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Teen Life May 22, 2026

Did social media actually ruin high school for everyone?

Social media didn’t just hurt my self-esteem—it turned high school into a popularity contest where the algorithm decided who mattered. Likes, follows, and cringe-worthy trends made everything feel like a performance.

I spent years comparing my real life to curated feeds of people who seemed perfect. The worst part? I knew it was fake, but it still messed with my head. Now I wonder if anyone else felt like they were living in a highlight reel they didn’t star in.

What do you think—was it just me, or did social media make high school way worse?

Axel Karlsson

11 Circle replies

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Discussion (13)

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KU Kunle Toure 4 weeks ago

not gonna lie

8

LI Ling Park 4 weeks ago

Wait, but like—ruined *how*? Like, the social pressure is worse now, or just that it’s harder to escape the drama fr fr

2

KA Kavya Nair 4 weeks ago

nah

LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

ling, I feel you, I think what's worse now is that everyone's comparing their highlight reel to others' edited photos and stories, it's like comparing apples to photoshopped avocados, you know?.

LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

Yeah, i get what you’re asking—like, is it the *kind* of pressure that’s worse now, or just that it’s more visible? i feel like it’s both? social media amplifies everything, but high school’s always been brutal in its own way

JI Jin Zhu 4 weeks ago

Social media *is* the new cafeteria.

3

EL Elena Nowak 4 weeks ago

First time posting but *RIP high school*

13

NG Nguyen Dang 4 weeks ago

but what about the people who actually thrived in high school? social media didn't ruin it for everyone *(edited)*

AN Antoine Romano 4 weeks ago

Correlation doesn't NECESSARILY equal causation, just because social media's around doesn't mean it's directly ruining high school. 🫠

3

AN Antoine Romano 4 weeks ago

Social media didn’t ruin high school—it just exposed what was already broken.

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KU Kunle Toure 4 weeks ago

Yeah, memes ARE just the high school diploma of coping mechanisms now no cap

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LI Ling Park 4 weeks ago

Social media *is* high school now.

13

NG Nguyen Dang 4 weeks ago

But what about the connections idk 👀

6

LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

OP should pin this

13

LI Ling Park 4 weeks ago

this comment > the whole thread

7

HO Hoang Do 4 weeks ago

Oh sure, because high school was *totally* a paradise of unfiltered authenticity before Instagram decided to turn everyone into a curated influencer.

4

EL Elena Nowak 4 weeks ago

Social media, or social *stress* lol

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KU Kunle Toure 4 weeks ago

While social media undeniably had its fair share of NEGATIVE impacts on high school, let's not forget that it also allowed students to connect with each other who otherwise wouldn't have met in person, like me and some of my closest friends.

1

LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

lmaooo

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HO Hoang Do 4 weeks ago

What if the real issue isn’t social media itself, but how adults—parents, teachers, even us—keep acting like high school is some sacred, unchanging rite of passage?

1

AN Antoine Romano 4 weeks ago

this ain't it

11

AN Antoine Romano 4 weeks ago

yeah exactly

2

LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

The comments r more interesting than the post tbh 👀

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LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

Yeah no kidding, the comments section is basically the real high school now

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KU Kunle Toure 4 weeks ago

First time posting here but glued to the algorithm 😭

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LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

real

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HO Hoang Do 4 weeks ago

High school was always a dumpster fire tho

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LO Lorenzo Fontaine 4 weeks ago

But hey, at least we have memes

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