"Many people believe that teens spend too much time on social media"

Social media is a collective term for websites and applications that focus on communication,
community-based input, interaction, content-sharing, and most importantly - collaboration. People use
social media to stay in touch and interact with friends, family, and also various communities.
Considering social media is this useful for us all, can we actually in a way overuse it and spend too much
time on it?

Firstly, let’s take this question analytically, considering real-life analysis and facts. A last year
landmark report released by Common Sense Media finds that teenagers (ages 13-18) use an average of 8
hours of entertainment media per day, not including time spent using media for school or homework.
Not only that, but the report highlights an average of 17 percent increase in screen use each year!

In my view, social media contributes a lot to the mental health of teenagers, mostly positively, especially
for those who were in severe isolation during the coronavirus crisis. We mustn’t forget that social media
was the thing that kept us together while at a distance for the last few years. We all studied, worked,
had fun, and in a way survived with the help of the Internet.

In contrast, time always has been very valuable, especially these days, when all the world crises take the
scene. We sleep an average of 8 hours a day, and we go to school for 4-6 hours, thence we are left every
day with another 10-12 hours for everything else. If we watch Instagram stories or even read Fashion
articles for 8 out of these 12 hours every day, you cannot tell me we are not consciously throwing our
future away.

In conclusion, we all need to find balance. The real answer to the question is: Yes, most of us are
overusing social media, or better said - not using it for good. The Internet is a very powerful and useful
everyday tool for every one of us. Our future is laying deep down on the Internet. It’s just that we first
must learn how to use it for good!