By Sara Casareto ‘16

The icons of this generation have become the like, retweet, reblog, and share buttons. Over 90 percent of those on Instagram are under 35. This is 90 percent of 150 million people worldwide. Seventy-one percent of all internet users have a Facebook and of those, 84 percent are 18-29 years old.

For many, social media is an integral part of the everyday life. Nine out of ten American teenagers have created an online profile for at least one social site, the most popular being Instagram and Facebook. However, for those not born in the ‘like’ generation, social media is a new development that brings worries regarding an obsession with conformity and peer approval.

“I have social media accounts probably to connect with old friends from my childhood, but also because of the conformity,” said junior Eric Fryer. “If social media wasn’t ‘the thing to have’ I probably wouldn’t use or have it at all.”

Fitting in, especially in the teenage years, exists in every generation. Social media is the Me Generation’s way of conforming to other’s expectations. People have become vocal on social media by posting pictures of friends, posting pictures of vacations or using it as a method of expression. Social media has become its own world that this generation merges with the real one. One key interaction on social media sites is the granting and receiving of approval, all through getting followers and of course, the ever famous “like” button.

“I think in today’s society it is very important to be liked because a lot of people want to be accepted,” said junior Andrea Fox. “Kids are very judgmental and want the approval of others. People will do anything to be liked by others; social media is just an extension of getting that approval.”

The word “like” connotes the very need to “be liked.” And numbers are everything. Likes are given and received by everyone on social media, and the numbers are all there to be scrutinized. Seeing how many likes or followers one has allows others to employ the “like to follower ratio” and compare results.

PBS Frontline’s recent broadcast special on ‘Generation Like’ investigates the way social media has allowed teenagers to put themselves out there making it easier for marketing machines to use them. It also addresses how likes are “instant gratification” and “have become the social currency of this generation … the more likes you have, the better you feel.”

“Having a lot of followers is kind of important to me. I’d say it feels nice knowing you have a lot of followers,” said sophomore Wilson Danny Vo.

The like culture does aid one’s self to be propelled through the World Wide Web. It allows people, even Sherwood students to stand out. Junior Doron Tadmor has 17,717 followers including a few famous names. “Lindsey Lohan has commented me before and liked some of my pictures. Drew Phillips, a well-known Viner, and his sister follow me on Instagram and Twitter,” said Tadmor.