Silverio, Ma. Alexandra C.

SEC-184

Waking up in the morning, the first thing that we’ll do, well at least for most of us, is
to look for our phones, grab it, and immediately check for any updates on the social media.
Social media has become an essential part of young people’s lives. It is like a virus that is
embedded in our self that can’t be easily removed. A study revealed that teenagers spend 9
hours a day in social media on a daily basis. In lieu to this, I strongly believe that social media
shapes us. The content that we expose ourselves on the social media changes the way we
think about ourselves and others. These contents offer numerous interpretations on what
can be considered sexy, appropriate, beautiful, and attractive. Most of the times, teenagers
are vulnerable to these contents on social media because adolescence is the stage where we
find our identity. Adolescents rely on their social contacts to figure out who they really are.
And since social media emerged, an individual may have the tendency to construct a false-
identity in order to be liked by the people around them. The true version of oneself that
opposes the construct of what social media has created may be put aside and rejected. Hence,
social media allows individuals to create a false identity that may not coincide with who one
really is. Other than that, a study created by Bardone-Cone and Cass revealed that media
imagery leads to body dissatisfaction, self-doubt, and possessing a low self-esteem because
the content that they see on media, especially Instagram and Facebook, feeds them negative
fuel for the negative feelings they have about themselves. Social media has an impact on how
we’re going to view ourselves, our relationship with others, and the world. I remember the
15 year old Instagram famous and model, Essena O Neill. She is the perfect example on how
social media affects our identity. When she was 12 years old, she saw herself as an awkward,
unpopular, tall and nerdy girl but it changed when she was exposed to social media. She
thought that if she’ll become social media famous, she’ll be truly happy and the people
around her will like her. At the age of 15, she’s this tall, slim, blonde, straight A student and
has become an Instagram famous. Despite the fact that she really became rich and famous,
she admitted to herself that she pushed out her true friends and she lost her true identity.
From the example above and to sum it up, we must always control the use of social media
because when it gets out of hand, it might lead to destruction.