Social Media is a tool that many misuse.
“Social media follower count is not synonymous with quality or success.
Social media is mostly a game in which many folks subject themselves to behavior modification to meet the demands of evolving algorithms.
Authenticity will forever be more valuable than metric chasing.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I was recently chatting with my newly turned 5-year-old son, Mac, about social media, whom I just created an Instagram account for.
“What! That’s crazy! He’s only 5!”
And that’s exactly why I did it.
To pretend it’s a good idea to shield him from an inevitable reality as he grows up in a digitized world is not only silly thinking, but I also personally believe it’s bad parenting.
Why would I want to pretend that he’s not going to eventually find out Instagram, X, and YouTube exist (he already wants to create his own YoutTube channel)?
When I could strategically dose and control his creation and exposures to the platforms?
Remember the kid you knew in High School whose parents sheltered him from the real world and then his first weekend away at college he passed out drunk in the street? And then went on to have a debilitating relationship with alcohol? That’s what hiding kids from reality does.
Mac again is 5. He comes visually into contact with dozens of firearms every single day. There are several, which are unloaded (and don’t even have magazines, bolts, or firing pins in them) strategically placed at eye level so that he comes into direct visual contact with them every single day.
Mac understands very well, the function of guns and their potentially dangerous capabilities. He also knows damn well not to touch them. But he associates with them as if they are no different from the pens or expo markers a firearm might be sitting next to.
A 1911 isn’t a “dEaTh MaChInE”. It’s a tool.
And so is social media.
The “problem” with social media is that the tool is manipulated and abused by many who misuse the tool to seek a faux sense of validation from strangers on the internet.
Therefore, you see a bunch of garbage posting. Anything and everything from attempts to go viral to sexually revealing photos. People even purchase followers to make themselves feel better.
Mac likes Mr. Beast on YouTube and knows he has 1m subs.
“But that’s not the point dad, the point of YouTube is to be creative and share things that might inspire others.”
Boy, do I wish people on social media could understand that wisdom.
