Social media is changing the world. It has become a huge part of our daily lives. It has changed the way we communicate with those around us and also the way we behave. Social media is beneficial because we can know what’s going on in other parts of the world. People in other parts of the world now are able to let the rest of the world know what kind of emergency issues they are going through at the precise moment. Unfortunately, it also has its negative effects. As a result of social media, teenagers have changed the way they communicate to each other. I interviewed Ms. Fay, a counselor here at Mountain View, who agreed to answer all my questions about social media and youth culture.
One of the things we discussed was clothing. During the 1960’s kids used to dressed more formal. Ms. Fay wasn’t provocative about the way she dressed when she was young. Her way of dressing was casual. She wore dungarees and a simple t-shirt; she had an innocent way of living. Nowadays, we can see the contrast about how teenagers dress. On the internet we can find many websites which tell us about fashion based on the season we are currently on. In the summer this is basically shorts, tank tops, miniskirts, and mini dresses. We are basically showing our bodies to the world. Equally important is to mention how teenagers are posting pictures on Facebook, twitter, and Instagram with very few clothes on. This shows how social media influences what we do. Through these profiles people tell us how we look and it encourages teenagers to keep dressing the way they already do or even differently.
Another question that I asked Ms. Fay was how she spent her free time during that time. Her life was pretty fun. During that time a teenager would go to the park with his/her friends to talk or play for awhile. Usually she had a phone at her house and sometimes she would call her friends but this wasn’t so often. Now and then she would also go to a dance. She had an older sister who had a baby; she would help her sister with the baby. Now most teenagers go to the club on weekends. They spend the rest of the day on their phones searching things on the internet, talking to their friends for hours and texting. That’s our lives nowadays, being in front of a screen 24/7. We don’t have fun or talk to each other like people did during the 1960’s.
Lastly, we talked about how she spent her money during that time. She used her money to go to the movies with her friends or to go to a White Castle Restaurant to spend some good times with friends. Sometimes she would go to eat some ice cream or to buy some candies. As we can see life during the 60’s was a lot more fun than what it is today. Teenagers nowadays still spend their money maybe to go to the movies but mostly they spend it in electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, and video games.
As I mentioned before, social media also has positive effects, such as when catastrophes happen in some part of the world and people are able to ask for help. Things that maybe weren’t possible back then now are. Technology and social media have changed the world for the better but also for the worse. Years ago life seemed to be more innocent in all ways.
