Social Media & Teens

I've said it before and I'll say it again: social media gets a bad rep. This bad reputation comes from startling statistics on its adverse effects on mental health, cyberbullying, addictive qualities, and so on. We have all heard and we have all seen the negatives of social media, yet when we look around us on the train or the sidewalk, we see people--young and old--glued to their phones. 

Image Source: Medium

Being part of Gen Z, in some ways I've grown up with social media. My Facebook and Instagram accounts serve as a kind of scrapbook, housing moments from my time in high school & college and now, my adult life as a mom & partner. Although I have these social media accounts, I have never considered my social media presence to play much of a role in my identity, which for many teenagers and young adults today, it does. This, as a teacher, sparked my interest in social media and teenagers, and, in particular, its impact on social development and what teens have to say about it. 

Teens, Social Media & the Brain

Npr sums up the research nicely in the easy-to-consume article "10 things to know about how social media affects teens' brains." A couple of items stood out to me in the listicle: "Social media platforms often traffic in the wrong kind of social interaction" and along a similar thread, "'Likes' can make bad behavior look good." Social media places a lot of value on numbers. "How many people liked my post?" "Wow, that person has a lot of followers!" "Which picture will get me the most likes?" Instead of placing value in actual human-to-human connections (what our brains need), social interactions are stripped down to liking and following. Loneliness is the result. The "like" and "follow" culture of social media also creates a false sense of popularity and can encourage dangerous and illegal behaviors. Anything for a "like," man!

On a brighter note, social media can help teenagers find communities of people based on interests, which creates spaces for teens to develop sense of self and express themselves. How do we get teenagers to live in this realm of social media--one focused on connection and expression--instead of the like-hungry one?

Let's Hear from the Teenagers Themselves

In 2019, MIT Technology Review chose and published a high schooler's essay answering, "What do adults not know about my generation and technology?" Taylor Fang, a then-high-school student from Utah won. Her response was authentic and eye-opening.

Taylor Fang speaks to what we know and see in social media use in young people--the mindless scrolling, addiction, posting for likes. No doubt, the relationship with social media is complex. Having a lot of likes on a post can boost confidence, yet the opposite is also true. It brings out insecurities, too. Fang spends the majority of her essay discussing social media and identity--as a place to "create and shape our sense of self." She discusses online communities that have helped develop her own sense of self and provided her a place for expression and connection. 

She urges adults to include teenagers in the conversation surrounding social media and instead of creating fear and "raising awareness" adults should help harness creativity and healthy outlets for expression, such as art, creative writing, photography (even selfies). 

Image source: Taylor Fang on MITTechnologyReview

Reflection

As a teacher, it is important we use data and research to inform our decisions, but we also need to look to our students. Social media isn't going anywhere. We need to be solution-oriented and find ways for social media to help students build themselves and their connections with others in authentic, meaningful ways.