Don’t Forget to Subscribe: Are Beijing Teenagers Too Plugged In?

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It comes as no surprise that teenagers nowadays spend a tremendous amount of time on their phones, whether they like it or not.

Especially in a community full of international students that have made friends from all over the world, social media is the only way to communicate with your friends who are thousands of kilometers away. However, everything comes with a price. I sometimes catch myself mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram explore page before I realize an hour has passed by. And I’m not alone. Beijing’s teens are all plugged into social media, but are we too plugged in?

I set out to interview three of my peers and it quickly became the consensus that Instagram is our preferred platform for everything online. Josephine, age 16, said how she really enjoys the “permanent highlight reel to look back on. It’s like a digital scrapbook. All the different mediums such as the polls, votes and explore page makes Instagram a more versatile app.” George, age 18, mentioned how the majority of Instagram’s users were English speakers so “there’s less of a language barrier and helps [me] stay connected overseas.” Just like everyone else, I use Instagram the most not only for artistic inspiration but also to easily communicate with my friends outside of China. I definitely feel like Instagram has really worked hard to maintain its relevancy after all these years compared to Facebook and Snapchat, two apps that passed their peak a long time ago.

“I feel bad that I’m addicted to…

Josephine admits: “It’s harmful but also necessary in present-day life … to stay in the loop,” says Josephine as she admits to how much time she spends on social media. She committed to a “two-week social media detox” and felt so left out on everything after being ‘gone’ for only two weeks. Josephine’s feelings aren’t uncommon. Unknowingly, most of us have become so dependent on our phones and social media to feel connected to the world that it’s actually become an addiction, and walking away from it for as little as two weeks takes genuine effort and willpower to achieve. George admitted to spending “a couple of hours a day” on social media, but how they do not “spend much effort” on their own accounts because they are “not trying to build a social media presence.” Thanks to the smartphones’ feature where you can see your screen time, I realized I spend around an hour a day on Instagram and two hours on WeChat. But to be fair, I always use WeChat to call my overseas friends which is one of the reasons for my high screen time.

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"Social media’s harmful effects are largely ignored, which is worrying.”

I could not agree more with George, quoted above. He adds that “it’s less about the screen time itself but more about how kids are having their self-worth evaluated constantly by the number of likes or comments they get.” What is even sadder is that I know many people who have spent their parents’ money to buy followers and likes to pad their profiles. It’s ridiculous to judge your own self-worth by a number on the screen or by the validation of strangers online. Anyone reading this must be reminded that they are worth so much more than that.

“Humans weren’t wired to live knowing what everyone is doing at every moment and what everyone thinks of them,” George continued. “Social media has the potential to be terrible for our mental health.”

Hailey, age 18, commented on how teenagers must be weary of cyberbullying. “It’s mean and can follow you forever … like when you are applying for a job in the future.” George also stated that social media “companies need to be held accountable … and design their apps in more ethical ways that do not exploit human psychology to maximize profit.”

However, social media is a great way for people to receive advice, suggestions, and gain exposure for their blog or business. I know so many teenagers that are making money through sponsorships for blogging and it’s just so cool how we now have so many different outlets for side hustles and to show off our creativity to the world.

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that there is so much on social media that is fake.

Photos are often photoshopped or even staged and there’s a tremendous difference between the way bloggers portray themselves online versus how they really live in real life.

Make sure you love who you are naturally and take everything you see or hear on social media with a grain of salt. Confidence is the only way we are able to show the world how we want to be treated. Do not let your insecurities get the better of you!

About the Writer

Ashley Liu is a Candian born Chinese currently undergoing her senior year of high school in DCB. You will either find her tied to her piano composing and singing or in the kitchen baking vegan food.

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Photos: Pexels, Unsplash 

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