#GoodforMEdia’s Maker Day: The Future of Social Media: By Youth, for Youth
#GoodforMEdia and The HOPE Podcast teams
On Friday, August 16 #GoodforMEdia hosted its first ever Maker Day event at allcove San Mateo. This special event invited young people, ages 13-22, to come together and share about the ways they navigate the online world.
Why Maker Day?
During a time where 95% of teens have smartphones, and 35% of us use social media apps constantly, #GoodforMEdia’s youth advisors see the need for youth to have access to supportive spaces where they can figure out healthy ways to use these platforms. Inspired by this reality, we curated this event to center young people's lived experiences online, so that there is a future where we can use our phones feeling inspired and motivated, not burnt out. Through a series of stations—Future of Social Media, In the News, Podcast 101, Wall of Wisdom, Conversation Cove, and Story Corner—young people had the chance to explore how they put the ME in media. Read about their experience below.
What Youth Thought About Maker Day
Sonia, a #GoodforMEdia youth advisor, shares their thoughts
Youth shared tips and strategies for setting healthy boundaries with technology on the Wall of Wisdom.
“The welcoming, spacious allcove San Mateo center was the perfect venue for reflection and discussion. Participants analyzed their relationship with social media in multiple ways: they engaged in conversation circles using #GoodforMEdia’s conversation cards (Conversation Cove station), wrote responses to GFM’s core questions posted on the walls (Wall of Wisdom station), and recorded poignant testimonies about their experiences growing up in the digital age (Story Corner station).
Over 15 youth participated in Story Corner, sharing video testimonials that offered reflections and advice inspired by prompts exploring their lived experiences with media.
I got to help run the Story Corner testimonial station: I loved seeing teens embrace their authority on the relationship between social media and youth mental health. Kids were honest about the complex effects of social media use on their wellbeing. For instance, while some teens loved how Instagram provided them with easy access to friends and entertaining content, they also shared about their struggles to control the amount of time they spent on this platform. Some kids even believed that social media had shortened their attention span, resulting in increased difficulty focusing on schoolwork. In the testimonies we gathered, it is evident that today’s generation of youth resist simplifying the impact of social media on adolescent mental health.
Teens are not passive, mindless consumers of social media: youth have developed tools and habits to regulate their social media use and seek out positive online experiences.
I am glad that #GoodforMEdia’s Maker Day gave Bay Area youth the opportunity to reflect on their individual experiences with social media, gain affirmation and instructive strategies from their peers, and share their knowledge with not just each other, but the broader GFM audience.”
Zenia, a #GoodforMEdia youth advisor, shares their thoughts
At the Future of Social Media station participants designed their ideal, youth-centered platform.
“The Future of Social Media station was a lot of fun, and attracted a lot of people due to its creative aspect. Many participants did not interpret their dream app as being a form of social media at all, instead thinking about how we can use technology to solve problems. These problems ranged from educational barriers for students with learning disabilities to the inability to find a good public bathroom nearby when you are traveling. Overall, the workshop served as a good reminder that social media and technology are powerful tools that can be used for good causes, despite the negative narrative surrounding them.
Folks engaged with the #GoodforMEdia’s Conversation Cards at the Conversation Cove station to learn about one another’s experience with social media.
At the Conversation Cove, we used the new #GoodforMEdia conversation cards for the first time. The questions were very engaging, and everyone was able to respond based on their personal experiences and what they had noticed around them. The conversations were both critical and hopeful, allowing for healthy disagreement and introducing new perspectives.”
Thank you to all who helped plan and attended our first Maker Day!
