CS371 Blog #2

 Hi everyone,

During class this past week, we had the opportunity to watch a movie called “Eight Grade”, a movie about a young girl named Kayla who has had a hard time adjusting and finding her place within her social circle both at school and at home. Kayla enjoys making YouTube videos talking about topics such as daily life and what to wear although all of this is done with the hopes of ‘fitting in’ at school with what society dictates as the cool kids. Kayla has grown up in the world of social media as social media has taken over this generations life both positively and negatively. Article published by Statistics Canada named “Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives” stated that in 2018, about 9 in every 20 Canadian between the ages of 15 and 34 used social media on a regular basis. This generation is fixated on social media and sharing ones every steps, dreams and daily activities with the world for everyone to see in hopes of gaining popularity. Many children just like Kayla who struggle to fit into these social norms and world takes to apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and BeReal in hopes of gaining friends. Between 12 and 14% of individuals reported feeling anxious or depressed along with envious of ones around them. Just like Kayla, who took her anger out on her father, many children struggle with coping with emotions. Children who fail to thrive within social environments feel many emotions although usually do not have anyone to turn too for help which is what society is lacking at. To conclude, social media tends to be an elevated appearance on the reality of situations. We need to learn that social media is not always what it appears to be which is why it is extremely important to not fixate on the lives others especially on social media.