social media – North Toronto Collegiate Institute

How Social Media Affects Teens

by Luca

Everyone uses social media, we all know it. But what some people don’t realize, are the effects it has on you and others. Social media changes who you are and the way you think.

Social media can lower your grades for a few reasons. Teens constantly go on social media to have fun, and eventually this becomes a habit or addiction. Teens then start going on social media while they’re in school. Not listening to their teacher, they don’t learn anything, lowering their grades.

Cyber bullying is another big issue that affects teens grades, and more importantly, their health and mental well being. Teens can get bullied over social media, “cyber bullying”, and this can make someone depressed if they aren’t sure how to deal with the issue. This can also lead to lower grades.

Teens get easily addicted to social media, and there is also a scientific reasoning to this. It opens your concentration of dopamine, activating rewarding centers in your brain. While using social media, the secretion of the aforementioned hormone increases creating an irresistible addiction.

But there are some benefits to social media, for teens and for adults. For example, you can text your friends through Instagram, Snapchat, or other platforms. You could text them through the text app on your phone, or just call them. But some people are not able to text or call on their phone because you just pay for these features, whereas social media is free.

You can also find people on social media platforms. If you have a friend that you lost contact with, you could search their name up on Facebook and try to find them. This works most of the time since so many people have social media.

Did you know that 98% of teens, ages 13-17, use at least one social media platform? 45% of those 750 students who took the survey are on social media every day, according to “a 2018 Pew Research Center survey”.

Without teens, social media platforms would lose a large portion of their users. For Example, on TikTok (a social media platform), 28% of its users, world wide, are under 18. TikTok has earned $1.9 billion in profits (in 2020) with 1 billion people using the platform. TikTok would have lost about $550 million without teens and minors.

Social media also impacts the economy. As I mentioned before, teens are not focusing as much in school because they are on social media instead, causing their grades to lower.Because of their low grades, they can’t go to college or university and are forced to get a lower class job, such as a cashier, or factory worker. But, without these people working in factories and as cashiers, society would not be able to function and the economy would go down dramatically.

In conclusion, social media has its pros and cons. In my opinion, everyone should have the right to use social media, but they all should have their limits.

Zuckerberg’s remarkable ‘metaverse’ announcement, explained

by Patrick

On October 28, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta announced the astounding creation of the ‘metaverse’. This remarkable world is set to be a second reality to our lives, using various technological devices, such as a pair of glasses with augmented reality. This means we can see virtual objects in our vision while still interacting with the real world.

Meta insists, “3D spaces in the metaverse will let you socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what we can imagine.”.

Zuckerberg gave examples of what could happen in his world. The entire keynote was performed in a simulation of the ‘metaverse’, as everything he describes surrounds him, such as “an incredibly inspiring view, of whatever you find most beautiful.””.

During the presentation, he gets a call from a coworker & joins a group of people virtually. They play cards with their three-dimensional characters while floating above Earth, in a spaceship.

There are many aspects of this world. You may be able to play pickup basketball with people from the other side of the world. You can virtually be at your desk job while being at home, but also be able to focus on your work by loading up a tropical beach to sit on.

Zuckerberg explained that having the metaverse to work in, will be very important for people going into the workforce soon, such as teens, who might grow up working from home. He explained that working from the metaverse will, “be very positive for our society, and economy.” and using the metaverse we will likely see it, “Dropping our daily commutes, and [we can spend] more time doing things that matter.”.

Second realities with economies, characters, and worlds, are gradually becoming more adopted in society. Earlier this week a 3D modelled yacht sold for $650,000 on a game, similar to the ‘metaverse’, that hasn’t been released to the public yet.

Unfortunately though, it won’t all be here soon. Mark believes that the tools to make this happen might take over five to ten years to complete. Fortunately, his products such as Meta’s Oculus Quest, allow you to take a step into what it could look like, with many apps already available for some awesome experiences.

Meta spoke much about privacy, an idea they might have a rough time being responsible for. They have been under fire recently for their controversial privacy and algorithm policies. Zuckerberg assured everyone that, “Privacy, and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one.” Mark & Meta are obviously trying to rebuild their corporate ethical reputation.

The demand for this product may be infinite. Luckily for Meta, the content will not be financially overwhelming, as a lot of it will be created by the community around it, for free. However, expect to be paying for a lot of these experiences, as Mark mentioned there will be much monetization.

Overall, this announcement should have many excited. There is no doubt that whether it is Meta, or somebody else, we will be in these worlds very soon.