Social media even with its good, that majority know of, comes a massive bad side:On the pro side is the easy access to family, long lost friends and loved ones who live far away. On the con side is the notion that social media is ruining our relationships and feeding today’s instant gratification ‘hookup’ culture.
After all we live a short-attention span generation that caters to ” checking in”, posting an instagram photo in real time, and hooking up via Tinder. To make matters worse, there’s even a new trend called “after sex selfies” should social media really be an outlet to broadcast your sex life? And does anyone actually want to see those photos?
Kenyan youth haven’t been left behind with this new wave on social media.
From Emmanuel and Linet’s presentations, the biggest challenges the youth and the country are facing are tribalism and corruption. Linet also stressed that social media, which has most youth stuck to their phones is also a major distraction.
Study Shows:
93% Of Youth In Kenya Want A Smartphone & Social Media Is 90% Of Their Mobile Internet Consumption.
Just recently, during the national Examinations, a good number of students were caught cheating, and I would blame that on social media. Many youths now own smart phones thus it was pretty easy for them to get hold of the examination material that were being circulated on social media.
And yes, to more disturbing news;
It is believed that violent extremist groups have developed sophisticated tactics of enticing the youths through the internet using carefully-packaged propaganda. Empirical studies undertaken by ISS senior researcher Anneli Botha have indicated that most respondents who joined violent groups are youths between 20 and 25 years old. This category is believed to be active on the internet and vulnerable to propaganda and manipulation.
It’s upon Kenyan youth to choose what side of social media they want to follow. By the way, employers nowadays look at your social profile before employing you. A wise use of social media will not only give you a good relationship with your family and friends but can also land you that dream job.
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