As social media contributes to society, ideas seem to spread faster and faster.
Influencers on various social media platforms clips/videos spread throughout the internet at mind shattering speeds. Clips can be taken from any video and be reused for a new purpose, or they could be taken out of context. Viewing these things online are mainly kids, teenagers, and young adults. Unsurprisingly young people can be seen replicating these behaviors, but are these behaviors negative or positive? 

Through technology becoming accessible earlier and earlier social media platforms such as youtube, tik tok, and instagram share content at a rapid rate and influencers spread information sometimes not intentionally rapidly too. Kids in elementary school or younger are now getting access to the internet, and getting exposed to questionable content. This can change how they behave, or how they view themselves or other people. Watching hours on end of videos tends to do that. Although everything may not be harmful, like your little cousins talking about skibidi toilet that they saw on a youtube short video might not be a bad thing, there are inappropriate things on the internet, and kids need to be checked on if they understand the difference between what’s inappropriate and appropriate. 

Social media greatly affects how often teens use their phones and the screen time reflects that. It was reported that 1 in 5 kids use social media apps constantly throughout the day, and the average screen time usage of social media apps is 4.8 hours a day.  Social media apps including: tik tok, snapchat, instagram, youtube, twitch, reddit, are used, and the influencer’s and people on these platforms are with them in their pockets. Being around them all the time influences how they behave and how they think. Some teenagers report even feeling connected through the influencers of social media and can even be seen modeling their behaviors off of them. Which can be potentially dangerous to mental health because of the bad behaviors. Challenges online that we've seen in the past like the tide pod challenge or the nyquil challenge are dangerous, yet people still try these things to post on social media for views and likes compromising their health. 

Although the effects of social media can be negative there are strategies that can balance the effects of social media. Parents getting involved and setting limits on social media usage at a young age helps, and this could be online or offline. Parents talking to their kids about safety online and promoting healthy online behavior will help to combat the negative effects of social media. This along with time management online will go a long way as they develop life skills 

On the contrary, social media can be seen having positive effects on children and teenagers. Social media provides the ability to connect from all around the world, and especially if you have family or friends that live far away or potentially not in your country you can still connect with them and talk with them. This is an ability that 30 years ago people wouldn't have and expands relationships. This doesn’t just serve as something for people you already know, social media presents the opportunity to meet new people online that at one point in time would not be possible without social media these people whom you would not be able to meet in real life, and you can build a community with these people and build a social network. 

Social media also provides a broader array of information to learn from, not all the content online is garbage and there is plenty to learn from, that can help you develop a skill. This can be anything from video creation in itself, to creating a business. Being exposed to this and starting at a young age gives you time to develop this skill until you are able to use it more when you are older, giving you an advantage on the competition. There are also academic based accounts online that can teach you new things that you can use to apply in school, and help you with the homework you have. These accounts can also give you tips and tricks on how to navigate school better, or even content that gives you tips on how to get into colleges or score better on your SAT’s. 

In the end, taking into account the videos posted online, and the things that are viewed/posted online teens need to know what to believe and what not to believe, and manage the content they are viewing as these things could have a negative impact on your wellbeing. Yet still be able to enjoy the benefits of social media and use it to their advantage.