Kaitee weighs in:

When teens first became interested in Facebook, my older sister, Liz, desperately wanted one. But my parents told her not until she was 18, effectively crushing her social dreams. By the time I got into middle school and then high school, it seemed like everybody had one but my sisters and I. When Liz turned 19, she got a Facebook page but for some reason I still thought nothing of it. Sure, all my friends have one. Sure, they’re cool but I don’t see what all the rage is about. Despite the reasons that Facebook and Twitter are cool, there are several reasons why they are not:

1. Creepers- I know they have all that privacy stuff on Facebook and you can block and delete and un-friend and all that, but remember that creepers are smart. There’s this little thing called hacking which goes hand-in-hand with creeping. Some sketchy dude could be creeping on your “private” life without you knowing and… Well, there are NO upsides to that people!!! So… yeah. Creepers, man… Creepers.

2. Are you really mature enough for this?- Don’t take it personally, but if you’ve had a Facebook since you were 12…. You probably weren’t mature enough to get one in the first place. What is a 12-year-old going to do on Facebook? And Twitter? Come on, man! What are they going to tweet? “Check out this funny picture of something completely random and stupid! LOL!” No. Just no. But that’s not all. If you aren’t allowed to have one, then bravo to your parents. They understand the risks of social media and are probably a pretty good judge of your maturity level. Because, come on! How can you know things you don’t know? Think about that! Hey! Your parents know. You might want to listen to them. BAM! The end.

3.Drama! Drama!! Drama!!!- Sure, you keep in touch with friends and plan events and it’s tons of fun! Yay! But a lot of drama spurs from Facebook and Twitter. People break up over Facebook by changing their status and then they say really mean things (we’ll just leave it at “really mean”) to each other on Twitter. Really? That just relates back to the maturity thing. Cyber bullying and Twitter wars are not cool! Not cool!

Okay so that’s it. I’m not saying to go home and delete your social media profiles and sit in the dark and cry. Honestly, if I was allowed to have a Facebook, I might…. But not a Twitter. Those Twitter wars are brutal, man! But I trust my parents’ judgment and I don’t need drama. Not at all.There are a lot of awesome things about the internet and social media but it’s not the end-all and be-all of our existence.If it seems like it is for you, you need to find a balance and probably check your privacy settings. 

Haley weighs in:

Social media is a cheap way to stay in touch with old friends and keep up to date on the things around you. Many businesses use it every day for advertising and telling people about their new products.

I, like many other people, have friends that are not in this country and like staying in touch with them.  International phone plans can be very expensive. If you want to talk to an international friend or family member you can simply message them on Facebook free of charge and it is just like texting but no cost is required. So why not save some money? Yes email can be fun too but Facebook is more personal, ensuring all of your friends efficiently have some idea of what is happening in your life without you having tell each one individually.

Many high school and college graduates use Facebook, too. These people use this platform to stay in touch with old friends that they may not have spoken to in a while so they can catch up. It is a way to make old friends new again and reattach old bonds. Twitter is also a way to find old friends and follow what they are doing. This is beneficial because some events that you may want to go to may be posted or tweeted about and you can now get your invite!

Speaking of events, Facebook has a feature that allows you to make an event and invite people. You can make the event private or open so either all your friends can know about it or a select few. With this feature you can get an estimate on who is coming to your party and how many people to expect and then plan accordingly. You can also make updates to the event and see what the whole group is into so that everyone has the ability to have fun at your party.  It eliminates the need for snail mail invites and is more efficient  than email because you don’t have to know everybody’s email address.  They’re already linked in to Facebook.

Twitter is a big app for “live tweeting.”  Live tweeting is when someone does to an event and gives updates on what is happening at this event. The live tweets can come from news broadcasts, friends, athletes or celebrities depending on who you are following. So if you aren’t home in time to watch the game, you can still read the live tweets and talk about it with your friends the next day.

Overall social media helps us.   Some people are quick to proclaim it as stupid, but most of those people have never tried it. If you have never tried something you can’t just jump to the conclusion that it is stupid or useless because it could majorly impact your life for the better!