In the year 2023, social media has become a big part of everyday life, so It is no surprise that Hamburg Area High School students use it very often. There are many different benefits that come with social media, like being able to talk to long-distance friends, being able to share ideas, and having access to lots of information at once. In the past 15-20 years, social media has impacted the world very largely with all these new things we can do with it. 

     The most popular social media platform being used at HAHS is Snapchat, also known as Snap. The main focus of Snapchat is to connect with friends and send real-time pictures to loved ones. Another liked thing about Snap is that the messages disappear after a certain amount of time. When asked why Snapchat was their most liked platform, Paige Cassler said, “It is the easiest way to communicate with my friends.” It seems that the most popular sites are the ones that make it the easiest to talk to friends and family. 

     Instagram, Discord, TikTok, Facebook, and others came in second behind Snapchat. Some reasons people choose Instagram were because of its “…creative liberties”  and the ability to “…directly message friends.” Discord was also liked for its communication advantages and its way of spreading work. TikTok is very popular right now and is seen as the new age Vine (which was also a social media that was very similar to TikTok, but is now “dead”) Facebook is seen as a way for older people to communicate and share ideas now, mostly used by parents and grandparents alike. 

     To conclude, it seems that the most favored social media platforms have just one thing in common, communication. In this age communication, with friends especially, is highly important to us as a society and as a whole. 

     For more information, please visit: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/