Page 46 - Waterfall City Dec 2023_Jan 2024 Issue
P. 46

or thousands of followers because of the   •   Direct messages (DMs)
                                            skilful posting they do; in fact, they only   DMs allow users to share posts,
                                            really know a handful of those people   videos, photos, voice messages
                                            and are friends with even fewer.     and calls with each other. Even if a
                                                                                 teenager’s account is set as private,
                                            For the teen with fewer followers, the   anybody with an Instagram account
                                            assumption then is that they are less   is able to DM another Instagram
                                            liked, less connected and therefore   user. Human nature being what it is,
                                            less popular. The seduction comes    curiosity may get the better of your
                                            into play where the ‘less popular’ teen   teen, and they may let themself be
                                            must create a post which will get more   exposed to someone or something
                                            followers, or they must be more active   you would prefer them not knowing
                                            on Instagram.                        about or seeing.
                                                                                •  Influencer culture
                                            The idea of “Followers” versus       Influencer culture is a fascinating
                                            “Following” is an irony in itself. The goal   thing. Influencers promote products,
                                            is to have more people following you   services, apps, etc. to the target
                                            than who you follow. When this goal is   audience. These titbits are not
                                            looked at objectively, it is ironic. Having   always easy to uncover as they are
                                            more people following you cannot     housed in benign-looking posts and
                                            demonstrate popularity or being      may mislead teens into wanting
                                            well-liked. It demonstrates the account-  something promoted on their feed.
                                            holder’s ability to use people for their   •  Mental health challenges
                                            goal of achieving status/popularity.   As mentioned above, edited photos
                                                                                 and enhanced photos are the norm
                                            More realistically, the number of    on Instagram. These create false and
                                            people they are following back shows   unrealistic expectations for teens
                                            how many people the account holder   to try to meet. Teens strive for more
                                            actually engages with in real life –   ‘likes’ by editing their photos. Body
                                            that is, how many people they know   image, and by extension mental
                                            personally and choose to follow back   health and wellbeing, become
                                            is a better reflection on their social   eroded. Cyberbullying also takes
                                            standing.                            place between friends who are
                                                                                 fighting or former romantic partners
                                            For example, if a teen has 1,500     who are now in conflict – exposing
                                            followers but is only following 350   photos are posted to cause one of
                                            back, this reflects pseudo-popularity/  the parties distress and to lash out at
                                            like. Out of the 350, 250 to 300 of those   them due to personal hurt.
                                            may represent a truth closer to reality   •  Live streaming
                                            of the number of people the account   Live streaming is another concerning
                                            holder engages with in real life. The   feature of Instagram when it comes to
                                            process of choosing who is ‘worth’   teenagers. It allows users to connect
                                            following back is harrowing and is   with followers in real-time. This has
                                            another discussion altogether.       all sorts of problems with regard to
                                                                                 exposure, let alone the grooming and
                                            Key points to consider:              abuse that can sneak into a teen’s
                                            •  Hooked on scrolling               feed. Online bullying is also prevalent
                                             Most social media platforms are     in “live chats”, where friends discuss
                                             designed to keep users engaged      others in an open and real-time live
                                             for long periods of time. Instagram   conversation.
                                             does this very effectively by allowing
                                             users to scroll indefinitely. Teens and   Pointing fingers
                                             adults quickly lose track of time while   Problems with new technology get
                                             scrolling. Sleep gets disrupted and   blamed on technology. If we want to
                                             relationships become strained as   find a solution to these problems, we
                                             families no longer communicate with   need to take ownership of our role in
                                             one another.                       the situation and take cognisance of


        44  Waterfall City Issue 12   2023/Issue 1   2024
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