Does social media affect a person’s personality?

Imagine two people sitting down next to each other and one is constantly talking about how many ‘Likes’ they got on their picture on Facebook or about how many followers they have on Instagram. It will seem that the person listening to them might be irritated with what the person is constantly talking about.

In today’s society there are all sorts of “labels” coming from different social media websites. There are terms like “Facebook famous”, “Instagram famous”, or any kind of social media “famous”. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “famous” mean, known or recognized by very many people: having fame.

Alejandro Salas, a fourteen year old, is considered “Facebook famous” to many people. He says, “Yes, I actually feel that social media changes someone’s personality and as well themselves into someone new.” On Facebook, being “famous” is getting many likes on a status or on a picture they post. “Things I believe that make me ‘Facebook famous’ is that I get 400 likes in mostly every post or picture. The highest like I’ve gotten was around 1,030.” Social media causes trouble sleeping which causes people to log in there accounts at least up to 10 times a day. According to a  Clinical Report−−The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families by Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson states that social media can enhance communication, social connection, and technical skills.

Kimberly Garduno, an eighth grader at Adams Middle School, mentions that she thinks being Facebook famous can change a persons personality. Kimberly thinks that being Facebook famous can’t impact a person’s life unless they start thinking they’re too good for you. Recent research states that there are common “online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique-forming,and sexual experimentation.”

It can change your personality, but it is up to you to allow it.