You’re probably wondering: What does a gruesome book about boys stranded on an island building their own society have to do with this week’s blog post topic about the internet?

I’ll get there. For now, just hang on.

(Click here to refresh your memory about Lord of the Flies.)

Let me start by saying this: I agree that there are positive aspects to social media, as the YouTube video we were watching for class also suggests.

The classic example is the Numa Numa dance guy (2:00 minutes into the video). He uploaded a video of himself dancing to the song in front of his webcam, and many, many people from all over the world quickly joined in on the fun, sharing their joy with the world.

Social media, at its best, can promote solidarity and togetherness. It can create a way in which people who may not even know each other can work together and campaign for causes close to their hearts. It can be a place where people can reflect on their identities, freely and creatively represent themselves, and make a mark for the world around them to see. There are so many ways technology can be used for good purposes, and the video seems to reflect this.

However, the video also seemed to suggest the early stages of an evident theme in our culture today: people are relying on social media for a kind of fulfillment which is supposed to come from human-to-human relationships.

Think about it. Social media influencers are becoming important role models for teens. People across gaming and chatting platforms are becoming closer friends to teens than the community of people around them. The range of porn on the internet offers some strange counterfeit version of sexual intimacy. Students turn to the internet to ask difficult questions before they would to any adult in their lives. I could go on.

The algorithm is tailored to each individual person – why would they resort to an old-fashioned friendship with a real person where their views, thoughts, or interests could be challenged?

My point is this: People are actually starting to replace their face-to-face relationships with attractive but counterfeit relationships with social media, and this is causing a number of other problems.

As social media consumption has risen, so have the rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

“[M]ultiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts.”

– A HelpGuide.org article about Social Media and Mental Health.

And yet, the pull of this social media is inescapably strong. To quote Jerico Sampang’s blog post for this week titled, “Welcome to the Internet”:

“There are only two industries of note that refer to their demographics as users: illicit drugs and social media platforms. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but the analogy is more than apt. The platforms and apps that we use today are designed to keep users on the platform for as long as possible. By showing users what they want to see, providing outlets for users to participate, and making it heavily accessible, social media platforms create a scenario where users find it difficult to leave.”

I think this is worth noting, especially for us as future educators. Because we are the first (and a half) generation to deal with these statistics, it’s up to us to change them and to equip the generations after us to thrive better than we did in an ever-changing technological landscape.

So, returning to the Lord of the Flies.

A group of boys is stranded on an island with no guidelines for survival. They begin to create their own societal structures in order to stay alive, but this quickly goes downhill and causes mistrust, hatred, destruction, and ultimately, death.

Now are you seeing it?

If you still aren’t, let me spell it out for you.

Social media networks, despite our best efforts, are a desert island. There are no guidelines for survival. The young people using social media platforms (and those “in charge” of these platforms) are beginning to create/have created their own societal structures in order to stay alive. Despite our best efforts, things are still going downhill and causing mistrust, hatred, destruction, and even, in some cases, death.

Am I exaggerating? I don’t know – you tell me.

Don’t get me wrong.

There is nothing wrong with the island.

Social media platforms themselves aren’t bad.

But we need real, strong, tangible guidelines for survival.

As future educators, it’s our responsibility to keep a reproduction of Lord of the Flies  on the internet from happening.

Bernice

I grew up quite skeptical of technology. We have the ability to see any of the knowledge anyone has ever cared to record on our little pocket-sized magic screens at any point in time. My parents – especially my dad – were unimpressed by this ability. (Although, I wonder if they were indeed impressed… too impressed, and felt they could not control it… and are thus as skeptical as they are.)

My parent’s being mildly adverse to technology meant that I grew up without certain things that my generation would have considered normal.

Coming home from school and having a snack while watching cartoons? Nope. Playing Minecraft with dad? Nope, although I genuinely wish this could have been a part of my childhood, and am furiously making up for it now. Family movie nights? Not unless it was a movie worth watching (provided that we already owned it on DVD).

List of my core childhood movies:

• The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry
• Love Comes Softly – my eight-year-old brain decided that this (Clark’s character) was how all men worth my time had to act
• Air Buddies

Nowadays, I’m a lot better versed in technology than when I grew up. I’m making up for lost childhood moments by watching Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Sound of Music, and all of those Disney movies that I’ve never seen.

However, I tend to be a bit critical. Is it really good for our psyches to be able to “see any of the knowledge anyone has ever cared to record on our little pocket-sized magic screens at any point in time”? Is it really good for us to constantly be entertained? As a generation (and as a society), I’m sure this will have lasting negative effects.

I recently listened to a very good podcast about technology, specifically AI. One of the people featured on this podcast mentioned how he takes a yearly rest from all forms of technology for the whole month of August.

This idea intrigued me, not just because of my skeptical roots, but also because of a desire to be addicted to technology as little as possible, and because I think it would be very emotionally healthy to simply be for a whole month. This would be extremely difficult to pull off, but could I do it, I think it might be extremely rewarding.

What do you think? How would you go about this, if you were going to go a whole month with as little technology as possible? Do you think there are some technologies that would be impossible to give up?

Bernice

Hello!

My name is Bernice, and I’m going to be a high school math teacher. I’m technically in my third year, but it’s my first at the U of R, and my first in this program.

I’m not a huge technology user, and something like making a blog is entirely new to me. I’ve never been against using technology, but it’s not something I ever felt I needed. (My parents also raised me to be quite wary of the internet, so I think there’s some leftover suspicion there too.)

Besides having never made a blog, I’ve never had enough experience reading blogs to decide that I liked one enough to keep up with, so overall I’m coming into this with very little experience whatsoever.

I’m a Christian, and something that I’ve been super interested in lately is how I can continue to grow in an understanding of the world around me that is as balanced and true as possible. Thus, I’ve really enjoyed listening to the Unbelievable? podcast. This is a Christian-run podcast, on which two people of opposing views are invited to debate and discuss their various ways of seeing things. There are often Christians paired with non-Christians, during which both explain their point of view or challenge the view of the other, or Christians paired with other Christians that hold differing opinions. Overall, this podcast has been very informative and I’ve enjoyed learning from it. If you have questions about Christianity or are interested, I would highly recommend this podcast.

That’s all for now,

Bernice