23school

[23school]

Blog Post 1

This week’s content was really interesting to read primarily because despite being familiar with social media platforms I never realized their attraction and how much they differ with age groups. These platforms usually in the form of apps have done an incredible job at establishing control over our moods. Finding the right balance when dealing with social media platforms has always been a concern although it’s usually very limited to younger ages. That makes a lot of sense since with our brains not fully developed, it’s easier to get trapped. Leading to mental health problems. Although with all this talk of mental health it’s easy to ignore the positive effects the very same social media platforms have on our lives regardless of the age group. Being able to communicate and engage with people both more efficiency and in a way that sometimes is more meaningful thanks to anonymity is incredible. With more and more relatable content being consistently published on TikTok, teenagers especially are feeling less and less alone. A study even came out talking about how it’s almost becoming the new search engine for Gen Z.

With these videos being more and more readily available, it’s allowing for more conversations to be had. Mental health has especially been a popular topic with these “relatable” videos which is especially a unique situation that we find ourselves in since historically that’s the topic that’s been most taboo to talk about. With people both more openly talking about topics that would before be considered either uncomfortable or taboo, it helps to connect people that they never would have otherwise had a chance to know. Part of the reason is anonymity, which has especially been a true double-edged sword in the discussion about social media platforms. There is the negative side to it which is cyberbullying where users are more than comfortable saying stuff about each other knowing that they’ll never be found out. However, the harm is the same and sometimes more especially with the new trend of threats being made to schools by anonymous calls. Since not only is it a waste of resources and time, but mentally its effect on students can be dire.

“Fitting in” is something that humanity has and probably will be concerned with well into the future. That is something that social media has done a lot of damage to, as someone once said “I never knew I was so stupid or so ugly until there was social media.” I think that is very concerning because of how accurate that quote/statement is. As I mentioned earlier, teenagers haven’t developed their brains completely yet which is why they’re hit harder by what they see on social media.