As soon as senior Cheyenne Thompson wakes up, she looks at the picture she posted on Instagram the night before. She can see that she has 95 likes and eight comments on it. Although her Instagram is filled with kindhearted people, she can never be prepared for the negative comments she could receive.
“I have gotten a lot of rude and mean comments over the years,” Thompson said. “I have had comments about my looks and comments that have told me to die because of little things.”
Social media has become an inescapable aspect of life. With its pervasive nature, many tangle and confuse their own self-worth with what kind of response they receive from posts. Everyone enjoys seeing their likes, but how do they handle the dislikes?
Although Thompson receives these comments, she likes to look on the bright side of things. She is thankful for the nice comments because she feels they have always brightened her mood.
“I do not let the negative comments affect me,” Thompson said. “However, the positive ones have improved my day.”
Many students feel grateful and happy when they post on social media platforms and receive positive comments. Comments like these have the power of changing someone’s perception of themselves or their ambition.
“For the people that comment nice things, it uplifts my mood a lot,” freshman Caprice Morley said. “I feel good about what I put on social media after seeing nice things because I usually don’t present myself so publicly on platforms like Instagram often.”
Students like to interpret their comments differently. Some may see their comments as compliments while others see them as insults. They tend to anticipate the type of comments they will receive and are usually anxious to post pictures in regards to them.
“I think when you post, you’re a little nervous on how it’s gonna do,” senior Kendra Baron said. “And then when you get nice comments from your friends it always makes you happy.”
Many students at Naples High appreciate and respect their comments. Their moods are also changed based on the words they receive and have different opinions on them.
“I don’t really try to think about comments too much,” freshman Enoch Lopez said. “I just see them as something normal.”
