by Irma Hamzagic; Web Editor
In the past decade, social networking has flourished. With sites like Facebook, Twitter, The Dirty, and apps like Snapchat, it is hard not to be involved in everyone’s business. The question remains, how much information is too much information? Do we, as students, bring it upon ourselves and ruin our own image?
“As long as social media is used for good, like any other tool, it is great. I think social networking allows kids to be a lot braver and say things with their thumbs that they would never say face to face” said Dr. Swanger.
According to Statistics Brain, an online statistics website, Twitter is home to 500 million users and Facebook racks in a whopping 600 million users, making them the top two used social networking sites. Social media strongly affects our reputation, giving it the power to make or break us. But it is your choice. The things we say and post on these sites affect not only what our peers’ think of us, but also affect our future careers.
“Because of people being braver, it unlocks inhibitions and people say things that they would never have said so it might give somebody a deeper view into somebody,” said Dr. Swanger.
Social Networking sites offer us a different view into the lives of people we know and do not know so well. It leads us to the assumption that they are who they are on Facebook, Twitter, etcetera, which may not always be the case.
Officer Rodriquez, who counsels students’ with social networking complaints alongside Dr. Swanger, describes social networking in a similar yet still equally insightful way.
“It is very hard to have an opinion as technology is moving fast. We, as law enforcements and as individuals, have a hard time keeping up with the negative aspects of social networking that promote slander and liability,” said Officer Rodriguez.
Simply stating, social media is expanding and changing daily. Students are seeing the negative aspects outweigh the positive one, creating a myriad of problems. We should know how to use Facebook as an interactive sight, not to slander each other and cause unnecessary problems.
As Dr. Swanger stated, “That’s part of our jobs as administrators and teachers. It is to work with you and teach you how to grow up.”
