Before this scribe had signed up to it, youngsters had suggested Facebook wasn't for the elderly. Harrumph! Rude as that may have seemed, it was typical of the casual frankness of this generation's youth. As new and specialised social media platforms emerged ranging from Twitter's limited text characters (currently being reviewed through an experimental project), to WhatsApp, the predominantly photograph sharing Instagram and SnapChat, users were spoiled for choice. Some three years ago at a meeting if the International Telecom Union (ITU) the sobering relegation that the youngsters are moving away from Facebook to WhatsApp and Instagram raised the question of the raison d'etr of social medium. Those who listened politely but shrugged off the idea may well think again.
Even as Facebook is inundated by all sorts of audiences, quality of inputs and outputs have deteriorated. Serious subjects ,at times get some pretty ordinary responses and rather than dialogue, interaction turns in to a free for all. This scribe had been under the impression that being on the wrong side of 50, he was a simple misfit in that media. That is until reading with interest a fascinating piece in The Independent of London. It focused on the findings of a research run on 5000 school-going 9-11 year old children in England, two thirds of whom said they would not mind if 'social media hadn't been invented'. Seventy-one per cent admitted to have taken 'temporary digital detoxes 'to escape social media. According to The Independent, the research was commissioned by 'Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) that represents heads of independent schools around the world.
Essentially they are troubled by the negative aspects of technology such as on-line abuse and fake news. Just as troubling for them was that social media was negatively impacting their emotional well-being. While there were positives such as Snapchat Stories, their suggestions are what really warmed this heart. Three fourth of them wanted lesser advertising, 60 plus per cent wanted less fake news and just about half wanted creative content and greater privacy. The point is that these are the Z+1 generation and not the teenagers or youngsters of the current generation. A rebellion simmers but also serves as a warning the the benefits of Social Media are paling before the negatives -- at least to this group.
And there are examples aplenty of fake, motivated, false news and content not to mention dubious promotional content. It spanks of a cry for censorship but if social media has it in-house, it will retain rather than lose its faithful. A large number of respondents believe that friends are hiding their true identity and half admitted to on-line abuse. The three-fourth opining against advertising are simply echoing what viewers of TV have already made clear. The emergence of HBO's one-break movie and others' no break movie provides relief and reinstalls the belief in the name Home Box Office. There have even been humorous connections made between Facebook's logo and the hunched youngster doing everything gazing intently at their phones. Too much time punching keyboards or pinging touch phones have also been connected with rheumatism like symptoms in hands and arms. It is the digital form of tennis elbow in a way.
Emotional well-being is a crucial scale tipping factor. These are meant to be vibrant, happy children not morose individuals questioning their own confidence. At one English boarding school for girls, everyone happily signed up to a three-day disconnect from social media. They handed in their phones, were happy with the outcome and didn't know what the fuss was all about. Given the worrying incidence of suicides in Bangladesh by young people, perhaps a closer study of the circumstances might reveal a lot more about our society. There are children who don't have time for social media because of their rigorous school requirements and the unhappy need for 'coaching'. Others are subject to parental controls. Most are free to dabble and that's where a greater effort is needed at schools and colleges in collaboration with the Education and Health Ministries to bring in remedial measures. They are the future and we need them wholesome and sharp.
