There is this misconception on social media that the number of followers you have determines your worth. This could not be any further from the truth. The number of followers has no determining factor on your worth, it is the content you post that should matter. The content should be real, honest, and authentic. When I say it should be real, I mean it should be YOU in the most natural way.There is this misconception on social media that the number of followers you have determines your worth. This could not be any further from the truth. The number of followers has no determining factor on your worth, it is the content you post that should matter. The content should be real, honest, and authentic. When I say it should be real, I mean it should be YOU in the most natural way.
We have allowed our society to spread fake due to the hopes of going viral, we have youths worldwide partaking in dangerous and foolish challenges, we have people relying on their bodies to garner more attention, and we even have people editing their photos to make their bodies and looks more appealing to others. Our society is becoming more focused on the fake as opposed to those who are real.
Sadly, our youths are finding themselves involved with this mindset. When a youth is on social media their followers play a huge impact on their mind. When a youth does not acquire as much followers as they wish to have they feel it is their looks, or it is them as a person, and this is when they risk falling into depression, isolation, fear, worry, and sadness. Our youths are developing this mindset that they NEED followers to feel they have any worth, and my goal is to coach them through the process of how this is wrong.
We need to help the youths understand the mindset they are in is one that is not effective. Yes, there are many youths who have a successful life due to social media. However, youths fail to see how hard these youths work to be where they are. These successful youths have taken acting classes, singing lessons, social media courses, and mentors. These youths have built a successful brand through hard work, and it was not instant, even though in the eyes of our youths it seems instant. Our youths want these results to feel they are worth something.
Social media is a great resource and it should not be blamed for this mindset, as to be honest social media is only a platform that we all use, and how we use it all depends on us, 100%. The goal is to help youths understand that social media is NOT everything, it is something, but it is not everything. Social media is not something you NEED, however, due to how popular it is, it is something all youths want. Social media has become a huge part of our culture and society, and when a youth is able to use social media they feel connected, however, there is a risk with this as well. That risk is cyber-bullying and a youth feeling inadequate due to lack of followers.It is of high importance that we speak to our youths and help them build a confidence where they just have fun on social media. It begins with being honest with the youth, it begins with informing them that they are using social media to connect with current events, celebrity news, news, online games, and family and friends. Social media can be a positive environment when there are strict rules in place.
Rule one: The parent has the youth’s login details, and the youth is disallowed to change the settings, and you do this with strong security settings. It is best to check your youth’s activity daily, such as messages, comments, and posts. Start the process with a strong password and safety restrictions.
Rule two: If the youth is under 14-years-old ensure to make note in their “about me” section that parents monitor the account. Your youth could be mature and using social media properly, however, there are suspicious and creepy users on social media.
Rule three: Also make note of “no DM’s permitted” in the “About Me” section as well, this has proven to help suspicious accounts avoid private messaging your youths account.Rule three: Create a generic email address, and use this email to setup your youths accounts, and only the parents have access to the email. This allows you to be made aware of all activity on your youths account via email. This will give also allow you details regarding date, time, and user when content was shared.
Rule four: Strong privacy settings and blocked content and users. It is highly advised to make your youths account “private” until you feel your youth is ready to be public. Once the account is public they are vulnerable to more people. You can set a language filter as well to avoid inappropriate words.
Rule five: Live videos are a huge hit with youths around the world, it is strongly advised that youths go live with a parent present or able to view the video from their personal page. A youth should not be cleared for live video until trust has been established.
Rule six: Help the youth understand what SPAM is, and not to rudely contact celebrity pages or accounts with SPAM messages. Youths need to understand private messages are a risk to violating someone’s personal space, and a DM should never be sent until approval first. It is best to teach your youth to comment on public posts if they wish to speak to a celebrity. Respect other users personal space.
Rule seven: Help the youth understand social media does not determine their worth, inform them that their follower count is irrelevant, and it does mean they’re not worth anything due to a low follow count, or to not garner a big head due to a large following count.Rule eight: Communication. Your youth should be informed to communicate with you of any inappropriate content has been viewed, and they should inform you of any “challenge” they have come across. There needs to be consistent communication between the parent(s) and the youth(s). This partnership allows more safety for the youth.
The goal here is to help youths remain safe and respectable online, and to teach them that social media does NOT determine worth. Our youths need to understand they are loved and appreciated from those around them, and they do not need to garner the attention in lieu online. A youth who feels neglected is a youth who will seek attention on social media, our goal is to disallow them to ever feel this way, however, they also need to understand there is rules in place. Our focus is on their safety; therefore, these rules need to be enforced.
Our youths need to understand that social media is a privilege that they do not need to have, therefore, they will lose their privileges if they partake in or initiate inappropriate conversation, content, and/or communication. The youths need to understand these rules are non-negotiable and they need to be taken seriously, otherwise their consequence is losing social media privileges. The truth is social media is a huge part of our environment now, it is literally everywhere. It is not the future, it is now, and our youths have access to it, therefore, the conversation needs to happen between parent(s) and children. Safety is our number one priority, and our youths need to understand our focus on ensuring their safety is our main concern. Have fun on social media while being safe, and with the understanding that followers do NOT determine worth.
