This makes me think that we need a better definition of social media. For instance, I’m surprised that gaming is considered social media at all. I would normally think of social media as apps or websites where a primary purpose of posting is to generate likes and subscribes. I also see infinite scroll, algorithmically created “for you” sections, and so on as worse than say long form YouTube content. There’s so much out there, if it is all captured under one generic umbrella, we’re likely to completely misunderstand which types of online interaction are useful and which are detrimental.
I agree - there's a lot of disagreement about what "counts" as a social media platform. It gets tricky because a lot of platforms are constantly adding new features that overlap with others - even YouTube, for example, has "shorts" (short videos, very similar to TikTok) that are popular. I think maybe it comes down to trying to understand the benefits/risks of certain features (e.g., infinite scroll, direct messaging) and behaviors, rather than specific platforms.
Nebraskan here and hi from Omaha, I'm so glad you enjoyed your time here!! We really are that friendly. :) :) It's one of the best things about living here.
A former Nebraskan, and YES, there is even a name for it: "Nebraska Nice". It makes it a challenge to not feel offended interacting with strangers anywhere else I live. Ha!
I had never heard of Nebraska Nice! This is amazing - but yes, I can imagine. Even my short stay left me feeling disappointed by the "welcome" I received back at LaGuardia...
A good reminder that there can be an overload even in the fun! We are trying to find the balance between well-rounded and overwhelmed these days with middle school, which is good practice for high school.
I had a poster in college, "the pressure is good for you" with a diamond as the period of the sentence. I think we need to reframe pressure for young people as growth (within reason). Sure, some is downright bad - but not new to young people. I think of the stress I felt during the early aughts to be skinny, something I was never going to be and how media cultivated that stress with hateful Jessica Simpson rhetoric etc. While not helpful and definitely negative, I think this insecurity of being young finds fertile soil for stress to be a certain way to fit in. Also, the future for young people does look quite bleak with college education absolutely untenable in terms of cost with no guarantee of a living and protected job at the end. Maybe the stress helps them be better, learn, grow. We can't create a safe environment with no resistance, the world is inherently stressful.
Yes - the Center for Digital Thriving does an amazing job involving young people in their research, and even have a playbook for guiding others on how to incorporate youth voice into their work! - https://digitalthriving.gse.harvard.edu/playbook/
This makes me think that we need a better definition of social media. For instance, I’m surprised that gaming is considered social media at all. I would normally think of social media as apps or websites where a primary purpose of posting is to generate likes and subscribes. I also see infinite scroll, algorithmically created “for you” sections, and so on as worse than say long form YouTube content. There’s so much out there, if it is all captured under one generic umbrella, we’re likely to completely misunderstand which types of online interaction are useful and which are detrimental.
I agree - there's a lot of disagreement about what "counts" as a social media platform. It gets tricky because a lot of platforms are constantly adding new features that overlap with others - even YouTube, for example, has "shorts" (short videos, very similar to TikTok) that are popular. I think maybe it comes down to trying to understand the benefits/risks of certain features (e.g., infinite scroll, direct messaging) and behaviors, rather than specific platforms.
Nebraskan here and hi from Omaha, I'm so glad you enjoyed your time here!! We really are that friendly. :) :) It's one of the best things about living here.
A former Nebraskan, and YES, there is even a name for it: "Nebraska Nice". It makes it a challenge to not feel offended interacting with strangers anywhere else I live. Ha!
Thank you for the great article and suggestions!
I had never heard of Nebraska Nice! This is amazing - but yes, I can imagine. Even my short stay left me feeling disappointed by the "welcome" I received back at LaGuardia...
Hi!!! I am so glad to hear that this is a real thing!!!
A good reminder that there can be an overload even in the fun! We are trying to find the balance between well-rounded and overwhelmed these days with middle school, which is good practice for high school.
Yes! Such a tricky balance!
Also born and raised in Omaha. Fantastic that you got to experience this for yourself!
Amazing! I'm so glad I got to experience it, too!
I had a poster in college, "the pressure is good for you" with a diamond as the period of the sentence. I think we need to reframe pressure for young people as growth (within reason). Sure, some is downright bad - but not new to young people. I think of the stress I felt during the early aughts to be skinny, something I was never going to be and how media cultivated that stress with hateful Jessica Simpson rhetoric etc. While not helpful and definitely negative, I think this insecurity of being young finds fertile soil for stress to be a certain way to fit in. Also, the future for young people does look quite bleak with college education absolutely untenable in terms of cost with no guarantee of a living and protected job at the end. Maybe the stress helps them be better, learn, grow. We can't create a safe environment with no resistance, the world is inherently stressful.
Agree - stress and pressure are certainly not all bad, and we need a certain amount of it!
I so appreciate the involvement of young people in this study. Very helpful and I second Jennifer Wallace's book as an amazing resource.
Yes - the Center for Digital Thriving does an amazing job involving young people in their research, and even have a playbook for guiding others on how to incorporate youth voice into their work! - https://digitalthriving.gse.harvard.edu/playbook/