STARTING YOUNG: Social Media influencers & Entrepreneurs

from Salaam Bahrain January 2022 issue

STARTING YOUNG SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AND ENTREPRENEURS

Children have truly become the digital generation as they navigate the choppy social media waters with ease and take to complex entrepreneurial schemes while still in school.

BY SONORITA CHAUHAN MEHTA

Ninety-five percent of all teenagers ( 13-17) own a smartphone, says Pews Research Centre which largely surveys American teenagers but it is unlikely there is any significant difference with the numbers in Bahrain. The pandemic has forced people to adapt to technology with a rapid pace but setting the standards are the young.

While headlines like ‘80 per cent children in Bahrain spent a third of their time during the summer of 2021 on Youtube’ did send shock waves through the community, what children were engrossed in when they were fixated on their smartphones would leave many surprised. A survey by Kaspersky, the cyber security firm and it’s safe child module found that the most visited category was ‘Software, audio, video’, followed by games - a reminder that this is what we were like at their age and that they, in essence, are passionate

about the same things we were, only in a new, digital form.

YouTube is the world’s second-most visited website-the world’s second-most used social platform, right behind Facebook. People watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day.

A billion hours. Every day. That’s an incredible amount of content being consumed, all around the world.

And what is it that they are watching? Data shows that view of videos with variations of ‘beginner’ in the title increased more than 50% between March and July 2020 and globally, these videos got more than 9 billion views. A whopping 82% globally used YouTube to learn to do things themselves (that was 94% in India).

A case in point is 11-year-old St. Christopher School student in Bahrain, Aarav Sethi, who honed his paper plane making skills thanks to Youtube and now has his own Youtube channel.

“YouTube has really helped me to develop my passion for paper planes and helped me to share my origami creations with the world. I really enjoy posting new videos of new unreleased paper planes.” Aarav said.

Youngsters like Aarav are especially quick to understand the joy of using social media to connect with others who share your passion, creativity and world view with strangers.

social media channel that offers such gratification quickly is TikTok. The video platform has propelled young unknown artists, singers from the depths of obscurity to the top of the pops - think Tasher and Jason Derulo collab for ‘Jalebi Baby’ or the more recent ‘Love Nwantiti’ by Nigerian artist CKAY which racked up over 100 million weekly streams on Spotify and youtube apart from the countless Tiktok videos.

In fact TikTok (63%) overtook Instagram (57%) as the social media of choice for kids between the ages of 12-17. And what makes it so addictive?

Well, most, if not all, social media is addictive. It is designed to be that way so that you spend more time on it. Anything which gives you small slices of information or mini “stories” the way TikTok does and Insta-gram has started doing with reels, will produce dopamine in the brain.

“I learnt that sometimes you can really enjoy having a channel, watching your views and subscribers grow over time, and checking the comments. But, too much time on your channel can lead to social media addiction, and there are more important things to do, so we need to balance and plan our time well. I started my channel around six months ago. My channel (The Paper Plane Factory) is currently small, with 28 subscribers. I started off with about 6 subscribers, then as I started posting more content, my channel gradually grew. The channel has around 630 views. I feel happy when someone subscribes, and it is a little disappointing sometimes when the growth is slow but my mother often reminds me I should focus on creating the best content for my viewers rather than focusing on the number of subscribers and likes.”

Counting subscribers and views is an affirmation to these young content creators that they are being heard. One

Ten year old Indian School student, Ayra Mehta, started her TikTok account (@sasha4toi) with the help of her mother. It started off as a private account where Ayra would dance or mimic popular ‘sounds’ and trends but with no followers or feedback, the interest waned

and she was eventually able to convince her mother to make the account public with the condition that she wouldn’t reveal her face and the account could only be accessed from the parent’s password protected phone.

“I went from zero to 50 followers in two weeks, despite only posting a couple of videos a week. Today my account has 250 followers in three months. I know it can grow faster if I post more videos or show my face but I realise that it is important to balance my social media and screen time with my studies and other outdoor activities. The thing I am most proud of since I started making videos on TikTok is that my video editing and graphic design skills are getting better, as is my art. In fact one of my most popular videos which has over 300 views was me showing off my progress as an artist.”

The Middle East is home to some of the largest markets, as a percentage of population, for Instagram, including Turkey (3rd at 56%), Kuwait (6th at 54%) and Bahrain (10th at 50%). There were over 800,000 Instagram users in Bahrain with the majority of them being men (61.5%) and people aged 25 to 34 being the largest user group. What is unaccounted for is the rising number of teenagers who are using the platform ( Under 18s are not allowed to create an Instagram profile) for personal and professional exposure given the social platform’s issues with the backlash over the effects of Instagram on these young minds and bodies.

However, teenagers seem to have bypassed these rules and are using the social platform’s popularity and reach.

At 12 years of age, Iqra Khan is already a social media star, influencer, motivational speaker, model and entrepreneur. Born in London, she’s lived in several countries and attends a London-based online school.

“I use social media to create brand awareness for myself by making videos on recent trends on fashion, makeup, social issues and sharing tips on making the best use of time in the digital age. I also collaborate with local photographers, makeup artists, fashionistas and do photoshoots

showcasing foods, festivals, clothes. Apart from this I also have my own online show on Ten News.

She summarises confidently, “Social media has helped me a lot in making myself known and in creating my own USP among youth. I am getting more and more opportunities for photoshoots, video shoots, collabs with established brands. My fan base is increasing by the day and I am getting love and support from across the region. I am amazed that my popularity on social media platforms also translates to real life when people recognise me in malls, parties and restaurants.”

Head Prefect at British School of Bahrain, Kaviesh Kinger, believes that by consuming media as a young preteen on Youtube, through scrolling through countless Tik Toks on his phone as a teenager, his generation has truly understood and harnessed the power of social media.

“I first began using social media to build my brand in August 2020, when I would post summary posts on Instagram of articles I wrote on the intersection between politics and modern ideas perpetuated in the media on @kavieshscommentary. I instantly saw a greater interaction with my articles, since people were able to share and spread my thoughts much quicker. Consequently, my information was more understandable for the average person, who was unable to explore and unpack complex ideas. I think this allowed me to build my brand by reaching a wider audience.”

Kaviesh proceeded to put his expertise to good use when he used social media to directly communicate with students in his school as Head Prefect.

“As the elected representative of the student body, there was a direct need for engagement with our community. Through creating posts, polls and highlighting key issues on social media, we were able to accelerate the spread of information easily. But, what was even more significant than this was how students could easily engage with us. Through a quick Direct Message, they would be able to give us any concerns or feedback they needed, more efficiently. Students were excited to be featured in our stories, and continued to use our platform as a central area for the

BSB community. Thus, it was through using social media and connecting with the student community that I believe we were able to establish ourselves as student leaders.”

Educating parents

“Social media allowed me to advertise events easily- we pulled off a successful Model United Nations conference for which students from all over the world gathered over Zoom to discuss and debate, and I credit their stimulating discourse to the useful nature of social media. By starting my school’s first ever student-led magazine, The Monthly, alongside my colleagues, our social media (@themonthly_) allowed us to reach readers from the United States and Belgium as well.”

But it’s not all sunshine and success. In March 2020, an internal Instagram presentation reportedly said that when 32% of teenage girls “felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” and even led to suicidal thoughts. According to researchers, platforms like Instagram can contribute to body image issues and depression because humans have an innate desire to compare themselves to others.

Kaviesh says that the ease of arranging international channels of communication made it easy to plan and stage ambitious extra-curricular projects like the Model United Nations conference.

Last year, it came to a head as the governments of several countries took a harsh view of this ‘wilful negligence’ of such findings.

The concerns about these issues have been in the public domain for a while as 61% of the parents polled by Pew Research Centre said that they were concerned for the wellbeing of their children who use social media.

In response, Instagram has shirked responsibility by shifting blame on the wider industry. However, as the public (parental) outcry grew, Instagram, in a statement on its site, said “We’ll be taking a stricter approach to what we recommend to teens on the app, we’ll stop people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them, we’ll be nudging teens towards different topics if they’ve been dwelling on one topic for a long time and we’re launching the Take a Break feature in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which we previously announced.

“We’ll also be launching our first tools for parents and guardians early next year to help them get more involved in their teen’s experiences on Instagram,” the company promised, “Parents and guardians will be able to see how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits. And we’ll have a new educational hub for parents and guardians.”

This despite the widely held belief that Instagram’s problems may be inherent to the platform and therefore almost impossible to fix. e

Our young influencers believe that the onus also lies with them and their parents

Iqra - I am aware of these and my parents keep me updated as they are also influencers in their own field. My mom is a social activist too. She writes on a variety of social issues including bullying and body shaming. These issues are sensitive, I try to keep a tab on my followers and prefer quality over quantity. I avoid negative people, block contacts who post cheap messages. I also consult my parents and update them regularly.

Kaviesh - Just as central as football and basketball is to growing youth, so are our social media accounts. Hence, I think there should definitely be more safeguarding in relation to social media use. As children, we are exposed to dangerous material daily- from extremist ultra-right bigotry on Youtube channels, through misogynistic cultures brewing on Reddit and increased exploitation of children through social media. I do think adequate education for the youth is the precursor to ensuring any protection for our generation against the downsides to social media. By being influencers, it is our responsibility to uphold positive attitudes and values at all times- since we are direct role models of those who consume our media. Often before posting on our Head Prefect Instagram, I make sure to consider any implications this may have on the younger students looking up to us, and how to set the most positive pattern for them to internalise.

Aarav - I use YouTube, and in YouTube I find everything is safe if you don’t share too much private information. My channel doesn’t show my location and only gives the information I choose to give. If used carefully, a YouTube channel nice. You can delete comments you don’t like, and you can also completely disable the comments. There is also an option to restrict videos to under- 18-year-olds.

Nirvaan - According to me the most important thing that I should keep in mind while using social media is that I should always watch something creative. I spend most of my time watching videos on chess (from where I learn to play chess and my current FIDE rating is 1250) , coding etc which will be helpful in my future. I avoid watching violence, crime and other destructive youtube videos.

THE START-UP TOUCH

Teens take Instagram and Tiktok seriously as they take their first entrepreneurial steps. Social media platforms have millions of users under 18, particularly Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat, which had more than 16 million users aged 12 to 17 (about 20 percent of total users) according to research by eMarketer. Many of them try their hand at monetising their hobbies and with success.

Hanan Hassan Shehabi, a Bahraini student from Muharraq Secondary School, is a fine examples of this as she sells her art online. When you look at Hanan’s art there are three things that will amaze you.

• She’s only 16

• And she has built a business for herself at this young age selling her art on social media in just ONE year.

• These are pictures and not photographs

“I used Instagram as a platform to post about my art and then discovered TikTok, which turned out to be a better platform. Many people see TikTok as an app for some music and dances but for me, TikTok was the app that increased my visibility and let people know more about me and my art. I will never forget the moment when one of my videos on TikTok got a lot of views. It was a video of me preparing orders and people were interested in knowing my prices and the order details. I ended up getting more than 40 customers in four days. This would have never happened without social media. After this, I started to take my TikTok account more seriously because I realised that it was the best way for me to market my brand.”

Meanwhile, 11-year old Nirvana Modi used the accelerated digitisation to his advantage and started developing his own apps with help from teachers in India. “I heard my father talking a lot about new developments in computer programming, big data and artificial intelligence. That really excites me, and I have started coding using scratch platform. Meantime, my mom enrolled me in online coding classes from India. I am a big fan of Harry Potter and have read the entire series more than once. With the help of my teacher I developed my first application HP Harry Potter quiz and was able to launch it on Google Play. In this way I got interested in coding and developing applications. I often download and visit free coding applications like Python, JavaScript, Thunkable, and code.org . Youtube is my online entertainer as well as my anytime tutor. Whenever I have doubts related to writing code I get it resolved by watching youtube videos.”

This article is from:

Salaam Bahrain January 2022 issue