Author: koops2802

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Social media and Politics

With an upcoming federal election in Canada while in the middle of a pandemic, it is curious on how the political parties are going to handle their campaigns. This is a pivotal time in Canada and how the party leaders handle themselves could tip the scales towards a majority.

Liberal leader, Justin Trudeau, has gone for a less flashy approach than previous election. His initial statement while announcing the election was, “The last 17 months have been nothing like we’ve experienced and we’re all wondering what the next 17 months, not to mention the next 17 years, will hold”. He mentions later in the same speech that “this is about giving Canadians an opportunity to weigh in at a really pivotal time”.

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Conservative Leader, Erin O’Toole, on day one has solely participated in virtual-only events.

O’Toole positioned his party as the only one with a viable strategy to transition Canada out of economic havoc, as he stood in front of glossy magazine-like posters of the platform document that features the leader in a casual t-shirt with a headline that reads “The man with a plan.”

(Turnball, CTV)

NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh has several promises in his campaign promises including, “to tax the “super rich,” improve accessibility for mental health care, create one million “good jobs” and set up a Crown corporation for vaccine production.”

How do you think this election will turn out? Will liberals be able to secure a majority vote or will Justin Trudeau be out of office?

CITATIONS:

Aiello, R. (2021, August 12). NDP unveils campaign platform ahead of expected election call. CTVNews. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ndp-unveils-campaign-platform-ahead-of-expected-election-call-1.5544176. 

Connolly, A. (2021, August 16). Canada’s 2021 federal election is officially a GO. Here’s how it will WORK – National. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/8066926/canada-federal-election-date-2021/. 

Turnbull, S. (2021, August 17). Here are the highlights of the conservatives’ platform. CTVNews. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/federal-election-2021/here-are-the-highlights-of-the-conservatives-platform-1.5548837. 

FACEBOOK: Do you have questions about the new federal election? Look at my blog to see the leaders campaign goals. https://bit.ly/J8tc49

TWITTER: Do you have questions about the new federal election? Look at my blog to see the leaders campaign goals. https://bit.ly/J8tc49

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With society switching to a virtual status, how does it affect teenagers today?  They live on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter and spend less time with actual people.  Social skills have slowly deteriorated especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “The physical distancing measures mandated globally to contain the spread of COVID-19 are radically reducing adolescents’ opportunities to engage in face-to-face social contact outside their household.”

Orben, Tomova, Blakemore

With social distancing measures in place across the country, children and teenagers have not had the opportunity to develop proper social skills, and any opportunities they do have are limited.  

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How can teenagers begin to develop social skills during a pandemic?  Personally, my social skills continued to develop during the pandemic, but that was primarily due to my work life.  I happened to have great coworkers who helped me to become my true self (as cheesy as that sounds).  

How do you think that social media is affecting the social skills of teens today?

Orben, A., Tomova, L., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2020, August 4). The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health. The Lancet. Child & adolescent health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7292584/. 

Price-Mitchel, M. (2020, April 15). Are young people’s social skills declining? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-moment-youth/202004/are-young-peoples-social-skills-declining. 

Facebook: Is social media affecting social skills? Look at my blog to find out. https://bit.ly/8D569j

Twitter: Is social media affecting social skills? Look at my blog to find out. https://bit.ly/8D569j

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The Ugly Truth About Social Media and Mental Health

Hi Brittney,

I think you make some great points about the positive and negative impacts of social media that people don’t often think of. And although we may often look past the negatives and think “That’s not me”, we often don’t see it coming.

It can sneak up so quickly in our lives and we really need to actively think about ways to avoid letting social media run our lives.

Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program

Social media platforms are evolving on adailybasis. Have you ever thought howitaffectsyour mental health?

Below I will discuss the good,andbadimpact thatsocial mediacan haveon our mental health.

The Good

Social Media platforms
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Social media has many positive benefits on our mental health. Today, many people rely on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram to connect with people.Connecting with people has proven tohelp reducestress andanxiety among our population.

Here are some great points from an article byHelpGuideto show how social media helpsourwell-being.

  1. Communicate with friends and family around the world
  2. Make new connections
  3. Raise awareness on important issues
  4. Seek guidance or offer emotional support
  5. An outlet for expressing your creativity and identity

Who Uses Social Media?

The chart below published by H. Tankovska on Statista  “shows the number of social network users in Canada from 2017 to 2025. In 2019, there were approximately 25.35 million social network users in…

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Aspiring Prime Minister By Day, TikTok Star By…Day

Hi Rachel,
I think this is a great point. Seeing politicians online helps us to feel more relatable as opposed to getting the message on our answering machine. I feel this also relates to our discussion post, where we discussed the separation of our professional and personal personas.

Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program

I had a bit of a chuckle when reading the course content about governments and social media. We’ve come such a long way with technology in a short length of time, and the pandemic has made everything virtual, so there were a few examples that the government is now doing in the present.

We also read about Obama’s election and how social media played a role. It reminds me of a Canadian politician who has a unique approach to social media. Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP party, has a TikTok account where he piggybacks onto social media trends with a spin towards his cause and he and does it well. This is something that is very new in politics and there are many political figures who are thriving on social media – AOC, Obama, and previously Trump are a few examples.

I don’t know if Singh’s social media accounts…

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COM0011 – Blog 2 – Are you prioritizing your mental health?

Social media and the Internet have the potential to do great things in our lives.  It allows us to interact with friends and family or to stay up to date on current world events.  But what is it doing for our mental health?  Specifically, teenagers who see their friends socializing without them can suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and anxiety.   It can be hard to live up to the expectations that you feel society is putting on you.  The rise of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders have risen in teenagers today.  Although this may not be directly related to social media, I believe the correlation is not a coincidence.

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How often do we check in with our friends?  Are we involved in their lives, or do we have a social media relationship?  Is it limited to double tapping that picture?  Especially relating to those who already suffer with some sort of anxiety or mental health issues.  We were suddenly thrust into a global pandemic where meeting with our friends was severely frowned upon.  

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As you can see in Figure 1, the largest age group with anxiety is ages 18-24.  However, this graph does not include data from teens who would feel the most withdrawn from their regular routine of school, parties, and friends.  

                  Mental health has been an issue for years, but among the pandemic it has come to the forefront.  Bell Canada started #bellletstalk in September of 2010 to promote mental health awareness.  

                  What else can we do to promote mental health awareness through social media?

Jones, G. (2021, February 8). Racism and eating disorder diagnosis and treatment. More. https://more-love.org/2020/06/06/racism-and-eating-disorder-diagnosis-and-treatment/. 

Kamal, R., Panchal, N., & Cox, C. (2021, February 10). The implications of Covid-19 for mental health and substance use. KFF. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/. 

Facebook: Has your mental health become a priority for you? Or have you let it take the back burner in your life? Take a look at my blog to see how it affects others. https://bitly.co/74oD9k

Twitter: How is social media affecting mental health in teens? Look at my blog. https://bitly.co/74oD9k #mentalhealthawareness #socialmedia

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COM0011 – Blog 1 – Social Media: is it detrimental to relationships?

How often do we scroll through Instagram to pass the time? How much time do we spend on Facebook to see what our “friends” are doing? In the digital world we currently live in our relationships have also been moved onto the screen. We like posts, but how involved are we? Social media platforms make it easy to stay up to date in people’s lives, but at what cost? How often do we pick up the phone and have a real conversation? I’m willing to bet that it’s not as often as we should.

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In a study done by Bringham Young University the author was able to find that, “emotional well-being mediates the relationship between time spent on social media and the overall quality of the users’ interpersonal relationships” (Christensen, 26).

We need to look at the bigger picture in our relationships. We need to take time away from the screen to make long-lasting relationships. Despite living in a digital world, face-to-face interactions still hold a large impact in business and personal relationships.

CITATIONS:

  1. McFadden, Christopher, “A Chronological History of Social Media” (2020). “https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media”
  2. Christensen, Spencer Palmer, “Social Media Use and Its Impact on Relationships and Emotions” (2018). All Theses and Dissertations. 6927.

FACEBOOK: Do you find that your relationship is failing? Could your use of social media be to blame? Check out this blog to find out. https://bit.ly/8Jeb3aQ

TWITTER: Is social media affecting your relationships? Check out this blog to find out https://bit.ly/8Jeb3aQ. #blog #relationship #socials