Traditional ways of communication have changed radically. Teenagers, for example, now communicate, mainly through online platforms, such as Instagram and Tiktok. Social media is a mirror of modern teenage life, with positive and negative aspects. On the one hand they give them the opportunity to connect with friends, cultivate skills and on the other, the constant attempt at online confirmation, beauty standards, bullying, and sexual exploitation exert tremendous psychological pressure, which concerns parents and specialists.

The protagonists of today’s Prime Time episode with Maria Vousoula are students who guide us to their own digital world.

“Get ready with me”

The 16 -year -old Katia has just woken up … Lights Light – a special light for photos and videos – a necessary tool for all influencers, one of the most influential to the ambitious beginners. She puts her mobile in the mirror, smiles at 136,000 followers She shares with them the first moments of her day. At this time – as he explains – the most popular way of interacting, which has fascinated young people, is GRWM (Get Ready with Me). In essence, users invite their online friends to prepare together to go to school or walk. They create a video in which they record step by step how they choose clothes, what makeup to apply, but at the same time they share their personal moments …

For most students of this kind of videos, they are a creative way of expressing them to come closer to their audiences … Experts, however, argue that these trends do not let them enjoy the spontaneity and care of their age.

Since the early 2000s

The history of social media in Greece begins in the early 2000s, when the internet and digital technology begin to become accessible to the general public. Hi5 and MySpace are the first platforms to get hundreds of users. But they leave them very quickly for Facebook, which is introduced to us in 2007. They have Twitter and YouTube. 2010 is the year of Instagram debut with high aesthetic photos. In 2020, at the time of the quarantine, Tiktok blooms with fun mainly videos. Over these years there have been several more social media, but not so popular.

“Sephora Kids” phenomenon

These are children under 12 years of age. They love to buy face creams, mainly anti -wrinkle. They mimic adults and show us with excess comfort how they dye their face. Next to them are their parents, who boast about the euphoria and familiarity of their children with the camera. This shocking phenomenon causes frenzy in little girls and is called “Sephora Kids”. Influenced by what they see on social media, they love to be crowded in cosmetics stores to prevent expensive toiletries before they are exhausted. Aesthetics professionals explain that most of the time the beauty patterns that these platforms project are, unrealistic and mainly processed, while warning of the consequences they may have on the health of the underage users.

According to Eleni Pateti, owner of beauty institutes, she is visited by children from age 12 to 16 who go with parents. And as he says they are not limited to nails. They are demanding eyelashes, laser, various treatments on the face, injectables that have escaped at an early age. And he adds: suddenly all children are almost as if they have made the same person. The same lips, the same cheekbones, the same eyebrows, all the same lashes. Not everyone suddenly has the same standard.

Influencers

Content creators who are still high school students. And yet, they say they already know what they want to do in their lives. Their popularity on Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube is launched day by day, for many are sources of inspiration, greatly affecting their generation.

But what does a video have to have to go well? “Must have a hook”says Philip of the Third High School. “That is, it must pull you in the first three seconds max” He explains himself.

According to George Nikolaidis, Psychiatrist and Director of Mental Health and Social Welfare at the Child Health Institute, “A key change in the new world that emerges is that this property of ‘influenced’, influencing, is restored by other attributes with which he was hanging out with the previous social organizations we knew. That is, for example, there were always people who particularly influenced the youth, them
Teenagers, young adults, but this was associated with another property. These people were actors, writers, painters, poets, political and social and religious leaders. Now all these qualities are leaving and one is ‘influenced’ without being anything else, nothing parallel that gives him the opportunity to influence. ”

As Mr. Nikolaidis points out “Most will be forced to face the difficulties of real life rather than the digital world of representation. Why Greece went bankrupt in 2010? Why was everything a bubble. I think it’s bubble all that …”

In a recent article, the New York Times reports that one in three teenagers in the United States wants to become an influencer. Many of them do not even wait for their adulthood to start their careers on social media. Critical role – as they all show – is played by companies, who approach young people to promote products, knowing that teenagers are a strong advertising power, with the potential to penetrate an equally dynamic purchasing audience. That is, in their teenage faces they see the ideal partners who will promote various brands aimed at younger ages. The market scope in these cases – according to experts – is very difficult to define, a situation that poses serious risks.

Like, dopamine and dependency

Alerts from messages, likes, updates, and group talks may seem innocent, but in many teenagers it causes increased stress, as young people often expect answers or reactions to their publications. The result is the constant need to control social media, even when not necessary, thereby interrupting daily activities, such as study and sleep. These notifications, according to mental health experts, are linked to dopamine produced when receiving likes or comments. However, this situation – as they say – can lead to dependency. That is why in recent years organizations, such as KETHEA, have created special units to address this new form of addiction that touches almost exclusively under 18 years of age.

“Children have lost real and meaningful communication”

“Children deal with social media, even in their spare time, exclusively with them. That is, when they take a stroll, you will see them squeezing, posting. Even on excursions we have taken abroad and in Greece, In walks we are out, they are again with mobile and social media. says George Latsis, a philologist.

Dependence

A few years ago Constantine felt he was losing himself. The reason for this discomfort he felt was his long and non -constructive occupation with social media. He recognized the first signs of misuse of the internet in time and asked for help from KETHEA. From this adventure he managed to get a winner. He is currently studying cyber psychology and remains in KETHEA not as a healer, but as a mentor for other children who have a similar problem.

Currently, 15 teenagers and 50 parents of students are trying to improve their daily lives. They follow the same route as Constantine. When they found that the use of social media media turned into abuse, they addressed the KETHEA early intervention unit for the problematic use of the Internet.

According to Paris Calfa, KETHEA COMMUNITY Officer for the problematic use of the Internet, “The most mature families come when they have seen the first signs. Most come, however Faces, to parents.

He remembers an incident that as he said “We could not help it, because a child who is dependent, -depending on loss of control. He had 20 hours a day on the internet. How long. He was 20 years old. He was malnourished, he didn’t get up at all from the screen, he was sleeping on the chair. There are such cases very serious. There you need hospitalization and psychiatric support. “

Cyberbullying

One of the biggest problems that have arisen with the spread of social media is Cyberbullying or otherwise online bullying, the perpetrators in this case use digital media to intimidate, harass, and even humiliate children and adolescents. . A serious threat that can have a catastrophic impact on the lives of victims.