There are plenty of arguments for and against the use of social media. I can think of good reasons to jump on the bandwagon and equally compelling grounds not to be drawn into the endless (and tedious) endeavour of "updating" these sites that have prided themselves on the immediacy of disseminating "news".
This blog is also a form of social media.
I suppose the very act of updating it right now indicates an obligation to upkeep this source of corporate identity. :)
I enjoy writing though. The difference between writing in a diary (physical hard copy) and publishing on a public blog is that the unknown audience takes on an unintended and real identity (albeit a mass and impersonal one). I sometimes wonder how this affects the voice I take when I "verbalise" my contemplations.
In any case, here are my thoughts to questions such as:
Do you endorse the use of social media amongst your students?
What do you think are the effects of social media on young people?
Are you active on social media, why or why not?
______
1. Self-validation is an inside job.
One of the most prominent aspects of social media sites is visibility - the unabashed desire for attention that underlies most of the posts (on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook etc.) is what fuels the obsession of having to rapidly update (most often about one's personal, daily life) one's page/feed so that their actions can be seen and judged by the public eye. This is undeniably an age where the private becomes public in the most socially-accepted way. The boundaries have been broken - imperceptibly at first, then urgently and inexorably.
Even when the "subject matter" is rather generic or didactic (e.g. cake-baking, make-up tutorials, grammar lessons etc.), there is no doubt that the identity of the speaker/ writer/ producer is the key element that ensures the popularity and positive reception of the posts. The interpersonal dimension is what propels the "news" and "information" that go around today.
Undoubtedly, the pressure is high when the modes to establish one's (public) identity and self-worth come in such open and ostentatious ways. Whenever something good has been done or something of value is achieved, it seems almost a waste if it was not placed on a social media platform - personal accolades must be paraded and given their due validation. While I have no qualms about spreading good news, the pitfall of this phenomenon, I believe, is an insidious rise in the level of anxiety amongst social media users to keep up with the Joneses in more ways than one.
The constant bombardment of images, captions, comments on social media sites means that our personal gauge of what is fashionable, news/"insta-"worthy, and good is inadvertently affected by what is valued by the participants in the larger (virtual) world. It also means that while we admire others, we also seek the same kind of approbation for ourselves. When left unchecked, this perpetual outward pursuit of affirmation will only result in feelings of discontentment, frustration and perpetuate any existing low self-esteem.
Self-validation is ultimately an inside job. Even if one attains gratification from the adulation of others on social media platforms, it is important to remember that external praise is volatile in nature since opinions are always subjective. One might be idolised today and condemned tomorrow. In maintaining a steadfast sense of who we really are inside and being able to accept where we are at in life for all our own weaknesses and flaws will help us to grow as individuals. Fame is temporary! Truth is eternal!
2. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Social media sites are a hotbed of both overt and covert competition. We live in a time where the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is so tangible that evidence of it is littered throughout the different social media platforms. It is easy to become disgruntled with one's own life when there seems to be so much more going on in the lives of other people. Fashion parades, lifestyle hacks, luxurious holidays, talent showcases (singing, dancing, playacting) - the list of possibilities for flaunting and sharing is almost endless, curtailed only by the users' imagination.
While there is genuinely wholesome, useful and well-intentioned content out there, which I truly appreciate, the danger of falling into the trap of one-upping each other is also very real. I have personally encountered people who go out of their way to be "more savvy", "more glamorous", and "more well-versed" so that they can be "at the top" in their various #fields. When I ask if they are happy, they say yes, but they can be happier.
We all know that some competition is healthy, but when our sense of fulfilment is largely dependent on comparing our merits with others (and winning), then again, this sense of joy might be more ephemeral than we choose to admit.
3. Privacy is priceless.
I have always prized privacy because it is where peace and quiet can be found. I surmise that when we put a lot of ourselves on social media sites, we lose that peace and quiet in more ways than one. We might become edgy because of the need to constantly check whether people "liked" our posts. We might wonder who would be curious enough to want to know about us/ like us/ follow us, only to realise later (oh horror!) that we are connected to that person by a third-degree friend with whom we no longer want to be associated anymore. We might even fear (ironically) that our privacy could be compromised by some "enemies" that we could have made throughout our online career.
Despite taking precautions such as setting one's account to "private", the roving eyes and fingers of friends and relatives can lead to an easy breach of confidentiality with just a screenshot. In my very introverted mind, I wonder why we need to share all our photos (of food, excursions, holidays, even work) with the 20 or 200 or 2000 or 2 million followers that we have? Perhaps I have not been well-inducted into the world of visual thrills and highs, but I like to keep my photos to myself and only share them with very specific people who matter (and who are featured in those photos).
In a time where information is the currency of exchange and ideas are highly valued, I believe that some level of privacy is essential to our well-being and protects us from being "over-exposed".
4. Scrolling mindfully would help.
While there is a great proliferation of knowledge that we can help ourselves to on social media sites, it would be good to have some level of discernment and self-control so that we do not end up consuming content without considering their origins and intentions.
It is easy to take everything we see at face-value since mass approval (high number of likes) might indicate some kind of veracity, but a more critical eye might help to sieve out what is real and what is not, or even what could be in-between. Once we are able to put on a more critical lens, perhaps we would not be spending an inordinate amount of time looking at every single post/ video that comes up on our feeds.
I am guilty of mindless scrolling too - it takes up my sleep time and I get a headache the next day. I have since been trying to stop myself from using social media sites as a way to "get in touch with news" (because it always descends into watching cute animal videos and the like), and I use my laptop to read the news on the websites themselves.
Another trick is to read a book at bedtime - choose a good one that can put you to sleep. :)
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