REGINA – Most people nowadays have some sort of social media. In Saskatchewan, nearly 83 per cent of residents use it with the majority favouring Facebook.
Grade 12 student Kyah Watkis is one of those people. She says most students are on all the popular mediums, like Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat.
“Everyone’s got it nowadays,” she said.
She has over 1,000 followers on Instagram and says for her age that is a lot but it’s also because of her singing.
Watkis says she posts videos of her singing. It’s what’s garnered a lot of attention.
However, not everyone has such a talent.
“Being on there and getting those positive re-enforcements is something that affects our brain,” University of Regina education instructor Katia Hildebrandt said.
According to Hildebrandt, it’s led people to selectively reveal only parts of their life likely to garner “likes” from peers.
“We’re filtering our images or cropping them and we’re making them look perfect and that’s not what real life is like,” Hildebrandt added.
Regina-based psychologist Joanna Frederick says while there is a benefit to using social media such as keeping in touch with loved ones, more people are realizing the effects of overusing social media.
“Some people I think have started to question that in their own use of technology,” she said.
Frederick believes more people should try focusing on capturing the “image” of the moment and focus more on the actual living it.
“Just go totally offline, no emails, no Facebook, no Instagram no SnapChat for 24 hours and see how that feels,” she added.
While Walkis says it’s something she could do, she also says it might be harder for others .
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