I think it’s safe to say that for most students at BHS, there is rarely a day where we don’t check social media, whether it be Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook or any of the other popular social media sites and apps. This is certainly understandable, since social media provides so many wonderful features. These days it is easy to stay in touch with a grandparent who lives across the country, or text our parents that we won’t be home for dinner so they won’t be worried about us. Social media brings people together, no matter the distance separating us, and that can be a beautiful thing.

However, students’ lives on social media aren’t always as great as they may seem. It is true, especially in regards to Twitter, that social media allows us to communicate- but that communication can often be negative. We are able to step away from the words we say when we’re typing on a keyboard instead of talking face-to-face with someone, which means we spend less time and consideration deciding if what we’re saying might hurt someone or lead to other unfortunate consequences. In the age of Twitter-wars between political figures and high schoolers alike, it can seem counterproductive to be sharing our thoughts and opinions all the time with everyone.

Personally, I think social media is a wonderful creation and there have been so many times I’ve been grateful for its ability to connect me with like-minded people. That being said, when we spend hours every day tweeting about our lives, sharing pictures on Instagram and cultivating our Snapchat to make it seem like we’re living an exciting life, sometimes we forget what’s really important. We’re constantly trying to impress other people, trying to use our accounts to show how many friends we have or how many beautiful vacations we’ve gone on. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to share your life with the people around you, but if you find yourself stressing about taking the perfect picture for your Snapchat or feeling like you’re less important than somebody simply because you have less Twitter followers than them, you might want to take a step back and make sure that your social media use is making your life better, not worse.