Social Media (Leadership pt.3)

My experience with social media has been both positive and negative. I was late getting on the internet thankfully because my parents did not allow me to have electronics until I was thirteen. At first, I was upset because as a middle schooler my friends could all text each other and had social media, I felt like I was missing out. When I got a phone and social media it was a hard place to navigate. Starting social media at a young age can be so damaging to the ego. Teens tend to compare themselves to the people they see in pictures and videos. They compare their bodies and social life, and this can cause depression and eating disorders. People can also get bullied online. It's not the same as being bullied at school because you can just go home after, but online bullying can happen at all times of the day. The thing is social media will never go away so it is important to educate the youth on how to safely use it and how to use features to block and filter their content that they are seeing to protect themselves.

Social media can be such a positive thing and it is so overlooked by older generations. Social media influencers can have a bigger impact on our generation than an Alist celebrity. On social media you can show your everyday life and be vulnerable. People relate to these influencers and are easily influenced by them. Now some may use their platform for bad, but others can really use their platform as a leadership role on a topic they are passionate about. During 2020 when covid was at its peak there was a boom in influencers showing their day-to-day life motivating people to not waste their quarantine, to wear masks, and how to improve their mental health. I believe this era of social media is what really turned social media platforms around. At the beginning of social media, it was pretty toxic, and nobody could figure out what was real and what was fake. There has been a new light on photoshop, and influencers have been pushing natural and body positivity. 

There is now information out there about internet safety like how to filter what you see, block, and restrict. There is also more information on how to post safely and talk to people on the internet. Most of this information is given out by influencers or other individuals on the internet. There are so many types of videos that can be educational and inspiring. A Lot of popular videos I have seen are cooking, exercise, get ready with me, and mental health videos. Leadership roles can come in many forms, whether an influencer has a million followers or 500 whatever content you put out there can influence someone. The more someone sees the message you are putting out into the world the more likely they are to follow it. Social media is still a new concept, but it definitely is not going away for a long time. Instead of avoiding it we need to teach how to use it safely and in a positive way.