In the second part of the topic of social networks: differences between generations, we discuss the phenomenon of the importance of the number of followers and "likes." We also talk about the fact that younger and younger children have cell phones, and the psychological impact this has on them. Alessandra gives advice for young people who are addicted to social media and are negatively affected by it.
Alessandra: Happy Martin Luther King Junior Day. I hope everyone takes the time to learn about the importance of him in our history, if you don't already know. This is the second part of the topic of social media. Listen to the first part of our conversation in the previous episode. Enjoy it!
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Alessandra: Okay, the next question: do you care how many followers you have or the "likes" or comments you get? What do you think of this phenomenon?
Evelyn: Well when I send something, and something that has bothered me, I send it to a person, I send it and then I never see it again. Because I know the answer is going to be with an insult, and therefore, well, I-- I hit and run.
Alessandra: Yes, I think that this may be different between generations.
Evelyn: Yes.
Alessandra: For young people, they do care about the number of followers--
Veronica: Followers.
Alessandra: Followers, and all that. At first on Facebook, years ago, I remember that I was worried about the number of friends I had. Now that doesn't matter much to me, or not at all. On Instagram I'm still working to not worry about my number of followers or how many "likes" I get, or comparing myself, but lately I find more happiness from-- by posting things that make me happy. And if I do that, then it shouldn't matter how many people like it. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting better.
Evelyn: How good, Alessandra.
Veronica: Yes, to me, to me--
Evelyn: Very good, very good.
Veronica: The followers no, I don't care how many followers, I mean, I don't need followers that are-- of, of people I don't know, I mean. And I don't follow people I don't know either. Well, I follow certain-- certain groups, like let's say certain groups of animals where they show videos of animals or stories that make you happy, I mean, but I don't care how many people follow me. I only care if it's people I know-- family or friends. That's for me-- I don't care about the number of people, I mean, I don't need followers, having a large number of people that I don't know. For what?
Alessandra: Yes, it should not be something to be valued.
Veronica: Exactly, exactly. Yes, value yourself by the number of followers you have. Let them be people that one does not know.
Evelyn: I had never contemplated that of followers. I have no idea if I have followers or I have no followers. I have never, never paid attention to this, and I simply answer what I see, what I like, what interests me, I answer. I use-- I love emojis. I love them because they're a-- it's such a great invention. Of course, one shouldn't replace words with emojis, right?
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: Because that's what vocabulary exists for, right? And-- but, but the expressions are very, very appropriate sometimes, very appropriate and--
Veronica: Yes, it makes it more fun.
Evelyn: Yes, it does make it more fun, yes. And he adds a little bit of-- how do you say it? As we say in English, "pizazz," right? To a message.
Alessandra: Flavor?
Evelyn: But but but but, yes, the "like" I see, yes when I sometimes put things on Facebook, yes, I receive many notifications of "likes" or "likes."
Alessandra: Well do you remember--
Evelyn: Or with little hearts or giggles or tears, the emojis.
Alessandra: Oma, do you remember when I yelled at you that, “Oma, you comment on my post-- my posts, but you don't leave any likes.” Why don't you leave a "like."
Evelyn: Because I didn't know how to use it. In truth, that's why, because I didn't really know. Because you have the heart, right?
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: And you have the round comment icon and you have the heart. Sometimes I would just press the heart to say I like it but leave no comment. Anyway. I don't know if I'm still using it right or not but I send things as, as I seem to have to send them.
Alessandra: I want to know, at what age did you first have a cell phone?
Veronica: When I was 30 years old.
Alessandra: Okay,
Veronica: Yes, yes.
Evelyn: That's right-- that means I got mine around my 50s, because I imagine I got my first cell phone, which was those heavy big guys--
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: that you still see in the movies, that they look like a brick. Those--
Veronica: With the buttons.
Evelyn: Yes yes yes yes. But they still didn’t charge. Then the others came, the others arrived, less heavy, but they could be charged-- and carried around but you couldn't charge them like phones are charged today.
Veronica: Portables.
Evelyn: Yes, portables, they weren't as portable. The truth is that I don't remember much about those first phones, but--
Alessandra: I was 12, 11 or 12 years old. But it was a-- it was a flip, a flip cell.
Evelyn: Was it an Android? What type was it?
Alessandra: No, I don't remember. But after that--
Evelyn: After that.
Alessandra: I got my first iPhone. I think I was 14, 13 or 14, I don't remember but--
Veronica: I don't remember, but now, now the children are getting younger and younger.
Evelyn: Yes, 11, 12 years old. But I think parents give them to them for safety reasons, more than anything, right? To know where they are, or I don't know, the truth.
Veronica: I think some are for, to keep the kids busy, I think.
Alessandra: Yes.
Evelyn: Yes, yes yes yes.
Veronica: Same with tablets. Now they give it to younger and younger children and they know how to use it, use those tablets, that is, it's like an instinct that they know how to use it immediately. Little ones of 2, 3, 4 years--
Evelyn: Yes.
Veronica: They know how to use them.
Evelyn: Yes, incredible.
Veronica: And that is used by parents to, I think to keep them busy, which is a shame instead of giving them books or or watching educational programs. Well although that, that can also be seen, educational programs on tablets, but...
Evelyn: But children don't look for them.
Alessandra: Yes.
Evelyn: Parents have to look for those programs. Children look for what is fun, games, things like that.
Alessandra: Yes, that relates, and my other question: how have social networks changed in the last 15 years? And I say that I think I was lucky to have had a little time in my childhood without social networks. Facebook became popular in fifth grade for me, I think, but social media wasn't as intense and overwhelming as it is now. I couldn't imagine being exposed to so much at such a young age. Yes, children are introduced to social media at an increasingly young age. I talked about Tik Tok, but it's the new app that-- my younger cousins use it a lot and they make fun of me if I don't know what, what do I do there.
Evelyn: And you already feel like an old lady, right?
Alessandra: Yes, completely.
Evelyn: Yes, every time children are younger, younger using all this technology. And parents give them to them because they are afraid that they will be left behind. Because all the other kids their same ages are using them and therefore if they don't use it, they are left behind in technology. Therefore it is a vicious cycle.
Veronica: Yes.
Alessandra: Yes.
Evelyn: To give them, to give them is to say expose them to social networks to all this technology or not expose them, is a dilemma. It is a dilemma for parents of all children. But I see kids in their strollers using on their-- already using game tablets and whatnot and that's bad. That, that does not seem very good to me. That could be replaced by other things like you say, books or--
Veronica: Toys.
Evelyn: Yes, exactly.
Veronica: They don’t need anything either, that is, they are in the stroller going somewhere, no, you don't have to keep them entertained 24 hours a day.
Evelyn: Yes.
Veronica: In other words, they have to entertain themselves, learn to entertain themselves. This is how creativity comes out and--
Evelyn: Yes.
Alessandra: Yes. Starting in fifth or sixth grade, I watched YouTube a lot, but it inspired me and showed me a whole new world of creativity. It definitely took up a lot of time, but overall it was positive. But on YouTube too, it has changed a lot, it has changed a lot now. Because some people do it for the money and the fame when in the past it was more fun and lighthearted. I still think it's good, but it just is, it's different. There's a world on social media of making-- of making a job. The influencers, how do you say?
Evelyn: Do what? Sorry, what is the word in English?
Alessandra: Influencers.
Evelyn: Ah, they want to influence.
Alessandra: Yes, but it’s the title of their job.
Evelyn: Influencers.
Alessandra: Yes.
Evelyn: Motivators.
Alessandra: Yeah, so it's not as fun as it used to be.
Evelyn: Yes, yes yes yes.
Veronica: Me, YouTube hardly-- I never think about using it. So no, I'm not very familiar with YouTube.
Alessandra: It’s really useful for “How To” tutorials?
Veronica: Ah, yes.
Evelyn: Teaching?
Alessandra: Teaching, yes.
Evelyn: For teaching. I like YouTube, for example, for when I missed a speech, I missed something important, that someone said, so I use YouTube for that. Because I can, I can search for it and I find it on YouTube. And also according to, as I learned recently, you can use YouTube to learn how to do things and I did not know that. As you just said, teaching matters. For that it is practical, for that YouTube is quite practical.
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: Alessandra, what advice do you have for young people who are addicted to social networks who are negatively affected by it?
Alessandra: Well, I recently heard this advice: try to make your feed more positive. You only follow people who you really care about their lives. And after hearing this, I realized that I followed a lot of people that I was never really friends with, who were in my life for just a little while, who are no longer in my life, like people from high school. It's not something negative or resentful, but those people don't add value to my feed and I don't want to see everything they do. So, try to shorten the list of people you follow and only follow people who really care about you, or people who inspire. You want to go to Instagram for example and feel happy and inspired. So don't follow people whose posts make you roll your eyes and add negativity to your day.
Evelyn: Marvelous.
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: I congratulate you, exactly.
Veronica: That's what I was saying about the amount of followers you have, I mean, I don't care about people who don't-- who I'm not friends with or anything. So I don't care how many followers I have. It is not the quantity but the quality of the followers.
Alessandra: Yes, I looked at my list of who I was following and, and I said to myself, “Why am I still following this person? No, I don't care about anything. " Sorry but--
Veronica: Unfollow.
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: Did you stop following various people?
Alessandra: Yes.
Veronica: Yes. Yes, because no--
Alessandra: It’s too much.
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: Yes yes yes yes. Yes, definitely. Life is very short and one has to focus on the good. The positive, what will help you to advance, to help, to teach you more things. Anyway, well, positive.
Alessandra: Yes. Another tip is not to use social networks, or your phone in general just before going to bed, or when you wake up. What you see on social media can affect your mood and it is important not to let it have that power over you because it can affect your sleep and the start of your day.
Veronica: Very good, yes it is--
Evelyn: Very good. Very good, Alessandra.
Alessandra: Thank you. Well the last question: if you could make social media disappear for everyone tomorrow, would you?
Evelyn: Not me, not me. Because, because the world out there I don't care about. I care about my family, my friends, my loved ones, and I would not want to lose that contact for anything in the world.
Veronica: Yes.
Evelyn: I have cousins who-- I have cousins, cousins I haven't seen in more than what? 40 years, but that we have met through, WhatsApp. Recently and, and we have seen each other to communicate again and I would not lose it for nothing, and especially from you. My children, my grandchildren, thanks to social media, technology, social media technologies, we can continue to see each other and share and so on. There's a lot of crap, there's a lot of crap on social media and you can-- you don't have to look at it. Eliminate them, skip them, and just focus on what you like.
Alessandra: Yes I agree. And I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Evelyn: Yes,
Veronica: Yes, and it depends on how you use it too, right?
Evelyn: Yes.
Alessandra: Well that's it. Thanks for listening, and thanks Mami and Oma for being here again. Until next time!
Veronica: Bye, thanks!
Evelyn: Thank you! I love you guys very much, kisses.
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