom to share our opinions with a
willing audience. In some cases, having these accounts enhances our learning
experiences by allowing us to get homework help from our teachers and
classmates through school social media programs. According to the Common Sense
Media study, the majority of teens say their participation in social networking
sites make them more confident, outgoing, popular, and sympathetic to others
and better about who they are as individuals; along with less depressed, and
less shy.
Did you know that our
generation is the first one to completely go through our teen years with access
to social networking sites?
Did you know that even with
social networking, most teenagers prefer face to face interaction? 49% of
teenagers in the U.S. say this is the best way to interact, while 7% say
interaction through social networking is the best way. They believe that face
to face is more fun, however texting (which comes in second for the most
preferred way of interaction) is the quickest way. What do you think?
However, with social media
there are many negatives we need to be aware of. It is important that we talk
with adults (specifically our parents) about the perils of social media.
In 2010, Psychology Today
reported that on average a teenager spends 7 hours and 38 minutes a day using
entertainment media (phones, televisions, computers, etc). This does not
include the fact that majority of the time we are using more than one device at
the same time. When you add in the time spent in school, and asleep, that
leaves little time for us to do other things with our day. A study from the
American Academy of Pediatrics found that because social media enables the
freedom of expression, it also allows for more forms of bullying, privacy
issues, inappropriate behavior, internet addiction and sleep deprivation. It
has been found that the average Facebook user has 130 friends and we are sure
that many of you have even more; however, some studies show that a person can
handle at most 150 meaningful relationships.
New networking sites are
popping up all the time and old ones are disappearing. Google+ was started
about a year ago, a long time for a teenager, but how many of you use it?
Remember MySpace? MySpace had over 100 million users at one point, but how many
people do you know that use it now? The GC girls use Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, and/or Instagram; plus email and texting. Facebook has over 900
million users, Twitter over 450 million. Eighty-one percent of people ages 12-17 have at least
one social networking account, but how many of those teenagers has two, three,
four, or more accounts.
In 2010 GSUSA did a study of
1000 girls about social media and girl image. They found that social media
allows girls to lie about their image. They often downplay several positive
characteristics about themselves, such as their intelligence, their kindness,
and their efforts to be good role models.
You have probably been told
that everything you post on online stays with you the rest of your life. This
is also true for text messages and other media avenues. Here are some internet
rules we found online:
- Do not post anything about someone that you would not say to their
face.
- Do not post anything that you would not want someone to say about
you.
- Remember your cyber fingerprint. Everything you post in social
media is permanently there.
- Do not use all CAPS when posting. All caps means you are shouting,
and can give off the wrong message.
- Proofread what you write before you post. Always be kind.
- Do not post anything when you are upset, especially when you are
angry.
- Do not post pictures of yourself or others that you do not want
shared with the world.
- Do not forward other people’s emails without their permission.
- Double check who you are sending messages to before you send.
- Change passwords and usernames. Keep your privacy settings as high
as it will go.
- Stick to the social media sites restrictions. For example,
Facebook is for 13 years and older. Do not lie about your age.
- Do not talk to strangers. Do not give our personal information.
- Set the amount of time you plan to stay online. Do not stay online
all day and night.
Can you think of other rules
to help us stay safe? Tell us how you feel about
social media. How do you make sure to maintain your privacy? Do you like being
connected with the Internet? Do you think it is too time consuming to keep up
with everything? Make sure to tell us your
thoughts in the comments section!
Be Safe Girl Scouts
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