U.S. Teens Have Mixed Feelings About Social Media

In the wake of Facebook‘s recent scandals, more and more people are wondering whether social media in its current form eventually does more harm than good when taking everything into account. After all, it promotes smartphone addiction, has the potential to sow division and leaves us vulnerable to tailor-made manipulation attempts from companies such as Cambridge Analytica.

Even teenagers, supposedly the most avid fans of Snapchat, Instagram and the like, apparently have mixed feelings about social media these days. According to a recent Pew Research study, 24 percent of teens (aged 13-17) in the United States think that social media has a mostly negative effect on their generation, while only 31 percent think the effect is mostly positive. The reasons for teens’ growing skepticism towards social networks are manifold, but the prevalence of bullying and rumor spreading on social media is the biggest pet peeve for young Americans.