How is social media shaping our youth?

I have to re-educate my grandson now and then on what he saw on TV, or read. He's slowly coming around to understand that there is a lot of garbage floating around in the social media circle.

I think it makes people dumber, more self-centered, and actually anti-social.

People are dumber because they believe anything they see or read on the Internet, and like many, think that posting criminal behavior is cool and somehow won't come back to bite them in the ass later on. Many people also do not realize that whatever is on the Internet, stays on the Internet. So all those pictures or videos you took of yourself and posted are still around. Search engines suck them up and archive them. Schools you apply to can and are searching social media for dumb stuff you posted. Future potential employers can search for them and see them. Apparently, people's use of spelling and grammar has gotten really bad. That's not even the worst part of it-- people lash out for being corrected and celebrate being ignorant.

Social media makes people self-centered. I remember early on in Facebook history when the majority of what you saw (and still do to an extent now) is what people were eating at meals. With few exceptions, no one cares what you're eating. Really. Or they would post blow by blow real-time updates about their daily lives. For example... Going to Starbucks. At Starbucks. Standing in line. What should I order? Ordered. Paying. Then of course a picture of the person's coffee. Again, no one cares to read about the boring minutae of your life. Really. Cat and baby videos are cool though.

Social media has made people anti-social. Just look at how many people walk around with their heads over their phones. Or people who sit next to eachother and text instead of talk. Or people who post vile things because of the "anonymity" of the Internet. People who, without that "anonymity" would be beaten to a pulp for saying what they type. Social media has desensitized people to being humans that they feel that livestreaming a rape or murder is socially acceptable.

I like my smartphone, but it is not my life. I use it as a tool to make certain things easier, or to entertain myself if I am stuck waiting somewhere. But it is not the most important thing in my life. Maybe that is because I was 27 before I even had a pager. I talk to people face to face whenever possible, and try to ban electronic devices from the dining room table during meals. I am determined to not allow social media to make me anti-social.

I'm shocked that you are shocked?
People acting criminally is really nothing new? Social media only makes more people aware and much, much, faster.
There is a ton of information we do not know about this story...and in truth I am afraid to find out.