In my Human Geography and Sociology classes this past week, we were talking about how technology affects us. How much do the younger generations (including myself) care about how many followers and how many likes we have on our social medias. So how is this affecting us? Well it's making people more social online and less social in person so we're all forgetting how to communicate with people face to face.
I'm not one of those people who posts everything about my life on social media, but I see a lot of my peers do. I don't want to waste my time worrying about the followers and the likes because it honestly doesn't matter. I think it's really sad how social media affects us because it makes us think a certain way and it influences us. Since I'm a college student I always see everyone walking around campus while on their phones or if someone is waiting for a class to start. We're all doing mindless stuff.
I would say that the kids born from 1990-2000 weren't born with technology in our hands. Like we remember life without it compared to most 5-year-old kids today that have iPhones and Ipads. That's such a crazy concept for me to understand. I remember from middle school that razor phones and sliding keyboards were the coolest things ever (until iPhones came out and ended up taking over the entire world.) Today it's basically Apple vs Android (and I'm not about to go into that debate) but technology is about what version of a newer phone you have. It's imprinted into our minds that newer is better. New features, new cameras, better screen, better battery life, etc. Everything in technology improves over time, but at an expensive cost. Nobody wants to spend $1000+ dollars for a newer iPhone, but yet people do.
I think it's such a healthy thing to detach yourself from social media for a little bit and just take a breath and enjoy where you're at. Not everything has to be posted about online. I've had a lot of friends take a social media detox and they realize how much time out of their day that they're spending on their phones and they're surprised. Spending just one day away from social media will be one of the best things for your mental health. When I'm on my social medias, almost everything I see is about beauty or fashion. It's really discouraging when I see all of these "perfect" girls but in reality, it's just photoshopped. I sometimes beat myself up because I think I don't look cute enough or I don't have clear enough skin. But I am 100% me. I rarely wear makeup and it's something I've grown into because I can totally rock my natural skin and I'm completely fine with it. Like oh sorry my face is broken out today and I woke up late so I decided to not put on foundation and this is my skin today. I think it's crazy how much women put up with in regards to beauty and makeup, and men too but in their own standard. I think it's important for everyone to learn to be comfortable and confident with themselves.
So there are social media detox camps, and yes, they're a real thing. This is a "camp" where parents send their kids off to when they're too addicted to technology or social media. IT EXISTS I SWEAR. How does this affect kids? Why are kids so addicted? What can we do about it? How do we control social media and influencers? I have a thousand questions and not that many answers but this is some food for thought today. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
This video says it all about what being an "influencer" really means.
