Social media impacts people in more ways than known. Apps like Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook are main sources of social media that are used that have many positive and negative effects on the human brain. 

“Dopamine is the feel good chemical, so when we have exercise or eat chocolate or have really positive social interactions, our brain releases that dopamine which leaves us craving more,” said Dr. Melissa Tingle, a professor of mass communication at Piedmont University and an expert on social media. “When we do not have that dopamine and the reward center is being activated, we oftentimes experience things like anxiety and depression.”

Tingle was able to relate these positive interactions to social media to show how addictive it can be. Social media produces content that people like and find entertaining which makes them more addicted to it. 

“Whenever I check my friends’ locations and I see them posting pictures of themselves on Instagram or Snapchat without me, I always feel left out, and it could further lead to signals of depression,” said Mandie Michaels, a high school student from Milton, Georgia.

In similar ways, it also affects people’s body images in both positive and negative ways. Most of the time people think about the negative ways, like getting jealous or insecure of what people post on apps like Instagram. There is also a positive side though, in some ways it can be motivation to start a journey.

“Individuals who want to start their narrative or their journey trying to become this idealized image that they see on social media can have some helpful and some harmful effects,” Tingle said.

Everytime people unlock their phones, most go straight to social media. People see people with these “ideal” beauty standards. If a girl doesn’t fit into a certain size she’s too fat, but if she does there is something else wrong with her body. It’s a constant never-ending cycle. Social media can cause girls to develop negative thoughts about themselves.

According to a survey conducted at the 2023 Summer Media Academy at the University of Georgia, 75% of the high school students in attendance said that they use social media three or more hours a day. Respondents felt that social media has more negative aspects that it does positive. 

“It serves as a way to kind of shut down, but not in a good way — mindless doom scrolling and such,” one survey respondent wrote. “Social media can also end up making me feel pretty distressed because it’s so much unfiltered content and news that I see in like one or two scrolls.” 

“I try not to spend too much of my time on social media and try to limit my use because in the end I realize that it makes me feel bad about myself and avoiding social media can take that feeling away,” said Elsa Block from Larkspur, California.

After learning from award-winning journalist, Joe Dennis, it is safe to say that Joe is the man. And he’s not modest enough to admit it.

“Pretty much, I am the journalism program there,” said Joe, chair and associate professor of mass communications at Piedmont University. “I love being a part of (a student’s) journey, and someone they can go to when they need help.” 

When Joe isn’t teaching at Piedmont university, he spends his time teaching high school students at University of Georgia summer camps. After getting his master’s and his Ph.d from the University of Georgia, Joe has just entered his fourth consecutive year teaching journalism to aspiring young journalists. He loves his career, and has no regrets.. 

“I really think that everything that’s happened has happened for a reason,” he said. “I’m really happy with how things turned out.” 

Joe’s co-teacher of the journalism class, said her former professor has a unique style of teaching. “I feel like he’s hands on,”said Keshondra Shipp, a former student of Joe’s. “I like that about Grady, that it’s like real hands on.” 

Keshondra “Kee” Shipp believes that Joe is passionate about his teaching. From being a student in his graduate newsroom class back in Fall of 2021. Kee states that he’s taught her a lot. He’s a very technical person. He taught her a lot about the technical side of journalism, which is something that she will take with her to her job in Corpus Cristi, Texas. 

“He really knows what he’s doing, but he’s not like braggy about it,” says Elsa Block, a student in his summer multimedia journalism academy at the University of Georgia. “He’s very humble, and he’s just a really nice person. And he’s very easy going, and he’s easy to talk to if you need help.” 

Hello everyone! My name is Maika Walker and I am 14 years old. I am born and raised in Atlanta and will be attending North Atlanta High School in the Fall. It will be my freshman year and I’m excited to explore a new campus! One thing I am passionate about is sports. Whether that’s watching or playing its always been a big part of my life. Currently, I play year round volleyball and I’ve recently been getting into golf. I don’t have any prior experience in journalism, but I’m eager to learn.

Growing up, I’ve always been interested in some form of journalism. Whether it was news, sports or entertainment, I’ve always had an interest. But as soon I heard about my high schools’ newspaper The Warrior Wire, that was something I had to be apart of. So I made the decision to do everything I can to secure my seat on the newspaper staff. For the next 3-4 years, I will be taking journalism classes to be on the newspaper staff and hopefully turn it into a career later on. I don’t know much about journalism, but I will do everything in my power to be the best I can be.

Something I don’t ever think I could stop loving is volleyball. I’ve had an interest in it since I was about 8 years old. This will be my third consecutive year playing year round and I haven’t lost the love for it yet. I’ve played for my middle school for two years and played for Rio Volleyball Club and Ace Volleyball over the years. With tryouts coming back up quickly, who knows where I’ll end up next. I haven’t decided if I want to pursue my volleyball career in college but that is a decision I will have to choose soon.

If I’m not playing volleyball or in school, I’ve been getting into photography a lot recently. Having photography as a career doesn’t seem like something I’ll pursue, but I really enjoy having it for a hobby. I’m that type of person who takes photos of everything. Anything that is like remotely interesting I will take picture of. So I was trilled when my mother got me my own camera. It wasn’t some regular camera, it is a professional camera in which you have the option to take off the lens and put different ones on. It might not sound like much but it’s the little things in life that count for me.

One thing about me is that I always enjoy trying new things. With this being said, I am very excited to learn more about journalism and I can’t wait to explore the different aspects of it.