Eseja fituese e konkursit “Write Now” në Shkodër

Nga Mateo Lufi.

“Life was never meant to be a competition, but social media suddenly made it one. Social media was meant to connect us as a society and in some cases it does, but most of the time it has teenagers desperately waiting for the next like, the next comment, the next dose of the coolest addiction, social media.

Envy is a powerful feeling, because it brings together the good and bad in people. It is an ever-changing and growing longing for something that is not yours. Envy gives you motivation, the craving to aspire something greater, but it does so at a price, and that usually comes with hostility towards someone you know who has that thing you so badly want. This is the chaotic world of feelings, in which today’s model of social media thrives. Teenagers are drawn to it like moths to a flame. Studies show that social media has teenagers on their phone more than ever, but this increase in use of social media has not exactly had the best effect on their life, hence the rise of suicidal teens, depression, anxiety, just to name a few of the problems caused by social media. Like I said before, teenagers, more than ever, feel the need to compare themselves and their lives to their peers and celebrities, and this, alongside cyber bullying,has opened the door to a plethora of psychological problems and feelings that keep damaging their inner world. A big side-effect of this is, the gradual decline in school or other activities because teenagers fail to value their own unique self, and they idolize a certain role model that only exists on Instagram for example, a role model which simply cannot be achieved. This comes from social media’s inability to represent a reality which is out of teenagers’ grasp. Role models are only that, a model, a highlights reel carefully curated which does not represent the true reality and raw truth of life with all of its ups and downs. Interestingly, people of age seem to have a completely different approach to social media. They control their social media as a tool and one that is just a complementary aspect of life, not the center of it, like with teenagers. Social media should be treated with more care and kids should stay away from it until a certain age, then get taught how to be on top of it, before it runs riot on their psyche.

Life should not revolve around social media but rather social media around our life. Let’s not make our life one dimensional by following others, and create our own realities. A famous singer once said, it’s not cool to be cool anymore. Cool is what we make it out to be, in our perfectly imperfect unique way!”