The growing integration of social media has eventually allowed it to assert its influence on identity itself, particularly that of students. Some believe that as students assess themselves against what is presented on social media, their identity shifts accordingly. I agree with this sentiment and believe such power can be attributed to two factors: students’ impressionability and excessive glamorization.
During their formative years, people are highly susceptible to being changed by the environment they exist in; therefore, social media, one of the most influential forces in contemporary society, holds immense transformative power. Children and adolescents alike often lack the concrete maturity needed to consistently discern right from wrong, so they rely on their observations to navigate their own psyche, following what is generally accepted and mimicking accordingly. Social media, which pervades society, becomes the very environment in which the youth grows, recontextualizing the aforementioned psychological vulnerability and therefore exerts profound influence on their identities. A magnifying factor is a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, one exhibited by most people but the most pronounced in children. Referring to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, this process explains children’s high impressionability, which becomes particularly complicated to moderate when coupled with the ubiquity of social media. This inherent malleability of the mind itself means susceptibility to online viral sentiments; however, the passive process of neuroplasticity might not suffice to influence another kind of audience, one who is more active but equally young. To persuade such consumers, idealization is warranted.
Exposure to a constant influx of prodigious glorification drives the desire to match or even exceed those very idealistic presentations. It must be acknowledged that online romanticization is not inherently wrong, and anyone possesses the right to share their glories. What is important is the result of it, and while particular effects of this vary: envy, motivation and competition are all possible results; teens are ultimately pressured into imitating those glamorized figures. This is exemplified by a well-known psychological phenomenon labelled ”fear of missing out”, abbreviated as FOMO; a condition characterized by the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know about or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could have otherwise improved one’s life. Under the influence of FOMO, students are driven by a constant need to mirror the idealistic state of affairs that social media portrays. The specific ways in which FOMO is internalized differ from person to person, but the end result stays identical: it undoubtedly shapes one’s psyche and exercises dictatorial power. In this light, social media imposes a dual mechanism, shaping students’ identities either through passive absorption or active pursuit.
In conclusion, social media’s transformative influence on students’ identities, either through weaponizing their impressionability or urging them to follow an idealistic role model, remains uncontested and even amplified by its ubiquity. To avoid letting social media become the singular force dictating individuality itself, it is imperative that students arm themselves with critical discernment; a tool that allows them to guard against identity erosion due to social media while being able to enjoy its benefits.