3 simple ways to avoid making big mistakes as a teen using social media

Social media may connect and empower a teenager, but it can also become a permanent record of a young person's disgraceful behavior.

Karlie Hay, the newly crowned Miss Teen USA, learned this lesson the hard way. Soon after Hay claimed her mantle on Saturday, it became apparent that the 18-year-old Texan used a racial slur on Twitter four times in 2013 and 2014.

Even teens who may never imagine themselves as a public figure or a flashpoint in a debate about race and culture, for example, can benefit from the following tips:

1. Consider social media a permanent record of your behavior.
2. Remember that you're bound to make mistakes.
3. Don't underestimate who you'll become.

Read Rebecca Ruiz's article at http://mashable.com/2016/08/01/social-media-miss-teen-usa/#yQXBH.Li58q3.