Impact of Social Media on Information Consumption and Youth Culture

Social Media and Me By: Student

Table of Contents Section 1: Self Section 1: Self- -Reflection Reflection Section 4: Section 4: Critical Thinking Core Competency Reflection: Critical Thinking Core Competency Reflection: Include a section/slide that addresses these questions: How have social media platforms changed the way you consume and understand information? How do you tell the difference between facts and interpretations, opinions and judgements? How do you analyze evidence from different perspectives? When you see or read news on social media, do you take time to research the story further? Section 2: Watch Section 2: Watch this clip: https://bit.ly/2unykti What value do you get from online social interactions? How is social media and social capital helping to form youth culture? When you post online do you consider how the post may be seen by others? What it may say about you? How that post may be seen in the future? Section 3: Consider Section 3: Consider this future: https://tinyurl.com/ugo9xgn (1:27) and https://tinyurl.com/y7y9b3zg (1:17) Do you see any similarities between the world presented in this video and the world you live in? How does the main character gain and lose points? Why are these points important to her? What value might be derived from this type of social interaction? How are social interactions changed in the world of these clips?

Social Media's Effect on Me Social media platforms have changed the way I consume and understand information by changing my mindset on the information I get from the internet. There is much false information and social media is generally used as a highlight reel where people post their biggest accomplishments rather than how their life is actually going. This, in turn has made me feel much less about important things in my life, as I feel they are insignificant compared to the great accomplishments of others online. I often do not take enough time to research news on social media. It is often said that "you can't believe everything you see online" and I believe there is some truth to that. As the internet is a space where anyone can say anything, it is no surprise that there is a lot of misinformation online. I, myself have fallen for more false news online than I wish to admit. The fact is, when you look at anything online, you must check that it is from a credible source, or you might be tricked by some internet troll.

Social Media's effect on Our Culture The value we get from online social interactions is called social currency. It is the transaction of yourself and what you post for likes, comments or some form of attention. Social media and social currency is making a more depressed, anxious and stressed. It's no wonder, considering all the bad effects of using social media, only seeing only the highlights of others, needing social currency, FOMO and online harassment. Our youth is put into this toxic online space where they are going to feel like they are constantly competing with others, always needing to "stay in the loop" and can be harassed and bullied by others so much easier. When I post online, I sometimes don t think of the repercussions. Although I haven't posted many things online, the few times I have, I took down the post. When I put my first post up, it was a little bit cringy , but I thought it was funny and that it was not like anyone I knew could see it. But the more I kept it up I could not stop thinking that someone I knew could see it and they would think badly of me. Over time, as I matured, I even started to think that the post was "cringy" and eventually took it down.

How Social Media May Influence Our Future In the video, everyone's entire life was based on how others rated them, and I believe it is very similar to real life. In the world in the video, your score determined your place in life, meaning people would try their best to be perfect, making them fake. Which is like social media now, where people only post their highlights to make their life seem like it is better than it actually is. The main character would gain and lose points based on the way she reacted to the world around her. If she didn t agree with someone, they would rate her badly, meaning she would lose points. Everyone needed to be fake to gain points. The points were like a rating of a person, if you have a low rating, you would be worse off in life, and people would think much worse of you. There is no value from the fake social interactions in the video. As everyone is acting fake to not offend anyone, no one can actually be fully present and have fun with a natural conversation. Social interactions in the video are very robotic and unnatural. When people interact with each other they seem like they are robots, no humor or personality, just a generic conversation. People are pressured too much by society to even joke around with their friends or close ones, for fear of losing points.

Conclusion Social media has made people depressed, anxious and stressed because of people only posting their highlights, needing social currency, FOMO and online harassment. This has and will have a lasting effect on our youth and will change the way they view the world. If left untouched, this social media toxicity will deeply affect our society, maybe even turning it into how it was shown in the video about our possible future.

Reflection I tell the difference between facts and interpretations and opinions and judgments by researching the information given. It is often hard to find a reliable source for information nowadays, making it much harder to tell whether or not something is a fact or an opinion. This has made me more skeptical and more interested in researching more about all the information I find online. I always make sure to listen to all sides of a story before making judgement. When researching information, I find that it is most fair to only make a proper assumption after having all of the facts. This means listening to all sides of the story and hearing everyone out, even when I might not agree with them.

Citations Black Mirror, Nosedive, Trecho. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQW6mUK2aDQ&list=PLJk1a21GKEZXxT9 wwmnVle-zautJw4q12&index=2. Accessed 31 Jan. 2024. Center, Pew Research. 2. Views of Social Media and Its Impacts on Society. Pew Research Center s Global Attitudes Project, 6 Dec. 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/12/06/views-of-social-media-and-its- impacts-on-society-in-advanced-economies-2022/. Council, Young Entrepreneur. Council Post: The Importance Of Social Currency. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/03/03/the- importance-of-social-currency/. Accessed 31 Jan. 2024. Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health? | Bailey Parnell | TEDxRyersonU. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg_9C7gw0o. Accessed 31 Jan. 2024. Kindness May Not Deserve Kind Return. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyUi6-Opzzw. Accessed 31 Jan. 2024.