Has Social Media Started To Have A Detrimental Effect On Our Youth?
Social media whether it be Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat or some other social media platform is now interwoven within the very fabric of our society. I have two questions about the validity of social media, and how we should be using these platforms. I wonder if we should be taking much notice of timelines that constantly bombard us with images of the perfect lives that many other people are seemingly living. Is it just fake, and not to be taken seriously? I think so.
More importantly I have come to the conclusion that it is having a detrimental effect on our children and the youth of today. They appear to be gauging their lives by what they see on social media and that is a dangerous game. The effects on their mental health and well being could well affect their lives on a permanent basis which could give them life long issues. That might require them having to find help online with a counsellor from a mental health website such as Better Help
What made me start thinking about the possible detrimental effects of social media on my children, and the particular platform that worries most is Instagra. It’s definitely the current chosen platform that everybody wants to be successful on, but it is also the most fake of all the social media platforms. So what got me thinking about this was a conversation with my 23 year daughter, and my 21 year daughter.
My 23 year old daughter called round on her way home from work one night and we were talking generally when she asked me if I understood how difficult it is for young people today to live up to the image of social media. What she actually meant of course was trying to achieve the right look with regard to clothes, make-up, shoes, body shape and so on. I’m sure you get the idea. My immediate reaction was one of dismay that one of my children had been brainwashed and conditioned to believe that what appears on social media actually means something, and that it should have an influence on how we live our lives. My comment back to her was that none of its real, it’s all fake and in truth it is subconsciously advertising an advert for this, that or the other. Actually so many posts on Instagram are #ad. Maybe to protect our youth these posts should also have #fake so they know that there is not an ounce of truth in these posts.
For all of that it’s frightening how much influence social media is having on our young people. So much so that they believe they need to look like a totally edited and airbrushed photo of a celebrity, who I might add is being paid a lot of money to advertise a fake life.
The long term effects of this type on brainwashing on their mental health or wellbeing could well be disastrous. What if they start looking in the mirror and start saying I don’t like the way I look. This could lead to eating disorders, or they could believe that they have to spend many hours in a gym, not to get healthy, but so they get the body shape that they mistakenly think that society will accept as ok.
When I was growing up trying to emulate our heroes which could have been pop stars or football players, or whoever was something that I definitely did, but thankfully I think for me it was very different. I was not bombarded 24/7, 365 days a year the way the young people of today are about achieving the perfect image or lifestyle. We used to get a few hours of TV and then it was forgotten about for another week. Nowadays that’s simply not possible with social media being prominent in young people’s lives.
As a parent that hasn’t grown-up with social media tracing my every footstep, this has allowed me to first of all know that the vast majority of posts on social media are fake. It’s not real life and actually in many cases it’s not remotely close to a normal life that lets be honest most of us lead. So consequently as a parent I believe it’s important to yes embrace social media because it’s going to play a big part in our children’s lives and it’s not going away anytime soon, but we must educate and teach our children that it’s generally not real life and to take it with a pinch of salt. Enjoy it by all means, but don’t take it seriously otherwise the pressure they put on themselves to look good or wear the right clothes etc etc could ultimately have a detrimental effect on their lives with possible mental health issues, or simply not feeling good about themselves. We must teach our children to love themselves and love who they are. My six year old twin girls will be growing up totally surrounded by social media, its a fact of our world now. But I will be making sure they know the difference between real and fake.
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I would love to hear your thoughts.
17 Comments
Dave Pearson
October 26, 2018 at 7:32 am
This is a difficult one. Social media has so many positives in this technological world that I find it hard to acknowledge the negatives. Out children are growing up in a completely different world to the one we grew up in. But, when I was growing up I was buying magazines like FHM. Even as a teenage boy I was seeing articles (yes, I did read it) with airbrushed women etc etc. But also, articles about mens grooming, or looking good etc etc. I look back and realised I was brainwashed by that too – long before Instagram. I have two young teenage girls who I am careful to remind that what they see isn’t always real. But it’s bloody hard to get through to them sometimes!
#ThatLinkyFriday
John Adams
October 26, 2018 at 7:39 am
Oh this made me laugh Nigel. not because of the questions your article raises,. but because I spent a chuck of yesterday with a Danish film crew recording something for Danish TV on this very subject. The negative influence of social media is pretty clear to me. Yes, it can be a force for good, but it is also putting people under massive pressure and I think it is contributing to the flakeyness of the snowflake generation. That may be a very derogatory term but I thin there is something in it. Political debate or questioning of your opinions is no longer allowed or considered an assault on an individual’s rights and some of this, a lot of this, comes from social meida. But that’s just my opinion! Thanks for hosting #thatfridaylinky
David and Donetta
October 26, 2018 at 7:48 am
I think much of it is down to parenting and educating. Social media isn’t actually anything new, it’s an evolution of magazines and TV adverts, just on a more accessible scale. Magazines have told women how to look and feel for years and how men should be etc…
It’s all down to educating our youth and for all of the advertisements that are out there, social media is also a huge platform for many people that are being genuine, doing good, expressing their uniqueness. There has been no better time to be alive in history than now, there’s literally unlimited opportunities for anyone to make a success of their life however they see fit.
Social media for me isn’t doing anything, only exposing humans for what many of us are. Instagram isn’t making anyone do anything, it’s literally a button you can choose to press or not press, filled with content you can choose to like or scroll past, just like the magazine aisle in supermarkets.
I know there’s much of social media that is fake, however if you’re educated to understand the world of social media and to most importantly understand yourself, you can spot the fake and the genuine content a mile off.
I get confused sometimes with the whole Instagram perfect comments, what do we want to see on Instagram? Crying babies, sinks full of pots, people looking glum? Look back through your parents, grand parents and great grandparents photo albums, I’m pretty sure all of the photo’s will be happy memories, that’s all Instagram is. (Apart from the ads obviously, but ads aren’t a new thing.)
Thought provoking stuff!
#ThatFridayLinky
Mummy here and there
October 26, 2018 at 9:42 am
I think like everything it depends there is always good and bad. X #thatfridaylinky
Jamie Beaglehole
October 26, 2018 at 10:10 am
It’s a contentious subject isn’t it. I’m not 100% convinced about the connection between mental health and Instagram – in my opinion it’s become a scapegoat where really it’s about representation of young women across all advertising and media. The trouble is, it’s aspirational for all the wrong reasons! I blame TOWIE (for everything)!
As a family of boys, we worry a little less about this – we try to keep our social media true to life to inspire other people to adopt kids. Our kids are too young for access to social media anyway, although our teenage nephew has become very materialistic and possessive since access to Instagram.
Enda Sheppard
October 26, 2018 at 10:45 am
You can’t hold back the tide of social media, and yes, manipulation, but this is where responsible parenting comes in. They will ignore half, at least, of what we say, but the drip effect does work: they do come in time to see they don’t have to take it all so seriously. We see this with our daughter; she has gone through phases, but is growing too and shows plenty of discernment. She still has a way to go, but it can be done! Good one, Nige #ThatFridayLinky
Kate
October 26, 2018 at 11:22 am
I really worry particularly about the impact on girls and young women who don’t seem to feel the freedom to present themselves just as they are naturally celebrating their individual beauty. Fortunately and maybe because I blog my children are all quite cynical about social media and don’t use it much at all. I am a rubbish parent I n many ways but I have instilled strong wills and self-belief in them on the whole and I am thankful for that in this crazy world.
I suspect your young girls will be fine with parents whose heads are that bit wiser than most. #ThatFridayLinky
Wrae Sanders
October 26, 2018 at 12:54 pm
Social Media can definitely be an issue with self-esteem and other similar problems. There’s pressure to always look good. It’s a matter of keeping things in perspective. #thatfridaylinky
Jo
October 26, 2018 at 1:48 pm
I think like you that as long as we educate our children to take the media with a pinch of salt, that they shouldn’t take all these social media images so seriously. #ThatFridayLinky
Maria | passion fruit, paws and peonies
October 26, 2018 at 2:22 pm
To some extent I wonder if this is how parents felt when commercial tv started and adverts popped into living rooms every 20 minutes for the first. It must have seemed every bit as worrying. I find imagery very inspiring and artistic but I appreciate that many feel differently. I guess it’s because my family worked in tv as did I as a young adult, so I have always seen through it. As #ads get more subtle and ‘clever’ so do our young. I’m hoping they are as savvy as we were when ITV started xx
Han-Son
October 26, 2018 at 3:17 pm
Dopamine. That’s what social feeds in us – it’s been shown to foster and feed us the sort that create addiction.
I have to say I don’t think social is a bad thing in and of itself but I agree that used (or overused) it does create isolation and just seems so antisocial in many ways. #thatfridaylinky
Chloe
October 28, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Hi, I think like most things in life it’s all about balance there is good and bad #thatfridaylinky
Jo – Pickle & Poppet
October 28, 2018 at 10:08 pm
Social Media does make this issue much more highlighted doesn’t it. The airbrushed, fake advertising has always been an issue but on the whole it was only in magazines which you would probably buy once a week with your pocket money. Now we have social media it is everywhere, all day, every day. It is then hard to forget the images you see are not real life. We’re probably all guilty of comparing what we see online to real life. I think we have a massive part to play in trying to get our children to understand it is fake as the companies won’t change. So it is down to us. Perhaps we should flood instagram with ‘real life’ photos with the #Real The sad think is I don’t see it getting any better and that’s a scary thought! #ThatFridayLinky
MomOfTwoLittleGirls
October 29, 2018 at 3:27 pm
Oh wow. I didn’t realise the post I linked up was a similiar theme to yours. I guess that’s a good thing because it means that us as parents are becoming more and more aware of the issue. Hopefully we can help them understand the difference between real and fake. #thatfridaylinky
Nita
October 30, 2018 at 3:29 pm
Social media seems to be what makes the world now, ask any kid and being an “influencer” is something they aspire to be, a very non traditional job and not even a word that existed that long ago. It’s very true what you say, we have to teach our kids to love themselves and who they are, knowing that nothing is perfect and imperfections are what makes us unique and different. #ThatFridayLinky
Out Of Depth Dad
November 2, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Social media certainly is a powerful thing, that shouldn’t be underestimated – in terms of its power. To me I’d definitely look into curbing my son’s social media use when he’s old enough. Too much of anything is never a good idea. Thanks for sharing. #ThatFridayLinky
Musings of a tired mummy…zzz…
November 10, 2018 at 10:53 pm
My children are still too young to have any idea about social media except for YouTube and are so trusting about what they see. I think teenagers have it so tough now that everything is online and can’t be easily eradicated. #thatfridaylinky