How social media is shaping the new generation-Bashir Kabir

By Bashir Kabir

Being the type of person that almost always joins a new pad late when the majority might have already done so. Not an enthusiast of the latest fashion item, a new viral app, the newest trend, the cutting-edge tech gadget, or anything else for the sake of it being new and trending.

The functionality is what sways me. I feel if that old phone I am using is still sending and receiving calls and opening Google chrome why do I need that up-to-the-minute iPhone model to show to the world? One of the reasons could be because I cannot afford it but most of it is because I don’t need it.

Understandably, being among the first to do something that is trending is the aspiration of most and particularly the young generation. By the young generation, I mean those between 12-22 age brackets. I Don’t buy into the opinion that you are young until 40. That’s just a way of not accepting being old and clinging to youth.

The fast technological evolution seen in the last few decades further distinctively separates the age groups into even narrower age demographics. And, this validates the notion that 40 plus are indeed senior citizens in this age because a whole culture for demographics as young as 10 is in existence on the internet.

Internet and Social media are one of the fastest-growing niches of technology over the years. What started with just texting back and forth on a weird green screen evolved into a sophisticated media exchange and communication technology on thousands of platforms that are collectively called social media today.

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Since I am by my own definition not in the young age group anymore, I tend to use the different growing social media apps with a grain of salt. I contemplate functionality and purpose and try to avoid vanity-based apps which is sadly what most of them are about. For me, Facebook to a certain extent is where it is at.

The platform allows for long essays, image sharing as well as a large swatch of interest groups and pages to share knowledge with. While Twitter is regarded as the elite social media platform, I personally don’t like it. It seems to limit in terms of what I would like to do and plain snobbish, which I think is why it fits the elites so well.

Juvenile social media platforms such as tik tok, Instagram, likee and the rest that I don’t know of are a big no-go area for me. They seem counter-productive and just useless for whatever reason. This brings us to the crux subject of the topic. How all these social media outlets is shaping the consciousness and awareness of the youth today?

People, not just young people but mostly young people, spend a lot of time on social media interacting and whiling away valuable time. They could be chatting, picking up and spreading out hearsays, fueling political sentiments, and whatnot.

The damaging negative effects that are often overlooked are those subtle effects that have to do with the youth’s mental functioning. At that young age, boys and girls are quite unaware of the life ahead and what they need to focus on to prepare for that.

The obsession with stuff like looks and beauty, prestige and money, fame and status without knowing how to secure them is the most important aspect of their lives and which they spend their time consuming online.

Social media feeds this hunger for cheap and easy success by making available the fake lives of growing influencers infesting the platforms and in most cases promoting immorality.

These social media celebrities display luxurious, filtered, and photoshopped lifestyles to their gullible followers. They present themselves as perfect specimens with no worries in the world. As a result of that standard of beauty has gone up through roofs for acceptability and so is the seek for wealth status which also led to uncountable online financial crimes.

Young people nowadays have no agenda in life other than to snap a pic at a fabulous-looking place, wearing the latest outfit, holding the most updated iPhone to be posted on their various social media accounts, and keenly start waiting. Waiting for likes!

Experts of human psychology indicate how this is not a healthy way of living for a fully functional and responsible human being. The possibility of the rise in the deterioration of mental health in a form of depression in some youth can be attributed to the negative effects of social media such as less physical human contact, obsession with looks, feeling not fitting in, and like a loser, and more.

Social media is breeding youth who are detached from realities. Zombies in a world that needs to be productive with their grades in school, at work environments, personal relationships, and most importantly in their societies.

Since the internet is the future and because social media is already a huge business industry in itself, we can all assume social media is not going anywhere. The question remains, with all these negative effects it has on youth, what the future adults are going to be like?

Bashir Kabir, a public analyst writes from Kano.