Imagine there’s a party happening tonight, and everyone is talking about it online. People are daring each other to do things, and some are even ranking others based on looks. It can feel overwhelming, especially when you see someone with hundreds of friends on social media. It makes you wonder how many people are actually paying attention to you. Social media can be a strange place, and sometimes it feels like everyone is watching.
How often do you use social media like Facebook? Many people use it daily, even when they’re supposed to be working or studying. Online, people often behave differently than they do in real life. When you’re online, you have time to think about what you want to say or how you want to present yourself. This can lead to creating a version of yourself that isn’t entirely true to who you are. It’s easy to feel like you need to be perfect for strangers online, even if you don’t feel that pressure around your friends in person.
Social media can make it hard to tell who your real friends are. True friendship is more about who you spend time with in person rather than who you interact with online. It’s important to recognize the difference between screen time and face-to-face time when it comes to building genuine relationships.
Social media can also affect how your parents understand you. They didn’t grow up with platforms like Facebook, so it can be challenging for them to grasp its influence. While you might feel the need to stay connected with friends through social media, your parents might find it strange. They might not understand why you need to check your friends’ statuses or see their latest photos.
Have you ever thought about what life would be like without social media? It might be hard to imagine, especially if you use it as a break from homework or other tasks. Sometimes, people use social media as a reward after completing something important. Even though it might not always be exciting, there’s a habit of refreshing pages to see if anything new has happened.
Despite its challenges, social media is a valuable tool for communication. It’s a way to stay in touch with friends and organize important aspects of your life, like schoolwork or schedules. While it might not improve your work ethic, it remains an essential part of how many people connect with each other.
Imagine you’re at a virtual party where everyone is interacting online. Create a role-play scenario with your classmates where you explore different social media interactions. Discuss how these interactions might differ from real-life conversations and reflect on the impact they have on your self-image and friendships.
Keep a diary for one week, documenting your social media usage. Note how often you check your accounts, what you post, and how you feel before and after using social media. At the end of the week, analyze your entries to understand the role social media plays in your daily life and its impact on your emotions and relationships.
Create a map of your friendships, categorizing them into online and offline connections. Reflect on the quality of these relationships and identify which ones are most meaningful to you. Discuss with your classmates the importance of face-to-face interactions in building genuine friendships.
Interview a family member about their experiences with social media. Ask them how they perceive its impact on family dynamics and communication. Share your findings with the class and discuss how different generations view social media’s role in their lives.
Challenge yourself to take a break from social media for a day or a weekend. During this time, engage in activities that don’t involve screens, such as reading, hiking, or spending time with friends and family. Reflect on how this break affects your mood and productivity, and share your experience with your classmates.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey, so there’s this party tonight. I made out with a girl because a bunch of guys dared me and Nikki. I did that for you, and you can’t just click accept on our relationship status; that looks silly. We’re on there, and these guys are online ranking our attractiveness right now. My mom’s out of control with the whole thing; you don’t even understand. At this point, I don’t even know if it looks good. I mean, I’m not going to lie, I think she has 873 friends, so 873 people are looking at her, but right now, that’s weird. So just Facebook me.
Let me ask you this: how many people use Facebook daily? So you obviously don’t have jobs, right? Oh, you’re doing it at work and at school too, right? Okay, you should be studying.
When people are online, they act differently than they do offline. I think that’s definitely true. Online, you have time to think; you’re by yourself. There’s not the pressure of having real physical company, so it’s easier to create someone you want to be versus who you actually are. When I go on Facebook or any social network, I try to be perfect. When I’m around my friends, I don’t have to try to be perfect, but for a bunch of strangers online that I don’t know, I feel like I have to. I’ve seen a lot of people try to make themselves look like someone they’re not to impress people they don’t know.
I want to know from a teenager’s point of view if you think you really know what real friendship is because of social media. The first thing I would say is that you know your true friends from your Facebook friends based on how much you interact with them offline. The most important distinction is who you have face-to-face time with rather than who you have screen time with.
How has social media helped your parents understand you better, or how has it created a wedge? I think it’s difficult for our parents to understand how Facebook influences us. They didn’t have it when they were growing up, and even if they have it now, it’s completely different. We feel the need to always be in contact with our friends, whether it’s looking at their statuses, their profile pictures, or even seeing them online. For the most part, I talk to the same people I talk to every day in school, and my mom thinks it’s absurd.
What would you do if you didn’t have that technology or social media? Would you be able to function? Actually, I don’t know if I would be able to function. When I’m doing homework or something else online, I actually use Facebook as a reward sometimes. If I finish my history homework, I’ll go on Facebook and then close it off to stay focused on my other homework. For the most part, nothing interesting is happening, but I feel like everyone is just refreshing their pages trying to see if anything interesting is happening, which it isn’t.
What are the benefits of your digital life? I don’t really know anyone whose work ethic would improve if they eliminated Facebook, but it is my means of communication. Even if it’s about something important like schoolwork or my schedule, that’s how I talk to people.
[Applause]
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This version removes informal language and maintains a more neutral tone while preserving the original meaning.
Online – Connected to or available through the internet. – Many students use online resources to research historical events for their social studies projects.
Social – Relating to society or its organization. – Social studies classes help students understand how different cultures and societies function.
Media – The main means of mass communication, such as television, radio, and newspapers. – The media plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion about political issues.
Friendships – Close associations between individuals who share mutual affection and support. – Developing strong friendships can help teenagers navigate the challenges of high school.
Communication – The exchange of information between individuals through speaking, writing, or other mediums. – Effective communication is essential for resolving conflicts and building strong relationships.
Relationships – The way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave toward each other. – Understanding family relationships is an important part of studying human behavior in psychology.
Dynamics – The forces or properties that stimulate growth, development, or change within a system or process. – Group dynamics can greatly affect how decisions are made in a team setting.
Influence – The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something. – Peer influence can impact a teenager’s choices and behavior during adolescence.
Life – The existence of an individual human being or animal. – Social studies explore the different aspects of life in various cultures around the world.
Pressure – The use of persuasion, influence, or intimidation to make someone do something. – Teenagers often face pressure to conform to social norms and expectations from their peers.
