In chapter one of Essentials of Social Media and Marketing, there are statistics of how often smartphones and social media are used by the current generation of readers. The textbook also claims that these targeted readers are ignorant to being without smartphones and social media. On section one the textbook states, "If you are a part of Generation Z, you have likely grown up using the internet and social media and can't remember life without it." I found their claims baffling based on my upbringing.
The first somewhat personal phone I was given was in middle school, a flip phone that had a single function of calling my mother and father. The first smartphone I was given was an iPod Touch 4 starting my first year in high school. The functions on the phone were controlled by my parents. On said phone, I only had music, contacts, calling, texting, and Tetris for a game. My high school provided laptop computers, which I only saw as an extra form of homework.
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| An iPod Touch 4, the first smartphone I was given |
During my time in high school, I was so confused on how all of my peers were always looking at their bigger and brighter phones before and even during class. Not understanding the addictions, I looked at my peers as pathetic for wasting their lives looking at a screen.
As a high school graduation present, my parents gave me my very first smartphone. This was the iPhone 6. I was also granted almost total control over what I could have on my phone. I was not foreign to social media platforms. My mother used Facebook and my father used LinkedIn. But as I connected with my friends, they encouraged me to look into getting on a social media platform. I chose TikTok after seeing that some users made videos of themselves enjoying hobbies that I shared. Throughout my two years on the platform, my mind was always wanting to check TikTok for how much attention my videos were getting. After the platform became a place of politics and hate, I left, transferring most of my videos to a small private Instagram account for TikTok friends to enjoy.
The energy I had from scrolling on TikTok suddenly had nowhere to go but to be productive when choosing a higher education. As of now I rarely use my Instagram account. I am more so on LinkedIn and Twitter, both I only use to connect with professionals and companies that relate to my career interests.
I am curious on how my social media experience and usage compares to my peers' at this age. I would imagine being active on more than one social media platform would be exhausting and detrimental. If so many people are active on social media, I wonder what the world would be like without it.
This is a very interesting experience as it is against the norm of most college students. I also wonder what the world would be like without social media and if it would be better or worse.
ReplyDeleteI have never thought of my life and the relation to social media until I read the first quote in this blog. I remember life without social media and realize just how much social media has changed my personal life. For most young kids, they now never feel a fear of disconnecting with a close friend as they are always accessible due to social media. Snapchat and TikTok makes it easy for students to stay in touch and share their everyday lives with each other. I also understand the detrimental sides of social media as many peers of mine somedays feel very unproductive. Overall, I think a healthy balance of social media can help people more than it can hurt. However, it is very hard to find that balance, especially for most young people.
ReplyDeleteI agree that social media has been the entire generation Z and is part of their identity. I was raised by a family that didn't allow this to happen to me personally. I am very thankful for that because social media is very helpful but there are also so many negative sides. I have never used social media more than I have in college. This is something I need to lessen but it a part of our every day lives.
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