Influence of social media on Northview students’ identities

Students and staff reflect on how they have seen social media impact Northview

Graphic by Neha Gurram, Staff Writer

Carter Willis, Sports Editor; Neha Gurram, Staff Writer; & Emilee Leffew, Staff Writer

From the devious lick TikTok challenge where students were encouraged to vandalize school property to snapping BeReals whenever a notification went off to “be real,” in recent years, social media has shaped the identities of high schoolers across the country. While there are negative aspects to social media that are often highlighted, there are also positive aspects to social media. Social media is one way that the internet is able to bring people with similar interests into one community.

“I’m a TikTok-er and I make funny comedic videos, but also I make Percy Jackson videos,” 6000-follower TikTok user, and Northview senior, Jacob Hawkins said. “[The Percy Jackson community] supports each other when we make videos. I always support their videos and drop a comment saying ‘this is hilarious’ or ‘I love it.’”

Social media not only fosters a positive support group within certain communities, it also gives people more freedom to express themselves. Students who typically would not be as extroverted at school have found an outlet through social media to express their interests, such as the Percy Jackson series.

“I like acting and showing my comedic side, but I don’t really have a chance to do that in school,” Hawkins said. “I use TikTok to express myself, and making videos makes me happy, and I find it really fun.”

X, formerly known as Twitter, is another social media site that is generally not associated with students, but rather political commentators and news outlets. While X is certainly still known best for its political commentary and arguments in the comments section that align closely with the negative aspects of social media, it is a valuable source for collegiate recruitment for student-athletes.

“Typically I’ll post game highlights and there are pages [on X] that will repost you so that college coaches are able to see you,” senior baseball player Cooper Cammack said. “I also put all my information in my bio so that coaches can see that, too.”

Both Cammack and Hawkins agree, however, that social media can be addictive and can negatively impact how students and student-athletes view themselves. Cammack acknowledges that there should be a limit to how much time students spend on social media, citing mental health as a key concern for why students should watch how social media can impact a student's identity. Hawkins, on the other hand, supports setting an age for when students can join social media.

“I see people these days on social media who are 7 [years old],” Hawkins said. “If you’re going to do social media, I’d say start around the age of 11 because that’s when people usually get phones. So if you’re 11 and up, go ahead, but be careful.”

Adults also criticize social media as harmful to students’ identities because it is not representative of real life. Social media discussion often includes mental health because of the inherent artificial interaction that social media requires.

“I'm not a huge fan of social media,” Northview principal Martin Neuhaus said. “I think it distracts everyone, not just students, but adults from what's really important in the real world. And it's usually an idealized state of something.”

When students begin to shape their identity around social media and become addicted to it, they then become addicted to making their appearance as similar to a fake image online as possible. Neuhaus has noticed the addiction to social media and views it as potentially harmful to students.

“If you ever interact with anyone who has an addiction, and ask them what is it that caused their addiction, they say that it happens at the expense of having real connections with other human beings,” Neuhaus said. “I think it takes away from the real connection that people have with each other and that's the real issue.”

Neuhaus is not the only person aware of the problems social media poses for teens, a few parents recognize its issues and restrict their children from getting prominent apps such as Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat. Although these steps are taken for the child’s safety, some teens cannot help but feel excluded from the trends, news, and funny posts that social media consists of and sometimes serve as the main idea of many conversations among teens.

“People think it's okay to communicate and say whatever they want,” 23-24 Teacher of the Year, Mason Copeland said, “Then if it affects another person, but they don't care because it's not face to face communication. I just think as a teacher, it is too much of a liability for me to use social media as a medium for anything in my classroom.”

Although Copeland talks about the many effects on students, he also acknowledges the effects and difficulties of the use of social media by students on teachers. Teachers have to make sure they and the students do not contact on a personal social media level. Teachers also have to watch out for the students using social media while at school, attempting to keep theirs and other students’ privacy safe.

“I kind of feel left out,” junior Daniela Byer Lopez, who does not have Instagram, said. “I mean if anything crazy happens, my friends will send it to me. But I guess there are everyday things that happen that I don’t know all that much about. And when my friends post, I don’t have any means of seeing it, and sometimes I have to ask my friends, it’s just annoying to have to go out of my way to do that.”

As the world is completely transitioning to social media, many students are reaching out to companies and programs through social media. This includes networking with people in a desired career through direct messages (DMs), or even following various accounts or groups that include possible internships, programs, or jobs that are available to apply to. Additionally in the school arena, numerous school clubs tend to post volunteer opportunities, spirit days, or schedules for events on social media sites. Lopez believes that not having social media sometimes leaves her at a disadvantage when it comes to the school or career aspects of her life.

“I feel like a lot of the times, clubs will post when they have meetings or events for the club on social media, or like when there’s spirit days, they make a post about it on Instagram, and I don’t really find out about it. I guess career-wise, as I’m getting older, I’m trying to meet more professionals, and I can’t just say, ‘let me follow you on Instagram,’” Lopez said.

Despite the fact there are some negative effects of social media, whether it is feeling self-conscious about what others around you are doing or questioning aspects of your own self compared to others online, Lopez believes that not having social media outweighs the risks it might bring.

“I feel like I want it even though it might impact me in a negative way because the feeling of being on the outside overshadows that,” Lopez said.

Long-time users believe that social media has really evolved since its beginning years, and it has not always been a place to just post pictures of friends or life. As people started posting more online, users started to notice how sites that were once just used to post fun videos and pictures were now being used to post political content ranging from the Black Lives Matter movement to venting about political parties and societal issues.

“I’ve seen it change a lot. You can see people starting to post more and more about different topics; like our generation started hammering like their political views more than just their the fun things that they’re doing,” teacher and long-time social media user, Clinton Mathews said.

With these changes in mind, many students are increasing their usage of social media as there is a variety of posts and content to look at aside from just the normal pictures of friends and relatives. New and pre-existing apps (TikTok, Instagram Reels, Youtube Shorts), have introduced new styles where users can watch shorter 1-2 minute videos on a variety of topics and genres. This current type of style requires a shorter attention span where users can watch multiple videos in a smaller duration of time. Teachers can see how these shorter videos are affecting their students.

“As a teacher, I see it takes a lot of time because they spend hours on it, or if they have a chance to have their phone in their class, the first thing they do is open Instagram or TikTok, and it has the potential to be very bad on their mental health,” Mathews said.

Mathews sees social media as a positive environment, where he not only can encourage his fellow power-lifting friends on their triumphs but also post about his memories as a teacher and his students’ achievements. As a teacher for the last two years, Mathews likes to keep one of his accounts public and uses Instagram highlights to celebrate his students’ achievements each year.

“Each year, I’m doing the highlights of all the events that I go to, and try to highlight what I’m doing and highlight the students that I’m seeing, trying to show that school isn’t just about being a student and getting good grades, but all the things that encompass you as a being,” Mathews said.

Communication through technology has increased due to the rise of social media. But this contact through social media has also caused adolescents to make bolder and more offensive statements to those online. Social media is allowing these people to get away with and not care about saying these offensive things that they would most likely not say in person.

“Make smart choices. Learn from your mistakes. Always be positive,” Copeland said.