It seems as though in today’s day and age social media is the center of life. Gone are the days where people actually got together to show family or friends pictures or videos of one's most recent trip or birthday. Now we simply pull out our smartphone, point, click and post to share various aspects of our lives. With the technology that is at our fingertips, too many people this is the most efficient way of being able to share anything with a mass number of people in one shot. The problem is that just with any other type of social behavior, the use of social media can come at a price when making your information, thoughts and feelings so incredibly public.

The premise of social media has changed tremendously since its inception. Take Facebook, for example. When Facebook was originally developed, only Harvard students could have access to it. As it became more popular, it was then limited to college students and then eventually trickled down to high school students. Today, any person that is over the age of 13 and has an e-mail account can use Facebook. But think for a moment, where were you at 13? Personally, I know that I was getting ready to graduate grammar school and somewhat worrying about the opinions of the people that I personally interacted with on a daily basis. I wasn’t worried about what was being said about me somewhere in cyberspace just because it was not a reality at the time. Today, however, most teenagers will post about anything they are thinking or feeling because they view social media as their new vocal platform.

There are many dangers, however, to being so incredibly public about a person’s thoughts, feelings, or opinions, especially when it comes to teenagers. More and more often it seems that we are hearing stories about teenagers who are expressing themselves through their social media accounts and being brutally bullied for it both through social media and in person. Let’s face it, teenagers (regardless of the generation that they belong to) can be mean. While using social media, there is no segregation between what teenagers can view as opposed to what adults can view. For example, a teenager can search out a page about a news channel that posted about a story that they find interesting. The teenager then posts their own opinion regarding the story and almost instantly a group of people (most likely not teenagers) will jump onto the comment and tear it apart. Imagine the ramification that these words can do to a teenager who is just trying to find their voice in society.

Let’s not fool ourselves, though — adults can be just as mean to each other! Social media has given each person a platform to be able to express their opinions from behind a keyboard with very little chance that they will have to face the person they are expressing those thoughts too, if it is in a public format such as when commenting on a news story or religious matter. Generally, comments are kept a little more PG if you are personally associated with someone on social media as you want to stay friends with that person, so while you may express your opinion, you may not necessarily be as blunt or forthcoming as you may be with someone that you do not know. There is a certain element of respect when commenting on a friend’s post that may not always be present when commenting on a stranger’s post.

Not to get any lines crossed here, I am in no way saying that teenagers or certain adults need to be sheltered from ‘the real world’ or feel as though their thoughts or opinions need to be changed in certain instances. The real world entails that not every person in the world is going to have the same views on topics, especially ones that are hot button topics such as politics or religion. However, the more that time goes on, the more people seem to forget that fact! Simply because you do not agree with the point of view of another person does not automatically make them any less intelligent and it does not take away their right to be able to express their opinion. People seem to quickly forget that it was a number of different (and often times contradictory) opinions which allowed the United States of America to develop during its infancy. There is no ‘safe space’ in the world unless you go to a desert island in which you will be able to escape the opinions of other people. However, there is an acceptable way of being able to present your argument. There is always a way to be respectful during a debate or even a heated discussion. Once again, it is easy to forget that when you are sitting behind a keyboard with no fear of having to see that person.

I believe that respect is paramount throughout all facets of society, regardless of the topic that is being discussed. It is an element that should remain paramount regardless of whether you are speaking with a person face-to-face or having a debate over social media. However, I also believe that if more people resolved to listening to each other instead of trying to pressure their own ideas on another person, society as a whole will move forward in leaps and bounds.