Social media has become the epicenter of many young people’s lives. It is an easy way for young people to communicate with their friends and family without having to see them in person. People can share content with each other, such as photographs and videos. The best part is that it can be done on mobile devices from any location with a Wi-Fi connection.
Unfortunately, the world of social media networking has its downsides and disadvantages. Most teenagers never think about the negative aspects of social media because they’ve grown up with it. The most popular social media networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been around for as long as most modern teenagers have been alive. They don’t even know what it is like to live in a world without social media.
For this reason, teenagers need to educate themselves on how to use social media properly so that it doesn’t interfere with their normal everyday life.
Below are the top 5 social media tips for teenagers.
1) Don’t Be a Jerk
We are living in the age of the trolls. The word “troll” or “trolling” is used to describe a person or action that teases, ridicules, or bullies someone. Teenagers have found a new platform that allows them to be jerks to other people. Social media was supposed to be used for staying in touch with friends and family, but teenagers tend to use it more for demonstrating childish behavior.
It is better to be a positive person on social media. Don’t go around posting up silly memes that insult people and make them feel bad about themselves. In fact, don’t even go on a ranting spree either. If you only have negative thoughts on your mind, then lashing out through social media will make things worse for yourself instead of better. If you can’t say anything nice on social media, then don’t say anything at all.
2) Don’t Do Anything Obscene
Teenagers tend to let their imaginations run wild on social media. It is very easy for them to get tempted into doing something obscene or mischievous. For instance, a teenager should never post up nude pictures of themselves on social media. Not only is that illegal, but those pictures will come back to haunt them in the future.
When you put content on the internet, you should assume it will stay there forever. You might think its fun to post crazy or weird photographs of yourself on social media in order to entertain your friends. But ask yourself, “Do I really want these photographs to be seen 5 or 10 years from now?”
When you apply for jobs or colleges, the recruiters will search for you on social media to see what you’ve done. If they find your obscene pictures on there, then they might refuse to hire or admit you. That is why you must think twice before humiliating yourself online just for a few cheap laughs.
3) Only Have Friends as Followers
Teenagers feel like they have to be in competition with their classmates in order to get the most likes and followers as possible on social media. This kind of thinking can get teenagers into trouble because they will accept friend requests from people they don’t even know.
For a safe way of making new friends, you can visit www.chattoday.com. Their platform offers advanced privacy options allowing you to be in control of who can see your profile information. Then, you can also friend people based on your shared interests.
4) Manage Your Time Intelligently
There is no doubt that teenagers have an addiction to their smartphones and tablets. Most of the time, they use these mobile devices to chat with their friends on social media. This has become a new obsession for modern teenagers. They spend a lot of their free time on social media, which causes it to interfere with their normal daily activities.
A small amount of social media use is fine, but it should not be overused. You don’t need to know what your friends are doing every second of the day. Likewise, they don’t need to know what you’re doing every second of the day either. It is okay to update your profile and view your friend’s profiles in the morning and at night for 30 minutes or so. But don’t keep looking at your phone every minute or every hour of the day just to see what they’re doing. It is a waste of time and a distraction.
Time management is very important. There are so many better things you can be doing with your day as a teenager, such as your schoolwork or job. You could even focus on your dating life too.
5) Report Negativity or Harassment
If you see negativity on social media, you have the ability to report the negativity to the operators of the social media platform. Things like harassment, sexually explicit images, and hate speech are against the terms of service of most social media platforms. You should see a “Report” link on every message that is posted. Click on that link to make a report.
By making these reports, you do your part in making social media a friendlier and more positive environment for everyone else.