Final Blog Post

          Our generation is known for being the most equipped to utilize social media in a way that is beneficial to our lives. Now that is both a great thing and a bad thing. Using social media to get in touch and further ourselves professionally has changed the lives of so many people. Not only that, social media influencers have been seen more and more as professionals and there are so many more young adults and teenagers who aspire to be one of them. So even though there are positives, there are so many negatives.
         It is no secret that technology is so advanced today and in ten years time we will think that these are all just ways of the past. It is truly incredible to think of what we are able to do without barely even lifting a finger. Imagine if this pandemic happened thirty years ago. There would be no way to conduct a course online. Our school year would have ended and we most likely would have been forced to start from the beginning of the semester again. Now, there are so many kids that are complaining about having to attend a class lecture from their bed, myself included I won't act like I am better than that, but at least I am aware that it is ridiculous to complain about that. I am well aware that I have a borderline unhealthy relationship with technology. For me, not all technology is bad. In fact, I don't know what I would do if I couldn't watch movies or have pointless entertaining videos on YouTube. Where I think I start to become unhealthy is when social media is brought into it. I grew up as a competitive dancer. This seems like useless information, but I am getting somewhere, don't worry. As a kid, I was always compared to the people around me, ESPECIALLY my body. The rates of body dysmorphia in competitive dancers, gymnasts, and ice skaters are alarmingly high. Social media does not do anything to combat that feeling for me. Growing up in an environment where I am constantly comparing myself to others leads me to do the same with these picture-perfect Instagram models who clearly edit their pictures. This pressure that I feel is most likely felt by so many other people as well.
     Another more negative aspect of technology is the accessibility. Cyberbullying is becoming more and more of a crime. I distinctly remember in elementary and middle school going to assembly after assembly about cyberbullying and how it was wrong. Although so many people had to attend these kinds of meetings, cyberbullying was still a plague in our generation. I used to think to myself why this would happen. My mom always gave me the best answer: "it is easier to be a coward and say things behind a screen than it is to be a bully in person". There is no doubt that she is right. I think the occurrence of events like cyberbullying and revenge porn leads to the teen suicide rates increasing.
     When quarantine first happened, my friend and I were discussing how suicide rates would probably increase. Without an escape from emotional abuse that may be occurring in homes and without having a daily routine, it is inevitable that someone with wavering mental health has a high probability of falling deeper into depression. Health officials are aware of this and have made various social media posts of the available mental health hotlines if someone feels that they need to talk. Social media has been available to provide distractions for this quarantine. I believe that this is mostly affecting younger teenage groups. I have younger cousins who are around thirteen years old and all they have been doing is going on Tik Tok, Instagram live, posting Snapchat story after Snapchat story. I guess it is better than them complaining, but I wish, especially now that the weather is getting nicer, that kids would go back to being kids. My neighbors across the street have young children, their oldest is five and their youngest is about eighteen months old. Every day that it is sunny out those kids are outside playing with their parents for hours upon end and it makes me so happy that their family is being brought together in spite of this horrible pandemic.
     My biggest hope is that this pandemic helps us view the little things in life that truly matter again: that when we see our friends, we won't be on our cell phones, that when we see our extended families, we will be able to talk about the memorable times we had and create new exciting memories. I hope that this brings the world back into a simpler time and that we will not be so dependent on technology to have conversations. Though technology has so many positives (safety features, easy access to otherwise impossible things, talking to friends when schedules don't align), which I am so grateful for, there are definitely aspects that are negative, especially with younger generations who ONLY know a world filled with social media. I'll leave you with this: This summer will more than likely be spent in some form of social distancing, especially for those who live in New York like me. Maybe this should be the summer that instead of going to the beach with friends to take pictures for an hour and then leave, we stay with our families and create memories that mean something to us. Because I'll tell you one thing, most of the pictures on my Instagram are meaningless and just photo-ops. Let's do our best to make this happen.

Linked below is a survey put out by researchers at the University of Manchester about mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you or a loved one is struggling, I suggest filling out the survey and seeing what they offer.
Reference: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/can-social-media-help-young-people-to-cope-with-lockdown/