Thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, and Teens

By Grace Hansen
Editor-in-chief

When Dallas High School's wrestler Charley Engelfried passed away after winning a match at Silverton High School, it was through text messages and Facebook that many students learned the distressing news.

Text messages notified students of a prayer service the following morning and a Facebook group was started in his honor.

News travels fast in today's world and our generation is a part of something that our parents never experienced.

When Suzie breaks up with Johnny, we don't receive a phone call from the gossip chain. Instead, we note a change from "In a Relationship" to "Single" on our Facebook news feed. When our football or basketball team wins a game, we don't wait for the morning paper to learn the score. Instead, we text a friend and ask.

With more than 500 million active users, Facebook would be the world’s third largest country.

In Egypt, social networking became the fuel that spread the fires of revolution.

In Libya, news about the hundreds of demonstrators that were shot by Libyan security was made known to the rest of the world via Twitter, which provided minute-by-minute accounts of what happened.

There is no doubt that media has an enormous impact on people. Why else would foreign dictators create “media blackouts” to try and curb the dispersal of controversial information?

So, what is the big deal with young people and social networking? Why is it that people across the globe are flocking to Facebook and Twitter?

SHS junior Jordan Dooley isn’t on Facebook cultivating the grassroots organization for a revolution, but she is there for the connection it provides.

“On Facebook, it is easy for people to unite on the basis of commonalities,” Dooley said.

For junior Anna Rediske, Facebook is a great way to keep up to speed with what’s happening at school or with her friends.

“[Facebook is a way] for youth to feel connected to what is going on around them. We like to be aware,” Rediske said.

As with most things in life, there is a negative side to the growth in cyber-communication.

“Ninety-three percent of communication is non-verbal, in effect you only know 7 percent of a person you know exclusively online,” senior Alex Kramer said.

When texting or Facebooking, it is easy for a compliment to get misconstrued as sarcasm or visa versa because you can't hear the tone or see the facial expression that go along with the comment. Rediske feels that a balance between virtual and real communication is healthy for any friendship.

“I like talking to people over text, but I work to make sure my face-to-face relationship is on the same level otherwise its awkward… A truly sturdy friendship cannot be built without making time to actually be with the person,” Rediske said.

Some teens also experience another drawback to Twitter and Facebook.

“Facebook equals death to homework,” senior Elizabeth Rueda said.

With fast and easy access to the latest news about your friends and family, it’s easy to stay up late just looking through the recent activity from that day.

According to the Facebook press room, collectively “people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook and 50 percent of active users log on to Facebook in any given day.”

A 2009 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicated that youth between the ages of 8-18 spend 7 hours and 38 minutes a day using some source of media.

That's almost one-third of each day!

In a world that is becoming more and more connected by the benefits instant communication brings to us, let’s remember that life’s experiences are enjoyed the most through going out and making memories, not through looking at them on a screen.