Published February 2025
By: Sheilla Addison
Highlights:
- Recently UVA hosted a national conference trying to understand the role and future of digital technology in positive youth development and youth mental health.
- This blog joins the Youth Digital Future Series to highlight the session videos from that conference with summaries and reflections from youth voices.
- The first session commenced with a panel of youth that shed light on the dual nature of social media and set the stage with youth voices for the conference.
Many young people wake up to the sounds of notifications from their mobile devices. They are immediately flooded with an influx of images of perfect lives on Instagram, the latest viral videos on TikTok, and bombarded with the unfiltered thoughts of the world on Twitter, formerly known as X. This is the everyday experience of the youth. Digital technology plays a massive role in young people’s daily lives and thus offers opportunities for positive outcomes while poseing challenges to their mental health.
Let’s hear from them! On one side, the youth of this panel highlight the many benefits of digital technology in their lives.
The Visibility Playbook
Many of the youth expressed that social media is an opportunity goldmine. These platforms present an avenue to showcase their professional skill sets, network, and attract internship and volunteer opportunities. Although they may have to curate a professional persona, they are optimistic about the benefits these platforms bring. As young leaders at school, they also use social media, such as Instagram and TikTok, to showcase their activities, spread information about their clubs, and recruit new members.
A Virtual Third Space
The lack of third spaces in today's society is detrimental to the youth; as such, digital technology allows them to create virtual third spaces to build community. Joining different online communities with common goals and shared interests fosters a sense of belonging among young people. They can meet interesting people in educational/cultural communities and engage with different perspectives to broaden their worldview.
Active Participation in Civic Engagement
Digital technology is a tool that young people massively use to express themselves, advocate for equity, and participate in civic processes. They turn to digital spaces to contribute their voice to democratic processes, whether to sign a petition they found via a snap or to join a TikTok challenge as a form of protest; social media is crucial for self-expression.
On the other side, digital technology can validate the concerns and anxieties that it provokes in young people.
Am I a Failure? Social Media & the Mental Health Crisis
Many young people have admitted to being chronically online and addicted to the dopamine rush that the constant scrolling gives them.
These feelings of inadequacy are exacerbated and brought to the fore. Thus, social media can have adverse consequences on the youth’s self-perception, which takes a toll on one’s mental health.
Additionally, the rapid churn of content—from one new topic to another, from one hashtag to the next, and through various viral moments—demands constant attention and alters their attention span. This creates a disconnect between the rapid-paced digital world and the slower mundanity of everyday life.
Digital Footprints & the Pressure to be Perfect
What do you do when you crumble under the weight of your perfectly curated online persona and the real you? The youth from this panel are highly aware of their digital footprints as employers, parents, and close connections can easily access their online presence. This heightened awareness creates a need to present a perfect professional persona, inadvertently putting pressure on them to maintain it in real life.
All in all, young people are the backbone of society, and as we consider their digital futures, it is crucial to account for both the opportunities and challenges that technology presents.
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