Im a YouTuber. Im the Problem.
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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