Social media is by far the biggest platform of communication on the planet. Think about it, on Twitter alone, there are 313 million active users, Instagram has 400 million and Facebook tops the charts with 1.5 billion users worldwide. The people we dub as internet stars are extremely influential on internet trends and the entire population. Social media stars are given opportunities like being, actors in films and attending the Grammy's. Personally, I don't even watch the news on TV anymore, I get all of my latest news from Twitter. Social media has so many negative aspects, but the ones that are good need to be taken advantage of more. Alex From Target and Damn Daniel are stars now... WHY?
Being a Youtuber has become somewhat a goal of so many people, especially young people. It's confusing whether people like to make YouTube videos for the attention and fame, or is it actually for the love of making content that people can find informative, entertaining, and inspiring? People are driven by the number of followers they have and it's so insane because you don't know 1/4th of them. We feel this instant gratification when we post a selfie and within the minute it's uploaded we already have 10 likes. It's unhealthy to rely on the acceptance of others like that. And the only people we can blame are ourselves. We make people into "Instagram models" because they look good. they have no personality or goals, but they feed of the amount of attention they are given from strangers on the internet. Being attractive isn't a crime, but why do people actually set goals as to become an Instagram model? Why not actually pursue a career in modeling through an agency? The things that people with millions of followers should be talking about aren't being discussed because all we watch on YouTube are challenge videos and skits. Issues like police brutality, climate change, elections, and the wage gap are not known among young people as much as they should be. Joey Gatto, one of my favorite people on the Internet said it best, none of the views or hundreds of thousands of followers, have meaning unless you're doing something positive and bringing attention to issues. Watch the video below.
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Children these days are so wrapped up in social media it's insane. Most middle school students have smartphones and regularly post on Instagram or tweet about their day. Kids are becoming internet-obsessed and see everything, this in turn can definitely affect how they think and act. As the older and wiser generation it's totally our duty to give kids the information and news that they need to become independent and successful people. Whether that means having a career in computer science, cinematography, music, political science, photography or activism in social areas. All of those areas can be promoted on social media when we use these as platforms for change. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) areas of study are becoming some of the most popular majors of study in colleges and universities. Our world is becoming extremely dependent on technology, and just like everything else in life we have to use it for positive production.
Being a YouTuber isn't a career; sure you get paid for it, but do you really see yourself at 40 making cinnamon challenge videos? Its totally unrealistic. That's not to say that people at 40 shouldn't create content, but make it meaningful. There's nothing wrong with making the funny videos, but also talking about serious topics in life should be necessary. There are literally endless possibilities of what you can create on the internet, but it shouldn't be your only option in life. There's nothing wrong with being a huge personality on the internet, but using it for the right reasons is so important.
