Most people nowadays only discuss the negative sides of social media and how it is destroying our youth, but I believe that a lot of positive things can happen through social media. Although there are the negative sides of social media, such as the anonymity of cyberbullying and the pressures to have the ideal body type, since social media is not going to be going anywhere any time soon, people need to learn on how to embrace social media so that we can make it a more positive experience for many more people.

For me, I started on social media when I was young. I was 10 years old when I had gotten my first phone, and I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted on it. At that young of an age, I think I was just playing games and having weird conversations with my friends since there is not much for a 10-year-old to do on a phone.

One of my first positive experiences was when I was in middle school. I had become a very introverted person and did not have many friends so when I was home, which was all the time, I was always on social media just so that I could distract myself from not being with someone. During this time, I had made a friend who lived in Canada and we were both the same age so we began to talk and get to know each other.

As I reflect back on that time now, I was having a really rough time being in a new school and not knowing anyone, and this person on a social media app had become my friend and really helped me out during the time that I really needed someone. If I didn't have that friendship when I needed it the most, I don't know if I would have been able to make it out during that time of my life.

With this creation of social media, so many people get to speak up and have a voice that they never knew that they had. We see news headlines every day on how someone has started a campaign online to bring awareness to something that they are passionate about. Social media has allowed everyone to put whatever they want to out into this world, not just art and music, but simple things like pictures of their dog or their own opinion.

Social media has positively impacted me by allowing me to express the way that I want to express myself, and also having all these different outlets to showcase these things. Instead of focusing on the negatives, I like to think that social media has allowed not only me, but so many people, the ability to learn, grow and share ourselves with the world.