Introduction: Because if there’s no yes, then there’s no consent. Those things don’t just disappear. Everything is now out there, and it’s permanent. I feel like everybody should consider themselves a feminist. You’re doing something right, then that person notices and you feel just like you’re glowing.
Adamo: Did you guys hear about social media? So often now, I’m on social media and I just feel like everybody is just so beautiful and perfect. You’re really stressed out. Is there an online life in high school and an offline life in high school?
Kyle: A lot of us portray something different online because everyone can see us online. People who don’t see us in real life see us online. You become two different people almost.
Scott: You know you were mentioning people looking perfect, I find that it’s a lot of people mixing up their self esteem with their self image. If you are really, really comfortable with who you are and you don’t realize that none of that stuff really matters in the long run, then it can get really tough to deal with and messes with your head.
Irene: It’s really easy to fall into these things. You can very easily sexualize yourself. You can project these things that are really nice, but then they also get other people attracted to something that’s really not you.
Elise: On Instagram, I get insecure, like how you are. I’ll see Kylie Jenner, and I’m like, “Oh my God. Goals.” Of course, you’re going to feel insecure so you’re going to want to make yourself look ten times cooler on social media.
Ria: No one wants to be portrayed as a fake person when they’re online, but I think just having that barrier of a phone screen, it gives you that much more confidence to be cooler or be more approachable or be more hip. I don’t necessarily believe it could be a bad thing. It’s just maybe human nature.
Kyle: At some point in our life, depending on what we are… If we’re entrepreneurs, inventors, etc, we probably will want to have open profiles. We’ll probably have LinkedIn accounts and stuff like that, where people will have access to all that because it will benefit us, but right now, I think, at our stage in our life, we don’t have a reason. It’s better for us to be private because of our self consciousness as well.
Elise: Plus, you make so many mistakes when you’re a teenager. You’re going to post a terrible photo and that will come and bite you in the butt in the future.
Adamo: I still make those mistakes now. Do you check your likes a lot and does it become a barometer of how popular you are, where you fit in the social circle?
Nicole: I think that people take it that way, but it’s not necessarily a conscious decision for someone to like a picture. It takes less than a second. You can be scrolling down a feed and just like a picture, and it’s nothing. It doesn’t mean that this person thinks you’re popular, they think you’re better than someone else. I think we take it, “Okay, someone has 67. Someone has 3. They’re more popular.”
Irene: There’s certain times of the day that we’ve already recognized as higher flow for people on their phone. 7:00 or 8:00 when everyone is trying to do their homework and they’re on their phones. Post it then.
Adamo: My question is something that I recently learned about only because I saw my friend doing it. I was like, “You look different.” Selfie Surgery apps, as they’re called I guess, these apps that can help you change your features in whatever way you want to change them: eye colors, hair color, slim down. Do you guys use these apps?
Kyle: I’ve never used any apps. I know—
Adamo: Be honest.
Kyle: I’ve filtered a photo on Snapchat, just changed the color or something, but I’ve never used these apps, but I think it’s important to note that the development of these apps… The fact that these apps are popular says something about what our society feels. That’s so sad.
Nicole: I got that app… Sorry.
Ria: It’s okay.
Nicole: Perfect 365 or something like that.
Irene: Oh my God.
Nicole: I got it originally just because I thought, “You can see what makeup looks like on you and just do some fun editings on friends and everything.” Then when you start seeing, “Wow, if you take away this blemish. If you give yourself a different eye color and stuff, how much better you look.” That was really a wake-up call that I should stay away from that. You always used to know that if you’re going to look in a magazine, you’re going to know they’re Photoshopped. Write them off. That’s unachievable. Now that you see people posting… People that you know… Posting these beautiful pictures with perfect skin and everything, you’re thinking, “Wow, why can’t I do that?” I think that really creates a negative self image.
Rain: Back in Grade 9 and 10, I used to edit my photos. I used to do the whole under the eyes, a little contour of the cheek, but as years have gone and the more I experience things and the more I grow in confidence and stuff, I find myself not doing that. I used to compare these to… Maybe my friend would post something of me and literally it looks like exactly how I am. That’s how I should be displayed because previously I was chasing an ideal image.
Ria: I definitely think that they can be used in a positive way. Say you really like a picture, but there’s that one pimple on your cheek that you just want to take away. That app can do it for you. It works both ways, but I definitely think that it ruins your confidence a lot more than boosts it.
Irene: You can go out with your friends and someone will go out into the night. They prepare themselves to know that they’re going to be put on these social media later potentially through photographs or something. Even when they’re out with their friends, they will take moments out of being in the moment with their friends to record something that’s happening, either making a Snapchat video or write a sentence about this, status like, “At the mall,” wherever they are. Then it cooks. Then they have to leave their phone for a bit. They wait and they’re checking on it again and again just to see…
Ria: So accurate.
Adamo: So accurate.
Irene: A week later, you’re still checking it again because you’re like, “I wonder if it’s grown.” It’s like you never actually get out of it.
Adamo: Then the idea is too when you’re taking a selfie, sometimes it takes forever. How long does it take to take a selfie? Be honest.
Elise: Twenty minutes.
Adamo: Twenty minutes. See. Twenty minutes of…
Kyle: Then you have to find the caption and…
Elise: It’s always the same pose, but you just do it a different way.
Adamo: Then all of a sudden, you see people bringing in FaceTune. You’re like, “Oh my God. Now they’ve got to FaceTune.” You’re going to miss your bus. Eventually you’re going to be walking out into the world and like, “This is how I look.” You have to own that. So sad that we have to wrap up, but this is such an interesting topic. We can talk for hours.
Kyle: Thank you so much.
Person 1: Thank you.
Person 2: Thank you very much.
Adamo: Thank you guys. Hey guys, join the convo by commenting below. If you have some questions or need some help and advice on the subject, hit up my pals at Kids Help Phone. Make sure to follow our social at the .tv for tools and resources on the subject. One more thing, hit subscribe on this title card.
