Opinion: Social media has dark side

It’s often said by older generations “these kids have never had it so good”.

There is an overwhelming amount of evidence to suggest that may be the case. Modern medicine, technology, entertainment, transport ... the list goes on and on.

Are the youth of today a truly blessed generation that have had the world handed to them on a plate?

But with all the modern trappings of technology, there comes a downside, even a dark side — social media.

Back when I was a child, if I wanted to socialise with my friends I had to go through my front door, or wrestle the only phone in the house away from my siblings.

You might think with the process of speaking and playing with your friends made so much easier in the 21st century, it’s all sunshine and roses for our kids. After all, they can chat to their mates while playing video games, sharing snaps of each other, even sharing videos.

But what happens when you have a falling out?

What happens when things turn a bit nasty?

Back in my day, we went home, maybe we would see each other at school, maybe not.

But if we needed to get away from the situation, it was easy.

We retreated to our homes.

But now, just how easy is that?

Social media is everywhere.

But the mere act of retreating to a safe place — to somewhere we feel we can breathe and get away from bullying — is not so simple.

Group chats, comments sections, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok — we switch them all off or we face potential nastiness around every corner.

It’s a tricky road to navigate.

The blessed generation? In many ways, yes. The mollycoddled generation wrapped in cotton wool?

I don’t think so. But that’s just the opinion of this Pom in Oz.