Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have given today’s teenagers the world at their fingertips—but along with that constant connection comes constant arguments. Virtually every platform includes a comment section for people to share their thoughts on other peoples’ posts 24/7. With the political climate in 2019, these comment sections often turn into heated debates filled with vitriolic remarks.

On social media, users are exposed to posts pertaining to politics, mental health, women’s rights, racism and more. With the comment section under posts, millions of people are able to voice their opinions regarding these issues which often leads to unprovoked fighting. Rather than respecting that everyone has different opinions, some people have started to use comments as a way to assert that their opinion is superior.

“All over social media, I see different viewpoints being argued,” sophomore Alex Lowenthal said. “Personally, I don’t express my opinion because I feel like there’s no reason to since I know it will lead to angering others.”

Despite people’s intentions, posts that are meant to be humorous can be deemed offensive. For example, a post on Instagram making fun of President Donald Trump’s looks receive immediate backlash from Republicans ready to defend his presidency and engage in controversy over his actions. After this, Democrats fire back with a slew of nasty comments.

This defensive chain reaction has given Instagram and other apps a political edge rather than entertaining, a trend that many West Essex students find irritating.

“I think social media should be an app where you post fun pictures with your friends and family,” sophomore Olivia Emmolo said. “Not political opinions.”

Other students, while wanting social media to be a place for them to find humor, also believe it can be a place for political expression as well. They suggest a separation of political posts from humorous ones so that they have a safe place to share their ideas.

“It will be very difficult to separate politics from funny posts, but we should make the effort,” junior Julia Rubenstein said. “Funny posts deserve to stay funny.”

The cycle of argumentative social media comments will persist as new generations of users emerge and there are new political topics to debate. Many students find the concept distracting or destructive, but some other find it even entertaining.

“I don’t really care when comments turn political,” junior Angelina Scalici said. “I just laugh at the stupidity.”