Jan. 1, 2024.

The first day of the new year.

I’m not a celebratory person, but I had stayed up the previous night for the countdown. I woke up later than I usually would. When I checked my phone, I decided to click onto TikTok and was captured by the title of the first video I saw: “7.8 earthquake and tsunami hits Japan, authorities unsure how many lives lost.”

I sat and stared at my phone before opening my browser and researching the events that took place mere hours before I woke up. However, the media coverage on my For You Page was the last piece of news I heard on the incident. Little coverage, little news and little push for it by the algorithms of news outlets.

The world is a dark place, and with everything going on in it can become, at times, depressing to turn on the news. But some events are too important to not emphasize in headlines and push toward users. News of war, climate change, protests and death can often cause people to feel hopeless. Therefore, social media pushes lighter news ranging from celebrity scandals to cute pictures of animals. People have the power to curate their own algorithm, but apps themselves – Instagram, TikTok and X – have more power and ability to censor out stuff.

Just a year ago, all the coverage was over Ukraine and providing resources to their government. Yet, the situation disappeared into the background; little to no news outlets now cover the crisis in Ukraine. Social media now focuses on Palestine and Israel. Both issues are important, but as soon as an issue stops gaining attention, the media shifts it away from the public eye.

It’s important for younger generations who utilize social media to be more informed on what’s going on around the world. The future presidents, doctors and lawyers are mindlessly scrolling through social media. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to focus on happier topics. This newer generation has shown more care for issues, such as climate change and international wars. However, they are still being negatively influenced by algorithms and corporations.

In the United States, 64% of Americans expressed how social media has a mostly negative effect on the issues going on today. Social media has the ability to easily spread misinformation, and so do television news channels. It’s hard to filter out what’s fact or fiction, but ultimately, it is up to the user. The user curates their presence, and what they see. But some news is too important to not push to users.

Users need to be informed about what’s going on around them, not only in the United States, but around the world. There are still Uyghur muslims in China being forced into detention camps, forced to assimilate and do labor. News coverage over this dilemma has been scarce in the Western world, and there has been little-to-no talk over the situation in social media. People care about things such as the Willow Project until there’s something new to distract people. Whether it’s a new celebrity scandal, tour or controversy, it always takes over the internet; the stuff that matters doesn’t even hit the pitch pools for news outlets.

It’s important to know what’s happening globally simply because we are the people who have the ability to influence others and make real change. Social media has given a platform for people to influence others and speak on current issues. If used correctly, social media has the ability to cause the world to change.

Huge corporations and influencers also have the ability to cover information going on around the world. There are over one billion users at any given moment on TikTok from all around the world. It’s not the responsibility of influencers to discuss current events, but the presence and influence of their platforms that have the ability to spread important information quickly. More people can be educated on world matters. It takes one video from an influencer to make a difference — something a lot haven’t done.

Influencers such as Greta Thunburg, Hadiq Bashir, Elijah Mckenzie-Jackson, Malala Yousafzai have shown that, despite their age, they’ve been able to make real change in the world. These Gen-Z activists continue to pave the way for generations to come, because ultimately we have the power to change the world.

There’s a ton of information that’s not on social media: Iran admitting to attacking Palestine, colon cancer threatening younger generations in America, ice in Greenland rapidly melting and Trump’s defamation trial. This is the tip of the iceberg for what’s going on in the world. It can be dark to read and digest, but it’s something every person needs to be aware of.

We, the people, have the ability to heavily influence history through the newest and hottest resource on the market: social media.