The issue that I will be addressing in my issue brief is that of social media use among Generation Z and its effect on mental health. This is an intervention because it won’t be just talking about how it has affected our generation in the past, it will be discussing ways in which the people in charge of running the social media companies and Generation Z can try to improve the ways we use social media.
To address the exigence and the rhetorical situation, I am planning on citing statistics from studies done on this issue. There are many studies from various sources regarding cyberbullying, popularity, academic development and more about this specific issue. I think that to add to the exigence, similar to the “Slums in the Sky” issue brief and how it’s hard to notice poverty sometimes, I can explain how it may be tough to notice that there are people around you who may be suffering from mental health issues. It would also be helpful to include graphs to help illustrate my argument in a visual way as well.
Out of the four possible causes, this issue is caused inadvertently. The creators of social media sites, from my knowledge, did not expect Generation Z (as well as others) to become so affected by them in a negative way. They were created to connect people to each other in creative ways, whether through pictures, videos, GIFs, memes, etc.
I do think that the creators of these cites did, however, want to make them as addictive as possible. It’s easy to understand why: the more that people use your site, the more advertisers are willing to pay for space and the more money that ends up in your bank account. Although the creators of these sites did want to intentionally make it addicting, I doubt that they also wanted people to be affected in a negative way.
One of the policy instruments that I would use to create change is inducements. For example, the government might give social media companies a tax break or an incentive in another way if they shut down for one day each month. It may be helpful for everyone to take a break. I’m not saying that doing such a thing would solve the problem once and for all, but it could help our generation realize that staying away from social media and the personas that it demands can be beneficial, even if it is just a small step in the right direction. Social media companies could even create incentives for people to not use the social media app by giving them a gift card if they take one day off for x amount of weeks in a row.
Another policy instrument that would be helpful is that of capacity builders. It would help to educate our generation on how exactly social media may be affecting them. Since capacity builders are meant to “spread awareness,” it’s important that Generation Z understands some of the ways their peers are suffering as a result of a dependence on these sites (as well as other reasons).
I could also address capacity builders to the companies themselves. While they might know that their sites have an effect on their own bank accounts, it is important that they know and begin to care about what their sites are doing to our young generation. Social media companies, as a result of learning about the negative effects of their sites, may begin to take action to remedy some of the damage that they may inadvertently be doing.
I would use both of these capacity builders and address the issue brief to the heads of social media companies as well as Generation Z.