Logging off Facebook

For many SHS students, Instagram is the first place to go when sharing photos of their latest outings and adventures. Over the past few years, Instagram took social media by storm, and it wasn’t long before Facebook became a thing of the past.

SHS History teacher, Ms. Emerson, who graduated high school in 2010, was able to identify the shift from Facebook to Instagram that she has seen over the past few years. When she was in high school during the late 2000’s, Facebook was extremely popular among students. It was going into her junior year of college that Ms. Emerson got a Instagram, and began to see a change in social media usage. Ms. Emerson said that today she tends to use Instagram more frequently, but says Facebook still plays a role in her use of social media. “I use my Facebook to keep in contact with friends and family a lot more than I use it to actually post stuff”, Emerson says. While she reserves Facebook for communication with old friends and big life events, she uses Instagram to share small moments throughout her day. SHS senior Phoebe Strobino confirms this changing trend, saying, “I have a Facebook, but I almost never use it.”

While today it seems that the majority of Facebook activity is from an older crowd, Instagram stays mostly populated by high school and college aged users. Over the past couple of years Instagram has transformed from a carefully curated collection of posts, strictly used for the “artsiest’ pictures, to a more laid-back form of social media. While some still enjoy posting a picture of a nice sunset or delicious meal, others prefer using Instagram as a source of comedic relief in their daily lives. “I use Instagram mostly for funny memes,” says Senior Carly Longman.

Although past its prime, it seems that Facebook is here to stay for years to come. However, with over half a billion users worldwide, many would agree that Instagram has yet to reach its peak.