admin
This week we asked: In your own opinion what are the impacts of social media amongst the youths?
How has it changed the young generation especially during this time, where some young people are loosing social moral, character and behaviour?
Besides you might as well tell us the good part of the social media?
Lindah Nyasha Mavangira, 20 years
Midlands State University
Covid-19 brought an unexpected change to literally every facet of life, and I will briefly dwell on the impact that media has had on the social lives of the youth in general.
Social media platforms are amongst the most widely used sources of information in the world, the easy and inexpensive access to the internet and a large number of registered users in these platforms make them one of the easiest and most effective ways to disseminate information.
During major events, the overall response is usually a greater search for information be it a sports event, a disease, or a natural disaster.
Social media platforms have also become helpful for the lay public to maintain communication with friends and family to reduce isolation and boredom which have been associated with anxiety and long-term stress, therefore becoming an important recommendation for isolation at home to help to reduce the psychological impact.
One of the major impacts of media, has been the rise in anxiety levels.
The possible dissemination of fake data, myths, and pessimist information that combined with quarantine, leads to anxiety, depression and in some extreme cases, suicide.
Therefore, it is advisable not to contribute to the “infodemic” in the midst of the pandemic and follow a responsible use of social media when disseminating information.
Paidamoyo O Masaraure, 20 years
Women’s University in Africa
Bsc Hons in Social Work
Social media is changing the young generation through all the virtual networks and communities.
The young generation have access to information communication technology which they are abusing.
This is affecting their mental health and well being.
Through these social media platforms, young people are being cyber bullied and scammed.
There is a lot of peer pressure on social media platforms for example on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook where the young generation is living fake flamboyant lives for social media following and failing to meet these standards, a lot of young people are resorting to drug abuse, nudity and immoral behaviors after being influenced by socialites and celebrities.
The mental health issues related to negativity from social media includes depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. During the Covid-19 era millions of young people were affected because they had to spend a lot of time on their gadgets because of lockdown.
It was a way of dealing with the pressure that came with the Covid 19 pandemic. However the use of social media is important and inevitable but the you generation needs to be responsible. Covid-19 pandemic paved a way for e-learning here in Zimbabwe and all institutions had to implement.
For students to pursue their education they need the use of all these digital platforms like google class, moodle and zoom meetings.
Social media is also important for networking with different institutions as well as connecting with different companies when searching for employment. It is a way of bringing the world together so that we can understand each other that’s global networking.
Kudzanai Muronzi
Chinhoyi University of
Technology
Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Accounting
Covid 19 on it’s own resulted in social distancing which made social media the only way for people to be remotely close to each other.
This however led to an increase in the rate of moral decadence on the part of the youths, young generation as evidenced by the number of leakages of sexually explicit material generated by the young generation .
The advent of socially ill and morally corrupt social media content generated by several socialites such as Mr Stylz on Instagram live videos has resulted in an increase in the number of youths indulging in online sexual activities.
On the other hand, the lockdown has given the general populace more time to be on the social media platforms thereby championing the intrests of social media influencers and models like myself.
In this aspect ,it can be undoubtably noted that the Covid era has significantly catalysed the youths’ social media engagements.
As traumatizing as the era has been to almost everyone ,l would gladly say part of the young generation did not succumb to the pressure and negativity which the era fired to them but seized the opportunities that the unfavourable situation brought fourth.
This is evidenced by how significantly online buying and selling has improved with most cooperates now engaging in social media marketing and advertising making use of models thus uplifting youths like myself as we have gained a much bigger platform to showcase what we can do best.
Langelihle Moyo, 20 years old
Environmental Science and Health
The unprecedented genesis of the covid-19 pandemic saw most, if not all young people being involuntarily subject to the maximum influence of social media from almost every corner of their lives.
I remember so vividly how I went all out exploring every means possible to secure enough data that would last me the entire three weeks of the first covid 19 induced lockdown in March 2020.
Little did I know that for the next coming 12 months, at least, I would be living close to solely at the mercy of what the internet had to offer!
A lot of us had each quite a number of goals for the lockdown period, goals as serious as ranging from physical to intellectual. We had plans to read a book, work out and reconnect with family etc. Unfortunately as the covid-19 pandemic seemed to mercilessly persist in rage , it seems to me that we gave in to all it’s impacts and surrendered our all to social media. Countless hours are spent scrolling up and down browsing Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages. As physical interaction as greatly reduced, social media became the dating space, where young people got together texting, flirting or even sexting.
Now the internet being a free space, and with a heavy traffic of messages, posts, links and videos constantly circulating the media, the question then becomes: Who or what then regulates this space?
Online Reporter