Why do you use social media? Do you hop on Facebook to connect with long distance friends? Do you use Instagram to show off your fabulous vacation? Is your Pinterest an online filing cabinet of ideas, or is it a time filler?
When we as a society spend so much time on a certain activity (i.e. social media), it behooves us to understand why. And when parents see their kids engaging in that activity, it is even more important to know what they are doing and how they feel about it.
Refinery29, an online magazine, assigned one of their vloggers to abstain from all social media use for five days. Lucie recorded her experience in a vlog (of course) and shared her insights about the part social media plays in her life. This is a great video to watch as a family, especially if you have teens on social media, and you can watch it here.
And here are some great questions to discuss afterwards:
* Would you ever delete a social media post? What if it got fewer likes and comments than you anticipated?
*How do you decide what to post on social media? Is your decision influenced by what others will think? How much so?
*When in your day do you get on social media? If you couldn’t use social media at that time, what else would you do?
*How do you think Lucie’s personal habits and Refinery29’s goals influenced the video?
*Is there such thing as productive social media time? What does it look like?
*Why do you think companies hire people to post on social media? How does that affect how you perceive business content on social media sites?
What insights did your family have about social media after watching and discussing the video? Comment below!