Often discussions about social media tend to be political, but that is not the case with the collaboration in Oakland County that looked at social media issues.
“I think it’s about being mindful of your use and how you’re engaging and interacting with other people. It’s about setting rules for yourself or guidance for yourself,’’ said Dana Lasenby, chief executive officer of the Oakland Community Health Network.
The OCHN, Oakland County Health Division and the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities worked together to develop social media resources for the community.
“The focus was to get people to think — not to say, ‘Oh my goodness there’s something wrong with me’ but to think about how you’re using social media and how it makes you feel,’’ Lasenby said. “How does it make you feel about yourself, how does it make you feel about people around you. How much time are you using for emails, to go on social media to see if anybody posted or if anybody liked my picture any of those things.
“We often hear some of the things that come out of cyber-bullying, people really having a difficult time unplugging from social media, so we wanted to address it in a way that was more balanced. And how to do a self-check of yourself and what you can do if you think you’re over-using or misusing or even feeling some kind of way as a result of social media,’’ Lasenby added.
Three of the key points that were reached include:
— If the majority of your interactions with others are coming through a screen or in written messages, especially when you are young and your brain is still developing, you may be missing out on opportunities to improve your people skills through face-to-face communication.
— Social media may trigger feelings of inadequacy. People may feel as though their life or appearance does not compare favorably with that of others on social media, leading to feelings of envy and dissatisfaction.
— Using less social media than you normally would leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness.
Social media overuse was one of many issues magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If you think about how much virtual engagement we all have had to do for our work, to stay connected with family members and friends. This was almost for many, many months the only way we could communicate outside of your home,’’ Lasenby said. “I think it has a lot to do with it.’’
It’s also an issue that spans all ages. Parents look for ways to control their children’s social media use, but adults are just as guilty of spending more time on social media and less time actually talking and interacting with family and friends.According to one link in their report, experts say “Using less social media than you normally would leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness.
“This is not a negative thing, it is how do you monitor yourself and family members so you can get the best out of social media and make sure you’re not being harmed by it as well and to find a balance,’’ Lasenby said.
An extensive list of resources and information to aid adults, families and teens in determining responsible use of social media and understand the effects overuse can have on our everyday lives, can be found on the OCHN website at oaklandchn.org, select the NEWS/EVENTS tab, Impacts of Social Media link.
"Media" - Google News
October 16, 2021 at 05:04PM
https://ift.tt/3pb6MWW
Oakland County groups work together on social media education - The Oakland Press
"Media" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ybSA8a
https://ift.tt/2WhuDnP
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Oakland County groups work together on social media education - The Oakland Press"
Post a Comment