Digital Generation

 Kumud Gautam

In the last decade, social media has become a very significant part of the lives of the youths in Nepal. The youths used to spend their spare time browsing through the internet occasionally in cyber cafes. However, today millions of youths use social media for hours a day. Social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Discord and YouTube are powerful mediums for opinion formation, lifestyle transformation and career guidance among the youths. The availability of smartphones, PCS and internet services have been crucial factor behind the adoption of social media by youths. In urban areas, most youths use social media for entertainment purposes, while those living in the rural areas utilise social media for acquiring information. 

Additionally, news dissemination is relatively fast on social media compared to traditional media such as newspapers and television. Therefore, youths can access vital information on social media that affects their daily lives, and thus they tend to participate in debates on public matters. It is evident that there are many social media personalities within Nepal. Several youths follow content creators who produce videos related to fashion, fitness, education, travelling and daily activities. Many influencers have managed to gather thousands or millions of followers who view their videos. Many young people see their role model in influencers and try to copy their lifestyle by following them. Fashionable clothes, exciting trips and luxurious life can be attractive for youngsters, which explain why some young individual follow influencers' examples.

Social media provides an unprecedented number of opportunities for its users, especially for those who are engaged in their online activity professionally. Over the last few years, it has been observed that many youths actively explore the possibilities of earning some money by means of online activities. Digital marketing, advertising and content creation allow young Nepali to make online activities their profession. As far as negative aspects of using social media are concerned, it should be said that there are many of them. Young people tend to be highly distracted when using these platforms for communication and entertainment purposes. Moreover, spending too much time online prevent young individuals from studying and doing something else. The amount of time the youths spends on social media sites can be too much. 

This way, many young users end up wasting their precious time which can be spent on something productive such as getting further educated or self-developing. Moreover, the desire to maintain a clean online image can be psychologically exhausting for young users of social media sites. Misinformation can be another potential problem for many young users. As any user is free to share information with the rest of the world without prior moderation, there is no guarantee that this is going to be verified first. Therefore, young users of social media sites might believe in the content which can actually turn out to be inaccurate or even fabricated.

 However, the problems listed above should not make us think the impact of social media negatively. On the contrary, when used wisely, social media sites can become powerful tools of educating themselves and other people rising awareness of various important social matters. Social media sites are used by many Nepalese youths to engage in social issues, encourage cultural heritage, and spread awareness on various subjects including education, environment conservation and healthcare. The impact of social media on Nepalese youth will continue to increase in the future years to come. The technological development in this area presents a challenge to society in the proper guidance of the youths in their utilisation of social media.