Social media ban: Should we follow the Aussie example?

Social media icons. [Courtesy/GettyImages]

Australia, Down Under (nickname for Australia and sometimes New Zealand, referring to their location in the Southern Hemisphere), has banned social media for those aged 16 and below.

This was unprecedented for a generation that grew up with the phone.

The phone has become a new god. What is your WiFi password has replaced greetings when hosting visitors. The phone is the new status symbol and, at times, annoying. “That’s iPhone what?” A popular question to check if you have kept up with technology and “coolness.”

The phone was innocent as long as it was for calling; telephone booths, house phones and later the dumb or mlika mwizi phones, popular with M-Pesa kiosks; though I hear they are upgrading to smart phones.

Then came the smartphone and social media. The phone’s age of innocence ended. The key activity on the phone is no longer calling; it’s either financial services, a revolution by itself or social media. What makes social media so addictive for the young, under 16, is that they have no money to transact. The focus is on packaged entertainment.  

The cartoons they watch, the games and other forms of entertainment are targeted and tested for their effectiveness.  If social media can hook adults, think of young brains.

Add the dark world of pornography, cyberbullying, fake news, and now AI (Artificial Intelligence) that tracks social media use and adjusts it to suit the user.

The consequences have been detached children (and adults), living in their own worlds, defined by what the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese referred to as algorithms; programs or codes that monitor our habits to reinforce them online.

I have seen that evolution; there was no social media when I started my work at the university. My interaction with students was more personal and human. There is a lot of detachment now.

If I came late for class, it was noisy as students conversed. Today, I only know there are students after opening the door; all on the phone.

Get into a matatu or bus, and everyone is glued to the phone. Check your guests on Christmas Day. We are on social media as long as we are awake; I have checked at any time of the night.

Social media is the real 2024-hour economy. Why don’t we have a Kenyan social media platform like WhatsApp or Facebook to make money 24 hours, as others wait for rent at the end month? 

Apart from dehumanising us, social media robs our children of their childhood, playing hide and seek, playing in the mud, climbing trees, playing karongo, football, other games, and just talking. They learn to socialise.

I have seen kids nowadays remaining in the car when there is an occasion; they fear crowds! Social media and its contents can be used to control our attitudes and thoughts.

After all, who vets it for us? Sadly, we create very little of that content.

The popularity of TikTok is about anyone creating content, but that is still not comparable with professional content creators and their heuristics.

Add loss of productivity in the workplace. Check your screen time in a day. Any slack time goes to social media. One wishes we used social media and phones to advance the frontiers of knowledge, seek solutions to problems and enhance human interaction.

What was your last conversation on social media about? Most likely a forward which you responded to with an emoji or another forward.

We are victims of FOMO (fear of missing out)! Only to find we fear missing out on forwards and stale jokes. Wait for Christmas recycled jokes.

Reduce alcoholism

Found a serious discussion on the next innovation frontier: quantum computing or AI?  We are hooked to human stories, without being human. What is social about social media? Many will argue that the Aussie ban is denying youngsters their freedom. But they will have the rest of their lives after 16 to use social media, having learnt the perils of social media, and being human. Hopefully, they will not turn into the dark web.

Think of how social media shapes our views into adulthood, including marriage. Would you treat your partner the same way if there were no social media to take your time and shape your views? Extrapolate that to children.

We could compare this ban with “no alcohol for under 18.”  Does it reduce alcoholism or simply build momentum, teens waiting for the day they turn 18? 

A more curious question: what else should we do without phones? It is now a form of entertainment. And truth be told, we have not invested in alternative forms of entertainment. No sports facilities, no theatres, and no parks.  We should be thankful to social media; it keeps us “busy.”

The Aussie experiment is bold, and we should try it. Let’s give our kids a childhood they will remember, full of other children and adults, not a make-believe world. After all, no matter how advanced technology gets, we remain human!