Unbounded Expression: Gauging the Full Potential of Social Media

It's true - With the proliferation of social media drawing its ever-mounting tentacles into almost every household, teens, tweens, and "toddlers-in-training" these days are exponentially increasing their digital presence. And why not? Who's to blame them? With a single post, the whole world can be at the tips of the user's fingers - we can express ourselves in novel and exciting ways unparalleled by anything else. But what toll is this engagement taking on our physical, mental, and emotional health? We may be tapping into reservoirs of unbounded expression, unearthing the very depths of humanity, but are we driving our selves, our peers, and our families off the deep end in the process?

It's a fact that, the world over, reports of cyber-bullying, depression, and even suicide, can be connected directly to social media use - in some cases, culminating in community-wide outrage over cyber-atrocities. From relentless meme trolls to peer-pressure to engage in criminality, the possibilities for self-destruction seem infinite. Yet, despite these obvious dangers and drawbacks, it appears that obsession with platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and so many more, continues to mount.

But it's not all bad news - amidst this new cyber-culture, there are signs of creative and potential for unprecedented good. There's now more power than ever before to make our voices heard in curating conversations that expand our outlook on the world, take action, and campaign for the greater good. Just witness the roaring success of movements such as #MeToo, and #BlackLivesMatter - led largely by social media - and the huge strides they've made towards creating empathy and understanding. We may be connecting faster and with more intensity than ever before; so too, can we be more positively engaged in driving our own destiny, and that of the world, through tools like crowdfunding and social media strategizing.

For young people, especially, the possibilities of this new accountability and exposure to alternative ideas have broadened and democratized the horizon for engaging with others in new and much more meaningful ways. On the other hand however, are looming dangers of compulsory connection, where we are potentially heading towards a world without enough healthy boundaries, or ways to retreat from the shrill and deafening noise of online opinion.

So what's the stance? To be sure, technology, apps, and social media can be harnessed as powerful and positive tools. To assess – and manage - their full potential, we need to both appreciate their potential for creativity and collaboration, and acknowledge their dark underbelly and the role we must play in containing its more sinister implications.

We may be reveling in the dizzying heights of unbounded expression made accessible by our laptops, phones, and tablets. But they, too, must come down - to street level - and come to terms with the fact that these platforms are saturated with both the light and dark extremes of human expression. We can, of course, carefully guide access and monitor use - there are firms just starting to get involved in helping parents and caregivers set limits, as well as institutions like schools movement towards educating our digital-native youths on how to protect themselves on the internet.

This is simply the beginning of a long journey of figuring out where to draw the line between healthy and unhealthy social media engagement. It's an ongoing debate, and we have a long way to go in making sure we have the educational, social, and emotional tools in place to steer the ship with the advantage of hindsight and a renewed sense of purpose. It's an arduous but essential task, for which both adults and young users alike can reap the rewards if done in just the right way.