Corp member educates youths on social media usage, digital skills

A Corp member of the Federal Capital Territory, Aderinsola Elizabeth, has organized a one-day seminar on the importance of digital skills and the positive usage of social media, particularly on teenagers and youths.

The program themed, “The Tech Called Social Media: A Reality or a Façade, as her personal Community Development Service (CDC), focused on the impact of social media on people, especially teenagers and youths who are more prone to the usage and its effectiveness.

She said: “I decided to enlighten and restructure the minds of the teenagers first because It saddens me that a lot of teenagers and youth don’t see a positive reason to use social media, I’ll advise them to embrace the positives more which includes studying through the social media, applying for scholarships, searching for online jobs.

“When we look at the statistical analysis of the number of social media users when it comes to the adult age, it’s massively low compared to that of the teenagers and youths. Basically, we have a small percentage of the middle-aged or adult age that uses social media for negative reasons.”

Meanwhile, station manager, of NYSC Radio and Television, Ezechukwu Olugele, who gave the Keynote address, noted that the event was very important because it helped the teens and the youths have a perspective of life and what life can offer with the use of the social media

He noted that Social media can lead to decreased self-esteem. “Many people choose to make their lives seem very glamorous on social media and only put their best foot forward. While this may not be the reality, this leaves others to feel their lives aren’t good enough.”

He said: “Social media was originally intended as a way for others to communicate with each other in a new way. With increasing technology, people are always looking for interaction with others without having to physically make the journey to see them. However, when younger generations have unlimited access to social media, it becomes a negative outlet.

“To decrease social media’s impact, people should try to limit the amount of screen time on those apps. Social media has caused people to be more dependent on checking their phones. If one were to limit the amount of time spent on a media platform, they would be less likely to pick up their phone in general. This would decrease the amount of wasted time through technology.

“Additionally, a person could take a break from social media for a period of time. This would provide a vacation to the toxicity of the platforms. While not all social media is negative, its influence is harmful to many people. If social media is restricted, there will be fewer people struggling to face the anxiety it causes.