Im a YouTuber. Im the Problem.

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hey guys

my name is natalia taylor i’m a content

creator on youtube

and i’ve been doing youtube for about

five years now

over those five years i’ve accumulated

over 2.3 million subscribers

which is kind of crazy that’s a lot of

people having spent a significant amount

of time working online

has not only given me a unique

perspective in regards to new media but

also a far

deeper understanding as to how it really

works social media in many ways has

given society new

and positive changes that bring endless

opportunities

we now have jobs that were never even

considered before we can start an online

business in mere hours even with no

experience having only ourselves

as an employee we can learn new skills

for free by watching tutorials online

it’s truly impossible to fully

encapsulate the wonders

and blessings that have come from

internet content however

much like everything else in life

there’s a dark side to online content

as much as it can help us it can also

hurt us

i mean it’s literally killing us and the

problem

is that we don’t know exactly how social

media

is affecting our mental health our

culture has become

increasingly concerned with our physical

health we have access to studies that

tell us what to consume

what to avoid and what vitamins we need

what we surround ourselves with

will inevitably affect us in either a

positive

or a negative way since the topic of

physical health has universally been

more open than the ones surrounding

mental health

we’re typically trained to know when

something isn’t good for us

we know how to recognize the physical

cues that tell us we need to change what

we’re consuming

but mental cues about what we consume

those are harder to read because we’ve

not yet recognized how to train

our brains in the same way unfortunately

sometimes it’s not immediately clear

that certain content we’re consuming

online will have a negative effect

sometimes the negative effects develop

gradually and creep

up on us and then finally begin to

manifest

it’s difficult to pinpoint as well is it

just one type of content that’s toxic

for our mental health

is it a genre is it an entire community

or can it be individuals

how do we figure it out in order to make

sure we’re consuming content that

nourishes our mind in the same way

we force ourselves to eat healthy in

order for us to be in our best physical

shape

especially in a vulnerable time like

right now where suicide is up by 60

since 2007 according to the cdc

it’s literally killing us the lack of

consensus on the mental effects of

social media is part of the issue

with no concrete answers it’s difficult

to make healthy choices knowing they

effectively are good for us

the international journal of indian

psychology published a review

titled effects of social media on the

mental health

that found that increased time on social

media increases stress

and anxiety and then can lead to

depression

the review emphasized the fact that even

positive

reinforcement can be addictive and cause

individuals to spend even more time

online which in turn can be detrimental

the lack of consensus on the mental

effects of social media is part of the

issue

with no concrete answers it’s difficult

to make healthy choices knowing they

effectively are good for us

according to an eight-year longitudinal

study does time spent using social media

impact mental health published in march

of 2020

time spent on social media is not

related to the individual changes in

depression and anxiety

these two conflicting stances on social

media’s effects are

but drops in the ocean of the research

that needs to be done on this topic

but they do accurately represent the

fact that as of right now

we don’t really know the effect of the

content we are consuming

it’s also important to address our

learned behaviors many times when we

choose to click on a youtube video the

title or the thumbnail might have caught

our eye

and made us click the decision-making

aspect isn’t

thought out over as much as it should

have been it’s like choosing a tv

channel

it can be out of habit or because it’s a

channel our parents always chose

it’s almost like being on autopilot in

some ways

to help our brains receive better

nutrition for our mental health

we need to start asking ourselves more

questions

is what we’re clicking on good for us

does it leave us in a positive mindset

once the content is over or does it feed

our personal negative headspaces

does it inspire us is it a click out of

interest

or mere habit these are the questions we

need to ask ourselves

it can be simple to merely discount a

youtube video

as just a video but the reality is that

it’s more than 10 minutes of sound and

visuals and it’s 10 minutes out of your

day that you’re devoting your attention

even once the video is over you might

find yourself grumpier than before

less happy with yourself not in the mood

to do your usual activities that you

enjoy so on and so forth

this is exactly why we need to evaluate

the effect of the content

and what is really feeding our minds

with all of that said and done

what can we do in order to have

healthier more mentally nutritious

content much like we’ve done with food

we can demand

improvement even just a few years ago we

didn’t have much access to actually good

food in many places

vegetarians vegans gluten-free

weren’t even an option and those people

were in a harder position in many

restaurants because they kind of rely on

us to choose the fast food option

similarly online we have junk food as

well

but it’s junk food for our brains it may

feel good in the moment but

in the long term it doesn’t serve you in

the long term we’re negatively impacted

and on top of that our bodies and brains

do not receive the nutrition that they

require

with a combined effort from all of us we

can demand

a change online in order to render the

internet a more positive place

we can afford to be optimistic the

internet can be a place filled with

learning

support amongst other beneficial

qualities

however without nutrition we can’t grow

and this is why it’s such an important

topic for us to discuss and invest our

time in so that we can move

forward and think about what we want to

see online

think about what results you want from

the content you watch then demand it

from creators maybe some need to make

changes

maybe some need to be lifted up and told

they’re doing well we can turn the

negative connotations of social media

around

but we need to start by demanding it

from those we watch

new media is changing the way in which

we consume entertainment and information

as well as how we interact with others

as an influencer

with a significant following and a broad

reach

contrary to old media i can interact

with my viewers

i can ask for feedback and actually see

each individual comment

this is an opportunity that old media

didn’t have and is one of the best

aspects of being an influencer

i get to listen to what my viewers ask

for i get to give them

not only the content they want but one

that’s mentally nutritious for them

the one that is positive and encourages

people to be in a beneficial headspace

so

let’s all start making better more

informed choices

as consumers we need to start demanding

healthier content

and as creators i promise we’re ready to

listen

my name is natalia taylor and thanks for

coming to my ted talk

you