Daniel Farafonow

Before smartphones and computers were invented, we had to resort to different ways of contacting people and sharing information:  books, newspapers, the radio, and telephones. With the invention of modern computers in the late ‘90s through the early 2000s, it became possible to send information more easily and rapidly either by dial-up or the ethernet. As of now, computers and other electronic devices, for example smartphones, tablets, and maybe even sometimes music players, are an important part of our lives. Gen-Z, Gen Alpha, and Gen Beta are already accustomed to those as we have been introduced early in our lives to modern internet standards. In this article, I will discuss the impact of social media on our youth.

Over the course of the second half of the 20^th century, the computer was invented and polished so that it could become a part of our daily lives. It sends and receives messages, helps with day-to-day tasks, and is used for entertainment, and entertainment is what young adults and teens mostly use their phones for. They use TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or any other social media platform, which has both a positive and negative impact on young people.

The negatives are social media addiction, fear of judgement, wrong advice from the wrong people resulting in declining mental and physical health, and, in the worst-case scenario, death caused by peer pressure to join a trend or challenge, or being deceived by somebody to do things detrimental to your wellbeing, such as joining something like a cult or movement, which may also make you sacrifice something you need or care for. The negatives are greater than the positives: the detrimental effects overshadow the positives, both for the audiences and content creators. These positives include getting some important knowledge needed for day-to-day life or tests, a study buddy, exam preparations and of course, a way to submit online tasks, e.g. presentations, worksheets, lists, programmes in some cases, etc. The internet can’t always be trusted, but sometimes it can inform you or give you helpful advice which might be better for you. It may help you find out about novels and might even improve your reading skills, literature knowledge, and other skills that can help you become a better reader or writer. Plus it is now needed for printing text and creating books, so books are influenced a lot by the modern invention of the computer.

In conclusion, day-to-day tasks are digitalized to the point that we’ve become dependent on phones and computers to communicate and finish tasks. As of now, young people use the internet mostly for entertainment, searching for information, sharing their beliefs and advice, but also receiving it, which may sometimes be harmful. Yet, if the electronic devices are used with caution, the internet can be a positive invention for us to benefit from. The government and certain social media platforms have taken steps to ensure child security, for example banning certain platforms until the user reaches a certain age and introducing age verification to see content suitable for an older viewer. However, this isn’t always seen as great by adults, children, teens and the elderly since it may cause a privacy breach and it is the parent/guardian’s job to protect their child from dangerous and harmful things. Some people recommend taking a break from the internet to entertain yourself and educate yourself reading books if you are struggling with addiction to electronics or social media as to not to have worse eyesight, poor self-love, and confidence, and not to hurt yourself or others physically or mentally. Books still exist, but whether they are still written relies mostly on the internet, and they are slowly being replaced by online articles, films, video games, and search engines, so reading seems to be dying out, since it is better to use solar energy and electricity than paper.