Social Media Designers Awareness Training Program Essay

Social Media Designers Awareness Training Program Essay

In the modern world, people use social media daily, as they have ubiquitous access to

smartphones and other technical means. This communication channel provides people with

extensive opportunities and can be useful in many ways. However, companies that create and

sell social media platforms strive to attract more people and retain their attention. This

position leads to creating algorithms to create a person’s attachment to social media. This

factor can result in the emergence of issues with mental health, especially among young

people. Thus, the presented program strives to raise the awareness of designers and platform

managers about existing threats, as well as to promote the creation of algorithms that consider

media management team, and educational facilitators.

The program is divided into two parts: a lecture and a workshop in which designers and

managers will be informed about the dangers of social media for young people. The main

focus is on discussing the potential adverse effects of targeted algorithm-based social media

content production on young people’s mental health. The main goal of this program is to

change the practices of designers and managers to form a more socially responsible attitude

towards the existing problem. Ultimately, participants will be able to create applications and

platforms that consider financial and social aspects. The program’s implementation is a 2-

week intensive training program conducted within the organizational setting (refresher

courses to be conducted annually). The program is administered through 2 stages:

experiences. The subjective experience of Ruby, a 17-year-old girl, may be presented. She is

concerned about the intrusive nature that social networking sites allowed “never being safe as

bullies followed her home” (Singleton et al., 2016). Another example of Lizzie (aged 16)

describing her experience: “it was sort of like it [self-harm] was an infectious disease because

I knew they were doing it and… they felt better for it afterward… it was like ‘maybe I should

do that” (Singleton et al., 2016). These examples of subjective experience within the

framework of the program are intended to influence designers and managers to be involved in

the change process.

The second part of the program is a tutorial-based workshop that requires social media

designers to use their expertise to design their own alternate algorithms that can improve

theoretical knowledge and putting it into practice. This structure allows us to make it

Although young people between the ages of 16 and 18 are the secondary focus of the

program, it is not targeted directly at the victims of social media exposure. The choice of the

focus of the intervention is due to the fact that now the creators of social networks are

integrating algorithms that are a threat to the mental health of young people. The endless

streams of content generated by the complex algorithms of the platforms pose a particular

danger to young people. Berryman et al. (2017) note that “how individuals use social media

During the development of the program idea, a special focus was placed on identifying the

reasons for the attachment of young people to social media. In particular, the theory of uses

and gratifications (U&G) is a useful source of information on this issue. Burhan and

Moradzadeh (2020) note that getting likes on various platforms stimulates the release of

dopamine in users, which acts as a reward. Motivators for liking behavior are most often

“enjoyment, information seeking, and social interaction, together with subjective norms”

(Hossain et al., 2019, p. 10). However, this dopamine reaction is the reason for the

dependence of young people on social media, as they are forced to return for a new portion of

positive emotions. Moreover, Eginli and Tas (2018) mention that young people who

predominantly use such platforms for communication are often deprived of the ability to

information-based comparisons can be a source of useful reflection. Hanna et al. (2017)

emphasizes that social media is associated with “greater social comparison and greater self-

objectification, which, in turn, was each related to lower self-esteem, poorer mental health,

and greater body shame” (p. 1). Thus, these platforms can potentially cause distress and

deterioration in mental health, as well as hinder the development of social skills in young

people.

These aspects are especially important in the context of the social network algorithms that

their designers and managers use. Social media applications often experiment with

personalizing their platforms to attract and retain audiences (Swart, 2021). Thus, social media

is often a significant factor in shaping the worldview of young people. At the same time, the

Currently, the problem of the emergence of mental problems among young people when

hide the number of likes under posts to reduce possible anxiety due to comparison and public

opinion perception (Warren, 2021). Many platforms, including TikTok, Twitter, and Tumblr,

use content warnings to protect users from traumatic or sensitive content (Vivas, 2020).

These measures were in response to users’ reports of feelings of depression and stress due to

lack of popularity among peers due to the low number of likes. Users need a space for free

communication, where they are not limited by the social pressures expressed in the like

count.

limits to the app, allowing users to control their use of the app (NEW! Screen time

management, 2019). Facebook also recently released papers on its research on the impact of

its apps on the mental health of young people (Peters & Brandom, 2021). However, they

Thus, the presented intervention program targets social media designers to create systematic

change. The main difference between the program and existing initiatives is that they focus

and victims to target the primary drivers of this issue. Based on U&G theory, it aims at

facilitating awareness of the negative biological, habitual, and, most importantly, mental

health influences that social media platforms can induce. Moreover, the program has a long-

term perspective on solving the problem rather than focusing on working with already

affected individuals and groups. This factor potentially makes it effective not only at the

present time but also for future generations. At the same time, the process of systematic

change can be lengthy, which implies delayed and gradual results of the intervention.

At the same time, the program has a number of limitations, which constitutes an area for

future improvements. First of all, there is currently no legislation that obliges participants to

implement the strategies proposed within the program. Thus, the program is offered as an

optional organizational practice for voluntary use. This factor can limit the effectiveness of

the program, as many companies may refuse to implement it. Cost and benefit analysis

The proposed program is rather long-term, which makes it difficult to assess the results of its

managers who have completed both parts of the program. It is necessary to evaluate what

knowledge they acquired during the lecture part. It is also important to understand how this

information has changed their attitude towards the existing problem. In particular, one should

analyze how the lecture helped to increase the awareness of designers and managers about the

problem. Additionally, it is important to assess how important it is for them to address the

issue through their own activities in the organization. Therefore, it is necessary to distribute a

uniform questionnaire for collecting feedback among the participants after the end of the first

part of the program. The questionnaire may include the following questions:

2. Do application and platform algorithms have a negative impact on the mental health

of young people?

media uses?

4. Do you think that nowadays, companies need to change their attitude towards creating

social media? (end of questionnaire if the answer is negative)

5. Do you think you can personally influence the change?

6. What do big companies such as Facebook need to change to change the situation?

7. What initiatives or activities can be helpful in bringing about change?

Based on the responses received in the questionnaire, program organizers can judge what

information the participants received and how it influenced their perception of the problem.

The implementation of the first part of the program can be considered successful if 50% of

the participants acknowledge the problem, note the need for changes, and also identify the

possibility of personal contribution. In the case of a lower percentage, it is necessary to

collect individual feedback from the participants as to why they think the presentation in the

questionnaire may include the following questions:

1. Are there any potentially effective solutions among the solutions created within the

workshop?

2. If yes, which ones?

3. Why do you find the mentioned solutions effective? Or Why do all the solutions seem

ineffective to you?

4. Are you planning to apply any of the solutions developed during the workshop in

5. What difficulties in the implementation of the proposed solutions can you identify?

In this case, the key is the fourth question, which is an indicator of the effectiveness of the

program. If at least one of the participants responds positively and indicates a desire to use

the solutions in practice, then the program can be considered successful. This result is due to

the fact that the introduction of even one change already means a potential transformation,

Eginli, A. T., & Tas, N. O. (2018). Interpersonal communication in social networking sites:

An investigation in the framework of uses and gratification theory. Online Journal of

Communication and Media Technologies, 8(2), 81-104.

Hanna, E., Ward, L. M., Seabrook, R. C., Jerald, M., Reed, L., Giaccardi, S., & Lippman, J.

R. (2017). Contributions of social comparison and self-objectification in mediating

associations between Facebook use and emergent adults’ psychological well-

being.MCyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 20(3), 172-179. Web.

Hossain, A., Kim, M., & Jahan, N. (2019).MCan “liking” behavior lead to usage intention on

Facebook? Uses and gratification theory perspective.Sustainability, 11(4), 1-13. Web.

NEW! Screen time management and restricted mode features on TikTok. (2019). Tik Tok.

Web.