Social media is an advent of the modern global age, and it holds implications beyond the scope of any single domain. The effects of social media on the modern generation become evident as one begins to understand the growing and emerging behavioral changes in modern-day teens and youth. While social media can be widely employed as a platform to promote peace, cohesion, integrity, and public awareness among the society, it has been significantly used as a tool to fragment and polarize the society. Hence, it becomes indispensable to study the effect of social media and draft a consensus that leads to more informed and cohesive society.
In short: Social media algorithms are built for engagement, not ethics — and they are shaping the views, confidence and attention of the young. M Abdul Rafay Azhar argues the answer is collective: age limits, platform accountability, and families and civil society teaching productive use instead of panic.
The basic functioning of social media algorithms is focused on improving and enhancing public engagement as well as popularity. Thus, it plays its part in promoting controversial and often misrepresented facts that ought to seek attention and widespread engagement. All social media platforms in the modern world work on the same principles and tend to forget the basic human values and ethics. One case in point is the Rohingya Genocide where Facebook played an extremely crucial and vital role in propagating hatred towards Muslims, thus leading to large-scale violence and discrimination on Muslims. Other social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube also contribute to the growing misinformation and disinformation in the modern world. Although the algorithms of social media platforms have been designed to promote engagement, it often appears that it forgets the limit of human ethics and morality. Events clearly illustrate that social media infuriates and enrages mass populace, especially the Gen Z, which causes significant damage to society in general and community in particular. So, it becomes clearly evident that social media is a huge player in formulating the views and opinion of the younger population, which can cause both struggle as well as advantage for the state apparatus.
The public life of an individual forms a cornerstone of success, and the relations are fundamental to any progress in all aspects of life. In the long human history, homo sapiens have also tended to develop long-lasting and reliable human bonds based on mutual respect, co-operation, co-ordination, and reservations. While the print media allowed for communication over long-distances, still it could not replace the charm and beauty of face-to-face interaction. However, the modern advent of social media has left drastic changes in youth choices and decisions.
As one begins to delve into the behavioral patterns, a stark reality unfolds whereby countless children show symptoms of social anxiety, pressure, depression, and lack of satisfaction with life. The downside of using social media is depreciating quality of perseverance and patience among the younger generation. The problem is deep-rooted and needs to be addressed at priority in order to improve the mental and psychological well-being of the younger segment of society. Artificial and misrepresented lifestyles tend to make a child anxious as he compares himself with others. In the modern age, a person immediately presents his achievements through social media in a glamorous and exaggerated way, leading to social anxiety and pressure. Another major issue associated with the growing use of social media is lack of self-belief and motivation among youth. The standards of good facial features and beauty are pre-defined on the social media in the present era. This damages both self-confidence and personal esteem in an individual which has repercussions beyond the personal life of an individual. The sense of failure in one’s life in any domain has a vital effect on his public and family life as well since an individual feels disenfranchised and separated from the society. The result is deteriorating state of human relations and societal engagement. Consequently, the atmosphere and room for meaningful public dialogue and participation begins to fade and the foundations of a peaceful society cannot be laid as a major chunk of stakeholders do not engage. The challenge must be resolved at the grassroots level and appropriate actions must be taken.
The menace of social media also encompasses mental re-wiring and psychological shifts. Traditionally, human minds were never capable and designed to process such a huge amount of information influx as is evident in the modern era. In the hunter-gatherer societies, people knew 70-80 people at most during their entire lifetime. However, the bond was based on underlying emotional attachment, common hold, and collective thinking which strengthened the relationship. The information and collective ideologies existing in the imagination of people, formally known as inter-subjective realities, were propagated and developed day after day in due course of time. Hence, the mental capabilities of humans proved sufficient to process information load and theories. On the contrary, the people in the modern era are exposed to a tremendous amount of information which over-loads the human brain. The dopamine rush is uncontrolled and causes severe attention span issues. As per latest scientific studied, the attention span of most children in the modern age is just below 7 seconds. The situation is dire and represents the regressing situation which must be coped with as soon as possible. If the nation fails to produce individuals who are capable of critique and deep analysis, then a conclusion cannot be reached and it calls for action on part of all parties.
Social Media has varying degrees of impact on different aspects of human life. It has transformed and transitioned the way we communicate and interact with each other in the modern era. The changes are rapid and require our attention and policy measures. The solutions are simple yet thought-provoking in nature and present a ray of hope amidst this bleak picture. The usage of social media has to be curtailed to a specific age-segment and banned for all under-grown to endure that they are properly nourished and developed. Alongside, we have to engage the entities and corporations running these platforms to restrict the spread of misinformation and disinformation. There is a dire need for negotiations between major companies like Meta and inter-governmental committees. The Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations need to take part as well and enhance the propagation of public awareness and dialogue. A collective effort is required from the elders, parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, and relatives to encourage the youth for fighting with public pressure, anxiety and stress.
In a nutshell, a combined effort is required to combat the modern menace of social media. In order to formulate a meaningful and cohesive society, we need to take proactive measures and implement suitable policies across all segments of societies in order to maintain cohesiveness and integrity. A significant amount of effort has to be put in improving the mental and psychological health of the leaders to be, and we should promote the productive use of social media while downsizing its negatives. Hence, it is imperative in the modern world to promote general awareness and culminate major issues so that we can lead to a more prosperous, growing, developing, productive and peaceful society devoid of any social evils.
The writer is a BS Artificial Intelligence student at NUST. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Feature Pakistan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do social media algorithms shape young people?
Algorithms promote whatever wins engagement, which often means controversial or misrepresented content. This article links that to misinformation, polarisation, social anxiety, comparison with artificial lifestyles, and falling attention spans among children and teenagers.
What solutions does the article propose for social media’s harms?
Curtailed use for under-age children, negotiations between governments and platforms such as Meta to restrict misinformation, awareness work by civil society and NGOs, and a collective effort by parents, elders and teachers to protect young people’s mental health while promoting productive use.
