PHILLIP ,18

WINNIPEG

I’m not oblivious to the dark side of social media – that’s mainly the reason I don’t have Twitter, that’s where most of the bullying and arguing happens.

There’s always someone who wants to take out their mood on Twitter, maybe on another person, and that fuels the fire. You hear about girls getting grad dresses and posting pictures of them and if two people have the same one, they start arguing about it, and that unloads a whole lot of bad talk. Then you hear the principal come on the loudspeaker at school and say there will be an investigation into what happened on social media and an investigation into whether it’s bullying, and the whole thing is wrong.

I feel like girls do a lot of arguing on social media – you don’t hear that stuff happening between guys. But there’s a strong emphasis to seem cool, and there are a bunch of things you should or shouldn’t do on social media. Like, you shouldn’t post pictures of yourself because that’s what girls do and you have to be strong, and very independent and macho-ish.

I haven’t dated a girl who was risqué on Instagram and I don’t know if I would. I’ve never tried Tinder. I’ve never gotten a nude photo, nor have I sent one. With my friend group everyone knows that what you put on the Internet always stays on the Internet.

I feel like a lot of people blow teenagers off –“It’s just high school, you don’t know what you’re doing” – but social media makes our lives seem more serious, in the public eye. You feel you have to live up to certain standards.

I saw Amanda Todd’s mother at our school, and even if it happened in B.C., the fact that she was going around Canada talking to s t udents brought it home.

I FEEL LIKE GIRLS do a lot of arguing on social media.