Students and Social Media

The Internet Is Taking Over Students’ Lives One App at a Time

By Mitchell Kayal, Assistant Editor

Over the past 10–15 years, social media’s reach has grown exponentially. Today, scrolling through social media is something that has been engraved into every teenager’s schedule.

“I feel like social media has taken a lot more of my life than I would have wanted, however, it’s really good for me to keep up with what my friends are up to,” said Karim Hanna, a Lynn University senior.

Hanna states that there are many pros and cons to the emergence of social media. However, since everyone is on these social media sites, it is hard to communicate with friends without it.

“Social media helps out to escape during breaks in my work,” said Tristen Pantesco, a Lynn junior and criminal justice major.

Social media apps like Instagram and TikTok provide a good break between long homework sessions. However, using these apps for too long can result in the user being sucked down a rabbit hole of content generated specifically for them.

“Out of all the social media platforms out there, I use Snapchat,” said Kyle Manigot, a Lynn alumnus and Lynn graduate student. “I prefer Snapchat rather than the picture-sharing ones because I don’t post. I use Snapchat as iMessage to text my friends.”

Manigot takes a different approach to social media from other students. Because most social media platforms are designed to let people’s friends know what they are doing, it can be hard to look away due to the fear of missing out. Students like Manigot try to alleviate this problem by only using social media to contact those friends.

Connectivity is among the most significant benefits of social media but having too much of it can disconnect the user from the physical world, leading to procrastination, lack of sleep and even anxiety and stress. Knowing when to look up and put one’s device to rest is essential for a healthy and balanced lifestyle.