Written by Amy Frankcom

During this time of lockdown it is not surprising that many teenagers are turning to social media both as a form of escapism and to keep in touch with their friends, but is it making them anti-social?

As part of her online school work Amy participated in a BBC Bitesize lesson all about creating an argument and this was the result of the exercise she did, creating an argument against the statement that ‘social media is ‘antisocial’.

Social media is a prominent pillar in today’s society, and many people worldwide (like me) use it every day to share, message, post and interact every day. Especially in tough times like this, social media is some people’s only form of communication with family and friends. Without any human interaction during quarantine, some people may become depressed, stressed and anxious; social media means family and friends can be together, without actually being together.

How is it that social media is antisocial, if social media is a lifeline for some people?

A study in 2018 (Social Media, Social Life: Teens reveal their experiences by Common Sense Media 2018) showed that 81% of teens use social media, and because of society’s perception of these teenagers, it is assumed that all they do is scroll, and scroll and scroll. Right? Wrong. Social media is used by teenagers all over the world to share past experiences, give advice, comfort one another, make plans and connect every day.

Social media has created millions of role models for children everywhere, that are advocates for movements such as Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement – these movements are made to make people feel happy and repair damage that has been done to society – all of these have been created and spread on social media. Yes, there is still lots of hate on today’s social media, but this has been overcome by the positivity and love that people share worldwide. A simple comment such as ‘I love your hair!’ can make somebody’s day – is that antisocial?

Many people have grown up on social media, and have been exposed to pictures of poverty, climate change etc. This is because people bring awareness to this via social media, to educate the younger generation on what is right and what is wrong. Social media teaches children things they don’t learn in school. Studies have shown that this generation is the most open-minded generation of all, because we have been exposed and taught about morals from a young age, and via social media – we see the consequences of actions, and we see what happens if we are ignorant like a lot of people today.

In my experience, I have been facetiming and laughing with friends a lot during this trying time, and we are constantly checking up on each other, where any of us can rant about how we feel and get things out – this wouldn’t be possible if not for social media.  

Tell me, is that antisocial?

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