Your daughter comes home from school declaring that she wants to be part of the “100 Club.” You are thrilled as you think she is talking about her academic aspirations, but after further discussion you discover that she is instead anxious about her popularity on Facebook/Instagram, and desperate to ALWAYS get at least 100 “likes” on her posts. You...
a) Admire her goal at achieving popularity on social networks.
b) Decide that you too would like to be part of the “100 club” and ask if there are adult members?
c) Sit her down and talk to her about the fleeting, meaninglessness of popularity in general, and on Facebook/Instagram in particular.
d) Get rid of her Facebook/Instagram accounts.
Another conundrum faced by our digital daughters.
As girls enter their tweens and teens, friends become the end-all, be-all of social life. And, when you put smartphones - and the social networking channels that ride on their backs – in the mix, you enable a powerful, sometimes insidious, level of social phenomena. Yes, social networks are great when they facilitate new connections, a sense of community and empowerment, but the angst that can ensue when it comes to a post with a mortifying lack of “likes” and that awful feeling of being left out, can turn a girl inside out.
