Today we have many online sites like Lumen, Google Classroom and Schoology that enhance students’ learning experiences. Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, though, are more widely used. With these sites at our fingertips, we can contact someone and within seconds get a reply.

“I use it [social media] to pass the time, but some people get really addicted and it’s not healthy,” senior Dalton Allen said. “There are better things to do with your life.”

Allen works a part-time job at Simon Ashley Contracting and works a few hours each week, while he is using his time to earn money and exert energy, other students are sitting at home, playing on their phones.

With all the wonders social media provides, it has also caused some people to think negatively of it. Junior Jaida Houghton sees many pessimistic things on her newsfeed.

“People nowadays are so negative, and my newsfeed kinda blows up with [negative] things,” Houghton said.

Along with the negatives, senior Maggie Swaboda notices that a lot of people use social media as a lifeline. Everything they do involves social media.

“I think people rely on it a lot more than we used to,” Swaboda said. “It used to be more for fun.”

Students are now looking up answers online instead of in their books, as a student can find pretty much anything on the Internet.

Junior Madison Berry also notices a flaw in the social media escape as it has become a way for people to hide behind their words.

“People are afraid of saying things to other’s faces,” Berry said.

People use social media as a way out instead of using it to their advantage now. Although social media has come a long way, it still has a long way to go.

“Sometimes social media has good things to show for,” Houghton said. “Sometimes.”

According to Pew Research Center, 73 percent of all Internet users use social media sites and 90 percent are 18 to 29-year-olds.

Freshman Makalynn Horn turns to social media to keep up with her grades as well as friends.

“I use it [social media] to check Lumen [to] see what I’m missing, and I use it to see how my friends are,” Horn said.

When forms of communication, like the telegraph, were first invented, people were using them to their advantage. They would use it to get ahold of someone they needed to talk to about something important. As social media has been enhanced, people had started to veer away from the helpful aspect of it. People used it to waste time and procrastinate. Now, years later, people are starting to realize, once again, that it is a very helpful tool.

Allen recommends social media sites like slader.com to enhance education.

“It’s an online resource that has every school textbook and an online calculator,” Allen said. “It works wonders.”

Although some students use it for educational purposes, some students, like Horn, still use their social media sites to learn of exciting events taking place in her friends’ lives.

“I’ve received great news through social media before, like pregnancy and engagement announcements,” Horn said.

Horn receives around four announcements a year through social media.

Along with Houghton, Allen sees the negative side effects that come with social media. Teens should watch how much time they spend on social media so that it doesn’t take away from their life.

“Honestly,” Allen said, “I don’t think people should get it [social media] because it becomes an addiction.”

“Social Networking Fact Sheet.” PewResearch Center. Pew Research Center, 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.