Social media took the world by storm with sites like Myspace and Facebook and has only grown from there, with apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

The realm of social media has expanded from the sites now considered ancient and have become a lifestyle, not just a way to keep up with friends. Influencers and celebrities showcase their latest looks and favorite products in brand deals that have followers wanting to try the things their idols love. Everything is done for a like or a follow and consumers are happy to give but at what cost?

On social media apps such as Instagram, influencers and celebrities can get paid for the amount of interaction their posts garner, which has them itching to get the most brand deals and fame as possible.

This craze to be rich and famous from just posting pictures and videos has become a worldwide phenomenon and has a lot of young adults and even children trying to climb to the top.

While it can end up being extremely beneficial to become famous on the various social media sites and apps, it can also be extremely harmful to the users. Someone can post a picture and think it will be well received, only for hateful comments to start flooding in by people who hide behind a screen . This kind of negativity can start to take a toll on the people it is directed at, which can affect their mental health and happiness. There are many stories of social media users having to take breaks or leave completely because the negativity became too much for them to handle.

Social media has become something that everyone, even small children, are a part of. Parents make accounts for their babies and children to become famous and I personally know some children in elementary school that have phones and various social medias. This is extremely dangerous because of the predators that use the sites and apps to take advantage of young kids who don’t know any better. For socials like Instagram and Twitter they don’t allow anyone who puts their age as 13 or under to get an account but that doesn’t stop people from lying about their age. Children don’t understand that the preventative measures are in place to protect them from the people and sometimes the content the social media app or site have.

Apps such as Snapchat even track your location, which even though you can turn off, can cause dangerous situations. Some users don’t know how to turn it off or don’t bother trying, which can bring potential stalkers, especially if they add people they don’t know. When younger children get Snapchat and don’t turn off their location they can be put in a dangerous position and get taken advantage of.

Giving social media applications your information such as location, birthday, or even city can end up being a big problem. Some sites say that they may sell this information to companies trying to curate advertisements for the users to receive in the user agreements but most people skip over the long pages of text with no forethought.

In conclusion, while social media is something used by most people for enjoyment, there is a dark side behind the glitz, glamour and ignored user agreements that users must watch out for. Social media will be around for a long time and we all need to be aware of what can happen because of it.