The day after his mugshot appeared on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office app, senior Tucker Lee had found out just how fast word gets spread through social media.
“Everybody knew about it the next day,” said Lee. “It changed what I thought about how fast word spreads around here.”
The incident happened over Thanksgiving break, and the buzz about his appearance on the app was still circulating through the school when students returned.
“All of my friends give me a hard time, but it happened over break so everyone is getting over it,” said Lee.
Social media played a big role in the spread of the news about Lee and has become a major distraction for students.
“Social media has a negative effect because we’re on our phones more than we pay attention to anything else,” said Lee.
A more recent issue dealing with social media has been brought up with the postingĀ of a video on YouTube. A former student posted a video of a party on the website, causing backlashes for those involved. The experience has changed the way some of these students view social media.
“It made it harder for me to trust people, and there’s bad stuff with social media that can affect you later in life,” said junior Kenliegh Riggins.
Social media is involved with students’ everyday life. Communication is the main use of social media by students. The way social media affects different students depends on how they choose to use it.
“It’s a way for me to keep in touch with peopleĀ I don’t necessarily talk to on a daily basis,” said senior Milton Villanueva. “There is always drama, but I think that’s only if you drag yourself into situations like that.”
Along with communication between friends, social media is also used to keep up with what is going on in the school. Information that students need about sporting events, academics, and other school activities are tweeted and posted on Facebook from the official school accounts.
“Social media is a positive thing. I have a Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that I sometimes get school information from,” said Riggins.
The spread of news, good or bad, comes back to social media. Theatre teacher, Ms. Samantha Brown, uses Facebook to relay information to the drama club. She supports social media when it is used for the right reasons.
“For the most part, it is positive if it is used for what it was originally intended for,” said Ms. Brown. “If people start using it and taking advantage of other people, it can get dangerous. I think students and anyone in general need to be careful about what they say because it can be used against them.”