‘We were guinea pigs’: The Gen Zs who grew up online reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of social media | Canada Voices

Before they were officially dubbed “Generation Z,” they were often called the “iPhone generation.” That’s because the group born between 1997 and 2012, who are now between 14 and 29, was raised on iPhones, iPads and, of course, social media.

With the Canadian government announcing a plan to restrict social media for those under 16, Gen Zs have a unique perspective to share. Millennials and Gen Xers were able to have a life before TikTok and Instagram. But Gen Zs have only ever known adolescence online.

Ban social media for young people? Good luck with that

The Globe and Mail spoke with a group of Gen Zs about how social media has shaped their lives. Here’s what they want us to know:

When did you start using social media?

Areej Chaudhry, 18: I got most of my social media apps around 13. I started using them a lot more during the COVID-19 pandemic [when schools were under lockdown]. For a lot of us, it was either school work, or social media. There were no other alternatives.

Leena Khan, 17: I first got Instagram when I was in Grade 7. I did use it pretty heavily and became conscious of how much my usage was affecting my life. I would come home from school and try to study, but couldn’t, because I was always on my phone. It was super distracting.

On the weekends, I was on Instagram for about four hours a day. And during the weekdays, it was about an hour. So now, I’ve downloaded a secondary app that blocks social media apps for certain periods of time.

What kind of restrictions or education were you given around social media use?

Tanay Suresh, 21: We were the guinea pigs. So social media regulation and education, that was all really iffy. There was this very basic understanding of ‘Don’t talk to strangers.’ But concepts like catfishing, or Photoshop, or threats of predators, that was not really a thought.

Areej Chaudhry: During middle school, we discussed online bullying. I feel like that was the conversation that was had because bullying is a bit of an older concept. So teachers and people felt more comfortable talking about it. But ideas like insecurity and isolation, those things I don’t think were discussed enough.

Calvin Tan, 16: People didn’t really have limitations. In Grade 4, for some reason, everyone in my class was getting on Instagram. So I installed Instagram. It was just a bunch of nine year olds on Instagram following each other and following our teacher. I don’t know what we were talking about. What would nine year olds have been talking about?

How do you use social media today?

Suresh: In Singapore [where he grew up], because of the way news is censored, and the amount of segregation in the way values are spread across society, it really aided me in understanding the diversity of values people may have.

It’s also exposed me and a lot of people to more underground societies – which is a good and bad thing. That can be anything from queer spaces [he identifies as queer], or say, a knitting community. Or even something like the manosphere. So there’s definitely two sides to the sword.

Tan: I recently got into photography, and I think social media is a great place to share work and share ideas. And, during the teachers’ strike [in Alberta, where he lives], I loved how social media was a way to raise awareness around the issues. A lot of people were using social media as a way to educate other people on what was happening, and to share their opinions.

How has social media affected your mental health?

Tan: Social media can be a place of positivity and negativity. A lot of people use it to spread joy, while other people use it to bring others down. There are these online confession pages that students use to make fun of each other. And because it’s anonymous, people aren’t afraid to say racist or misogynistic or discriminatory things.

In our school, there have been issues with sexual images, with people being blackmailed, people sending pictures they shouldn’t be sending. There have been fights that get posted. The thing with social media is that it reaches a lot of people super quickly and then spreads within the community

Sofia Nenshi Nathoo, 17: A big thing that I’ve seen is the isolating effect. It just feels like you can do so many things online, so it’s almost like you don’t need human interaction anymore. It’s really reduced the opportunity to just have conversations, or interact with people in an authentic way.

It’s also cultivated these unrealistic expectations of what life should look like. Like maybe I’m behind in life. Maybe I’m not doing enough. It alters the way that you perceive yourself. Especially as young people, as our brains are still developing.

Do you wish there had been a ban when you were younger?

Khan: I think it would have been very beneficial to my youth.

Suresh: Yes. I would come across profiles [at the age of 14, when he was briefly on Snapchat] that were just extremely inappropriate.

I felt really off about it. So I deleted the app. But most young people would not delete the app.

So what do you think of the government’s plan now to ban social media for younger people?

Suresh: People below the age of 16 do not have that critical nuance to pick apart what an algorithm is pushing to you. As totalitarian as it may seem, a ban seems like the most effective way currently to ensure that there are some guardrails.

Chaudhry: I’m not in favour of a ban at all. I feel like it’s human behaviour that if you take something away, it just creates more desire for it. I feel like older generations are trying to put an end to it, like, “Let’s go back to the way it was.” But I don’t think there’s any meaning in denying something that everyone is using. We can’t just completely cut it out of our lives.

Nenshi Nathoo: I think the best thing we can do is teach people to use it in a way that will lift them up instead of tear them down. I think just helping them to use it in the most appropriate way is the best thing that we can do for them, rather than a complete ban.

What are the lessons we should learn from your experience?

Tan: We’re living in an attention economy. Time is one of our most scarce and valuable aspects in life. We have limited amount of time here on this Earth.

I love social media. But just be mindful of how you’re allocating your daily energy and your daily time. And save it for making real, meaningful connections in the real world with your friends and family.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.