Are Teens Obtaining Good or Bad Insights from Social Media and the Internet?

In today's fast-paced world, most people, especially those of today's generation, are easily drawn to and addicted to the enthralling social media and internet channels that they come across. The use of the internet is rising and conquering the majority of the world, resulting in the creation of educational pages, games, and computer-generated videos.

According to Pew Survey recorded last 2015, 94% of teens manipulate various social media platforms. Social media and internet use can be beneficial for people around the world in their busy lives, conveying information through communication lines and creating connections to voice out, express, and impart information. Behind the progress of this phenomenon, conflicts are still arising together with the concerns of society. Cyber bullying, illicit child trafficking online, and addiction are common struggles faced by online users who interact with the virtual platform.

Internet use is beneficial to all because it helps to offer and provide knowledge, raises awareness about the state and problems of society, and encourages learning.

Internet use can lead to manipulation of information resulting in the unfurling of fictitious news, events, and stories. According to a survey conducted by Global Survey, 86% of social media users were perceived as spreading fake news over the internet. However, citing reliable sites and credible sources while diving over the internet is the best way to eradicate the widespread of fake news while seeking truth and substantial information. As a user, it is our responsibility to provide factual contents because being a responsible online user can also limit and stop the continuous spreading of non-factual information. Responsible digital citizenship means promoting and promulgating safe, ethical, and protected social media sharing (Raising Children Network, 2006).

Social media can be harmful if misused, a common mistake made by online users is posting society’s problem offending the government, and sometimes broadcasting of issues and state contains adult and abusive content. Base on Agrawal (2016), embarrassment and humiliation are what an impulsive user can acquire from posting without thinking of what might happen and the consequences of their actions. Despite that, everyone has the freedom of expression which is a fundamental human right, meaning that users have the right to express what they are feeling, what they are seeing, what their opinion is, and what their perspective is. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that contains the rights and freedoms everyone can lean to, it states that we have the right to freely articulate our opinions and without interference and hindrance.

It is undeniable that most teens spent their time more using their social media, time wastage is one of the common effects made by internet use. In addition, according to the 2019 Global Digital Report, 10 hours and 2 minutes per day were spent by Filipino teens browsing and scrolling with their phones. On the other hand, internet usage may pertain to school, business, and personal related matters so we cannot call it time wastage. It helps people to make things done easily and exquisitely. School works can be less struggling by citing over the internet, online books can be accessed by students and educational videos can also be used for visual learners. As stated by Utz (2016), there are professional and informational benefits the internet can offer, such as digital books, reliable sources of articles, and other educational materials. Even though teens use their time using the internet, they are still capable of being productive.

The internet is, indeed, a global forum for both positive and negative consequences. Misinformation, time waste, and exposing teenagers' minds to open violent or dangerous articles and videos are all negative consequences. Positive effects include increased learning and cognitive usage, a reliable source of knowledge, and increased awareness. Finally, we can use the internet as a powerful educational and interaction platform. Developing a responsible attitude toward internet manipulation is the most powerful tool for balancing the impact it on any online user.