Roughly 59.4 percent of the human population globally has social media. Are they more likely to interact with one another though? Or is the 40.6 percent more likely to get out and interact? Does this affect students at school?

Through social media you can communicate, express, and show creativity through a simple tap of a button on your phone, but will this help someone develop valuable real life communication skills? From personal experience, during my lunch time I will see a group of friends all text each other hardly exchanging any words but laughing at their phones, meanwhile another group of friends are interacting and not on their phones. As I observe I ask myself, “Am I like them?”

Students at Seymour High School were asked, “Do you think social media makes people less social?” and they replied:

“I think it makes people more social because you can make plans with your friends on social media and meet new people. I mean it’s in the name “social media.”

“It makes people more social. There’s so many different people of different nationalities, and cultures, and ages you can just talk to and bond with online”

“If you interact with people through your phone and other devices you don’t really earn the social skills you need through your phone. You would be more social by talking to new people. You can say anything over text but not in person.”

Social media has its upsides and downsides, but most people recognize a limit. As we grow more during these years it is important to develop proper communication skills that will set us up for our college or work career. Now take time to ask yourself if social media is making you more social or less.