These days, social media applications such as Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and a lot more can be easily found on the phones of just about anyone, especially the younger generation's. They are now considered the main form of communication, rather than face-to-face communication itself since people have found it much more convenient than the traditional method. Social media applications give people a chance to communicate in various ways, such as texts, sharing images, and even sending voice recordings, and these are all easily accessible to just anyone with a digital device, as long as one knows how to operate it.

        It is often debated whether or not the good effects of social media are worth the negative, but if considered carefully enough, it is obvious how severely social media platforms negatively affect the youth of today.

    'Social media platforms', by definition, are websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking conviniently, and it has done exactly that- however, those positive effects do come with some negative counterparts. It takes a critically large toll on the safety, mentality, and relationship between the youth of today and reality, in ways that can be easily prevented. I believe that social media, without supervision, is simply not worth the risks!

First and foremost, social media puts the safety of the youth at risk in various ways, which in the worst of cases can even lead to fatality. All sorts of harmful media can be found uploaded onto online platforms, and are often found far too late, only once people have been unwillingly exposed to it. Such media could be anything ranging from pornography to 'gore', a term used to refer to extremely graphic videos of living beings being tortured, killed or other types of inhumane sights no child should ever see. 

Continuous exposure to gore at a young age can cause children to be violent; underdeveloped minds are much more susceptible to things than grown ones, easily believing whatever they see and hear. After seeing such cruelty over and over to the point that it seems normal, they could quite easily turn empathetic to those around them in dangerous ways. One other such example could also be identity theft, which anyone could fall victim to. As even adults could fall into the dangers of social media, young children are undeniably even more at risk of it, putting their safety at great risk.

Furthermore, although most are aware of the falsity of social media, children who are uneducated about it are not. With the aid of filters and highly advanced editing programs, rarely anything one ever sees on social media is real. Celebrities, who a lot of people- especially teenagers, look up to, clearly edit their photographs heavily to hide their imperfections from the world and fall in line with the high beauty standards of society. Take, for instance, one of the most famous examples, the Kardashian-Jenner family. There is no shame in editing one's photos, as long as one admits to it, but if not, they're setting up unrealistic beauty standards for those who see their posts.  Teenagers, especially girls, often find themselves longing to look just like their idols, and although many to some extent know that what they're looking at isn't genuine, they still find themselves wishing to look the same anyways. The high beauty standards of society are only further fed into by social media, including those related to one's physical body- when teenagers find themselves incapable of reaching their bodily aspirations, they often beat themselves up about it, and instead they resort to not quite so healthy ways, which in turn lead to eating disorders. A few examples of them include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Orthorexia Nervosa, and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) but are not limited to only that. Social media provides a place for falsity to shine at its brightest and set up high idealizations that many will have to suffer to reach.

Lastly, as social media platforms are easily accessible to just about anyone, cyberbullying is very much possible and if not, almost definite. Anonymous messages can be sent through empty accounts, which just about anyone can create- it makes it easier for people to make unpleasant comments without ever getting into trouble at all. Bullying takes a large toll on the mental health of its victims, and such a seemingly simple thing will have lasting effects on their minds for a lifetime.

Social media has undeniably made communication much easier between both long and short distances, allowing people to stay in touch or even meet each other despite living on different continents. Not only does social media help people keep in touch, but also helps to educate many, especially the younger people of today, on many different unspoken topics in society. A lot of important issues out in the world to know about are suppressed, whether purposely or by a mutual lack of knowledge by one's surrounding society themselves- educating the youth on the topics considered 'taboo' helps them to become more open-minded and alongside that, a better person too.

Nevertheless, those positive effects can also be achieved safely with the monitoring of guardians or without the use of social media at all. Simple messaging apps could be used as a simpler way of communication, with much fewer risks, and the monitoring of gadgets by parents helps to ensure that their kids get to enjoy the benefits of social media without putting themselves in danger. Social media is simply not worth the amount of harm it inflicts on the youth of today. If it continues to go on, society will likely fall apart as a whole.