SAMARA OSHIRO
STAFF WRITER
YES:
As savvy social media obsessed teenagers grow up in an era where technology is always advancing, they are pushed to innovate and are provided more opportunities to help easily develop themselves into grown adults. Teenagers today are using social media as a positive outlet to promote their business, invest in their future, by taking advantage of the exposure that comes with having a worldwide audience, and allows this generation to simplify what once was such a complicated and more difficult way of conducting business. Issues often condemning social media or the internet and claiming its problematic, which outlines the negative aspect; including cyber bullying, fraudulent behavior, and “catfishing”, greatly affect people's’ decision on whether or not to take advantage of social media. Although those issues seem reasonable, because social media is always advancing, pushing people to innovate and is overall a support system for people who can’t seem to connect with anyone physically in their area, it is a source of emotional support and also is so advanced that today, officers and computer technicians can most likely trace back to a cyber bully or a fraud’s computer imprints left to confront the scammer. Like almost every decision we make, the internet has it’s pros and cons, it’s better or worse aspects, but only brought out by the people who choose to use social media in a positive matter versus using it to bring out their alter ego or use it as a digital weapon. Social Media is not what causes children, teens, or even adults, to bring out the worst in themselves on the internet, it is the intentions and the decisions made by the user. Before people deem social media’s platform dangerously uncontrollable to society and the growing generation, they must first come to the realization that all along, people have always been in control of it.
SORREN LUGO
STAFF WRITER
NO:
In a place far far away,a new generation of social interactions was born. February, 2004 in Cambridge Massachusetts, a man named Mark Zuckerberg created the social media platform called Facebook, a place where people can make friends and talk about their life on the internet. Facebook took the world by storm and pioneered the very idea of online socializing. But with the new generation of users it comes with the abuse of the once innocent way to socialize on the internet. Fast forward 14 years later and teenagers have taken over the internet. Using it to manipulate, cyber bully, and spread/produce fake news. Especially in the futuristic lifestyles we live, teenagers abilities to use the internet is now incorporated in their daily lives. Making easier for teengaers to bully others and harass people over popular social media websites and internet based networks. This problem also arises with people being manipulated in a devious way. Growing up in a tech savvy world kids are exposed to the endless possibilities of the internet, maturing to a teenager they now can grasp the concept of what the internet and how to take advantage of people. Lastly social media gives an outlet to teens to spread around fake news and publicize it. Fake news itself is bad already, but having teenagers unnecessarily spread word of lies and distortion of the truth. Combined altogether to create a socitity filled with teenages abusing the once simple and innocent platform called social media.