The Problems of Social Media Trends

Social Media trends have been around since these websites first started up. If you remember things like MySpace, Bebo and the like, then you will know what I'm talking about. The drama that ensued on MySpace would quickly lead to 'trends' which involved various things to like which seemed 'cool' and harmless. But in fact, as time progressed and MySpace turned into Facebook and Facebook turned into Instagram - these trends got more and more harmful for the new teenagers growing up today.

Social Media has had some pretty alarming trends such as the tide pod incident, the cinammon eating thing and various others which have often resulted in hospitalisation or even death. Now, these are not the ones we are going to be focusing on but instead, we will be looking at the ones that can seriously harm the mental health of children and teenagers. By not following these seemingly harmless trends, it can practically ruin their mental health, self-esteem and confidence.

The Trends

I have had to research these to avoid stating challenges and trends that are from too long ago and so begs the question: are these seemingly funny and trendy social media fads actually harming the mental health of children? What does this do in the long run? Is there any way to stop this or at least stop the impact it has over the child's self-perception?

The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge

Now, I didn't know what this was exactly but it seems harmless enough as at first glance, it is just a bunch of kids having fun with their facial features. But I think we all see a very obvious problem with this challenge and that is body dysmorphia. This trend of having big massive lips is something I have personally never understood. But, in terms of the younger generation - this can have a massive impact on their self-esteem. I grew up in a time where being stick thin was the figure of 'ideal beauty'. Whereas now, it is far more complicated. It involves curves, and even facial features like bigger lips. These facial structures can definitely morph a child's perception of themselves if they do not have the desired features.

This can definitely lead to mental health issues like BDD and depression in which the child grows up to have a lower self-worth based on the fact that they do not have the features provided as the 'standard' of beauty or the 'height' of popularity.

Acoryoga Challenges

For those of you who don't know what acroyoga is, it is a mixture between acrobatics and yoga. This involves doing moves that would normally be done by either professional yoga instructors or by acrobats as they depict a heavy amount of flexibility and the ability to hold these positions for a certain length of time. Obviously, the more this goes around the internet, the more it is going to be tried out by younger people. But in reality, these people are often either incredibly skinny or incredibly muscular and this can have a negative impact on the way a child views their own bodies in response. Just like the previous one, it can lead to various forms of self-esteem problems and have a giant impact on the way in which the person views themselves, esepecially if they see their own friends participating and enjoying the challenge.

Another harmless challenge which is actually very hamful to a child's perception of their own self-worth.

#BreaktheInternet

I think many of us have heard of this one and I know that a lot of children were exposed to this image. This image, in itself, is completely harmless. It is a photo of Kim Kardashian posing for Paper Magazine. The photography is brilliantly done in my opinion and there is a lot to be said about the fact that this woman has basically built an empire out of doing absolutely nothing - I admire that though I don't actually follow anything she does. However, young people seeing this image would not be the general problem - it would be what came out of it. What happened was people started copying this image and the ideal of what is considered 'beauty' was being posted everywhere on social media. I personally has to mute the hashtag because of it. But young people who are heavily influenced by information on what is considered to be 'trendy' at the time would have associated these images that all have women that look practically the same as being the standard of high beauty. This is simply not true - but it does not mean that it is not true to these young people.

Again, it is challenges like these that cause severe body problems in young people today.

Of course, there are many, many more just like this that play with the perception of what is considered to be attractive in both males and females - having an increasing impact on the minds of the child and teenaged demographic.

But Why?

There are many reasons. The most obvious ones are the hormonal changes a teenager is going through. The desire for a partner of some kind makes them want to appear attractive by means that are considered 'trendy' of today. But there are other reasons too that have not just evolved out of social media culture, and yet have sure been spurned on and increased in activity via these websites.

The Bandwagon Effect

I'm sure we have all heard of this:

'I am doing (A) because everyone else is doing (A)...'

In light of social media, this has become and increasing problem for anyone who has ever had to look after children. Why? Well we know what it is like to be this person and it isn't pretty. You end up spending a lot of money on a fad that will change in a few months and the whole cycle repeats itself. It is a wasteful way to do things and yet, it has increased with the rise of social media.

Anecdote: When I was at school, this was true of the books in the "Hunger Games" series and everyone was buying those badges with the Mockingjay on it. After a few months - nothing.

With social media giving rise to many, many different trends - there are teenagers out there spending hundreds of dollars, pounds, etc. of their parents money on something they will most definitely grow out of or a fad that will definitely change with time. But then again, if they do not have these certain things associated with the trend, the teenager can end up getting depressed and feeling unworthy in comparison to people they see on the internet.

Case Study: Bohemian Rhapsody

As an example, I will use one of the more recent 'bandwagon' trends of the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" which gained a following of many young teenaged and pre-teen girls and practically spun out of control.

What Happened?

When the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" starring Rami Malek came out, plenty of teens and pre-teens discovered who Queen were. This was alright and actually quite fun to have younger people interested in this music, though I think the film was actually made for alterior motives - that is besides the point.

Thousands upon thousands of pre-teens and teenagers began engaging with fans of Queen online. This is where it gets dangerous. You have ten and eleven year olds making accounts on social media in order to contact people who are over 16, over 18 and possible over 21 - sometimes, even over 30. By all means, that does not sound right at all. But it gets worse.

These pre-teens and teens began engaging in conversations about things that they would not have experienced yet, given the fact that Queen were quite a progressive band in terms of sexuality and liberal views on sexual culture. This meant that these children would receive backlash from older people for not being understanding of this. Perhaps yes, these children did not share their ages on social media - but any well informed adult can tell when they are speaking to a child.

The Reasoning and Solution

This, on the adult's part, is completely out of order. They should not be arguing and sending harrassment to children online. This causes the child to become upset, depressed and their self-worth (which is normally based on follower counts, likes and interaction) lowers significantly. I have seen this with my own eyes. Adults who practically harrass children online for misunderstanding or misrepresenting certain things about the band.

Of course, this is not the child's fault. But, we have to also be aware that the 'bandwagon' nature of this means that the fad will die. So for the time that we know that there are a bunch of children engaging in these conversations for however a short of time before they move on - it would be sufficient to actually be nice to them. Of course, you should not encourage children to be in contact with adults online and if you can, explain this to them in a way that won't hurt them or make them feel bad about themselves. Most importantly, you can also encourage them to create groups with other children online so that they do not feel as if they are alone.

Peer Pressure

I think every single person who ever went to school has experienced peer pressure to some degree. Mine was with cigarettes and I did not give in because not only were they expensive and pointless, but I hated the smell of them. I find them disgusting. The peer pressure phenomenon is:

"Friend (A) said I should do (insert trend here) to be popular..."

This, on a large scale like social media seems almost impossible for the child to get away from.

Not doing said trend can make the child feel left out, excluded and lower their feelings of self-worth. This obviously leads to massive amounts of depression if they do not feel like their are part of the group. Of course, this stems off our human requirement to feel a part of something whether that be family, friendship, relationship, ethnic, occupation - all these things are groups. We have a very human need to feel like we belong to one or more of these groups. I am sure we have all heard of the phrase 'pack mentality'.

Case Study: The Fire Challenge

The fire challenge, if you were an adult at the time like myself, looked like the stupidest thing in the world. Children and teenagers and even young adults were setting themselves on fire and seeing how long they could take the pain. This was a viral sensation and caused, as you can probably tell, a lot of health problems for the individuals invovled. It wasn't funny and it was not cool to a lot of people. But to teenagers - it could have been prevented if we were to look at the factor of peer pressure.

What Happened?

The fire challenge being just an example of this, viral challenges in general normally require a participant to nominate another participant. So there is not only the factor of peer pressure in being nominated and feeling obliged to do something - but there is also something else. The pressure of wanting to feel popular through the want to be nominated. The fact that it is more popular 'influencers' and the like that are usually nominated for this challenge has an obvious impact on the mental wellbeing of the child. If they are not nominated, they can feel left out, and the pack mentality aspect kicks in - they do not feel like part of the group. This happens on a very large scale so what can this lead to?

Reasoning and Solutions

Erratic online behaviour - doing things in order to garner attention or sympathy. Statuses regarding having depression and wanting to harm one's self are common.

Use of derogaroty terms - insulting and berating others online leading to suspension, anger issues and a tendency to be 'against' others. This can lead to more serious issues and possibly even criminal behaviour in extreme cases.

A solution for this could be to encourage the child to look up the dangers or results of what this viral challenge entails. Do some research on what happened to the individuals who participated and whether they have had health problems, hospitalisations etc. from it. Encourage them that it is not a 'cool' thing to do and that this too, shall pass. It is simply a fad and they come and go. Nobody really remembers them all too much. Teach the child that a lasting impact in positivity will garner far more importance than an internet trend.

What can we do?

As adults, it is our job to look after children online.

• Make sure strangers don't talk to them in a creepy way
• Be open to them wanting to discuss things that they do not fully understand and educate them on where to find more research
• Encourage their interests and hobbies by supporting them with positivity
• Encourage offline hobbies such as writing, reading, making and creating

But most of all, it is also important to set an example. We do not want a generation of children who are depressed and have lost the will to live because of pressures from viral this, that and the other. We want a generation of children to grow into adults who do what they want and have a mind of their own. The best thing you can do is to encourage a child and/or teen that viral trends are not the route they want to take. Instead, they want to learn the difference between 'fad' and 'legacy'. Then you can see which one they choose. More than likely, they will choose the correct one.