What Is Wrong With Social Media.

It is well known that celebrities are huge inspirations to young people around the world and many use this platform of fame to do huge amounts of good. Take for instance Marcus Rashford, who, during the Covid-19 pandemic was able to help young people to gain free school meals when they needed it most and used platforms such as Instagram to spread the word. By doing this he inspired young people to focus more about politics and protesting, kindness towards others and generally positive attitudes. This clearly proves that social media can be used for amazing purposes, but when does it turn toxic? With the rise of apps such as TikTok and Instagram, there has also been a rise in social media influencers whose job is to influence people’s day to day life. While many of these people are uplifting and inspirational, there are a large amount who spread dangerous messages. Messages that cause under eating, bullying, and feelings of low self-esteem. These problems are mostly caused by edited images and the marketing of products which promote unhealthy lifestyles. For example, if a young girl sees a woman who she looks up to online looking extremely slim, even to the point where it is unhealthy, they will try to imitate it whilst in the process harming themselves and others. Clearly this is harmful and must be avoided, but how? Schools are now increasingly holding assemblies, classes and workshops where they tackle the idea of body image and self-esteem, but this isn’t enough. The problem needs to be tackled at the source, on social media platforms so that young people can see them as a safe space rather than a place where they will be made to feel inadequate and unvalued.

Many of my friends and peers have had personal experiences with these types of harmful influencers, for example Jessica Cloake who says that ‘social media is a very toxic place that makes me feel overwhelmed and exposed,’ has credited her feelings of low self-esteem and anxiety to social media platforms. On these platforms she sees her friends meeting without her, influencers promoting unhealthy lifestyles and disturbing content, all of which are all too well known to many teenagers and even pre-teens. What ads another layer of upset to these feelings is that they are not confined to social media instead, they radiate outwards into young peoples lives and impact friendships, schoolwork and even later life.

These impacts of social media are well known and far from uncommon, so what can we do to prevent them? Young people can take responsibility of their social media accounts and promote self-loving and accepting messages. They can protest against bullying and mistreatment by reporting pages which do so and invite friends to do the same. Parents can keep an eye on their children’s action on social media and ensure their safety and the safety of those around them. They can also ensure that their own children are not causing harm to others and educate them on the importance of kindness and acceptance if they are. Schools can continue to hold assemblies and classes on self-esteem and body image, but also go a step further and create an inclusive and accepting environment so that young people have a safe space, even if social media fails. This will allow young people so feel loved and accepted for who they are and not who they may pretend to be on social media. Lack of stress will help them to focus on school work and real life friendships, helping hem to feel fulfilled and become generally well rounded young people.

I have explored the huge negative impact that social media can have on young people just like me and why it has that effect, and I have provided solutions to a few of these problems. Now it is your turn to work on creating a safe space for the young people in our society and you will very quickly begin to see the benefits.