Every teenager who has social media remembers when they were finally allowed to join the platform. After just a few clicks, the world is suddenly at their fingertips, and they have unlimited access to a network of users. Social media has quickly become an important part of people’s lives for a variety of reasons.
Senior Fisher Ireland said social media is imperative in helping him stay on top of the school’s events, especially during senior year.
“I would completely lose track of what days are home football games and what days we have senior activities if it weren’t for the Instagram accounts that track it,” he explained.
Senior Mia Fine said as the social media manager for the girls basketball team, she finds social media extremely helpful in spreading information
about sporting events.
Additionally, she uses the team’s Instagram to showcase the players’ daily lives and routines, Fine explained.
“We’ve been posting workouts with the team during the offseason, which has been fun,” she said.
Senior Theo Croffoot-Suede said he uses Instagram to manage his baking business, Theo’s Baking, which he started his junior year.
Through his entrepreneurship, Croffoot-Suede has earned a host of opportunities, such as contributing to a monthly tasting menu at Macelleria Butchery, he explained.
While Croffoot-Suede said many of his opportunities have been obtained through word of mouth, social media is also valuable for the daily operations of his business, as it provides a record of his past work.
“It’s done in a way that is easily accessible for anyone,” he explained. “If I want to show it to colleges, I can just easily put it out there, and it doesn’t cost money like a website would.”
After spending a year as an exchange student in the Czech Republic, Ireland said he has used social media platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends without paying a premium.
“Depending on the phone plan, texting or calling overseas is an extra cost,” he explained.
WhatsApp is the most helpful social media platform for communication as it allows Ireland to send messages to friends without a storage limit, he added.
Croffoot-Suede said he finds social media to be a useful tool for sparking his imagination.
“With anything art related, you can find a lot of inspiration on social media,” he said. “Some people aren’t even baking; they’re sculpting things out of fondant and buttercream.”
Croffoot-Suede said he also uses social media to explore different cuisines and flavor profiles he may not have otherwise thought of.
“It’s been really helpful in terms of broadening my horizons, so I can experiment with different things and techniques,” he said.
While he does utilize social media to keep up with friends and social events, Ireland said scrolling on apps like Instagram can be a time waster.
“I’m an avid [Instagram] Reels user, so I tend to procrastinate a lot on Reels,” he said.
Similarly, Fine said she has found trouble with social media, especially when relying on school accounts made in previous years. After having a well known Instagram account for the 2022-2023 basketball season, Fine was locked out of it and had to create a new account from scratch, she explained.
Fine said she thinks using social media is a generally beneficial activity and enjoys using it to stay engaged with her surroundings.
“I think it’s spreading positivity,” she said.
