when you hear the words social media
identity and youth together in a
sentence what are your first thoughts we
usually connect them in negative ways
right saying things like social media is
ruining the youth by lowering their
self-worth
or it’s a distraction from what really
matters and so on well what if we were
to look beyond this negative side of
social media and take into consideration
the more positive implications of this
global phenomenon that are not as direct
about fur see as much as social media
has the power to entrap us in popularity
contests and double standards it also
has the power to help us find our niche
and guide us to change the world
okay provided we know how to use it
effectively in my experience I realize
that there are some simple yet good or
grown steps that one can study if you
look ensure that we are changing into
who we aspire to be and not spiraling
into someone we never expected to be so
for the past four years I’ve seen my
father help build and shape an
organization that fights corrosion in a
country halfway around the world in
India five years ago my father never
would have expected to be a part of such
a campaign but now it’s like a side job
over the years his passion stayed the
same but his commitment grew day by day
he was now connecting with more people
building new skills and growing his
experience but the most important thing
to him was knowing that he found his
niche he’s not a place that connected
him with his passions and values and so
his experience really inspired me to
figure out who I am and how I want my
identity to reflect my aspirations and
vision now and into the future so
currently I’m learning to blog with the
objective that changing the fate of the
world requires acknowledgement and
understanding of the issue to take
action and my grade 8 teacher Miss Donna
Jeff from my elementary school when that
village is helping me with that another
example was a couple of months
my father showed me this audio of a
retired university professor who was
sharing his advice about how we as
people need to look beyond our religious
barriers and come together if we want to
accomplish change and so his speech
inspired me so much that I decided more
people deserve to hear him so I took
that audio cut it a picture of him made
a video and uploaded that to Facebook
you would not believe the response we
received we got over 60,000 views and
over a thousand shares in less than 48
hours he called us the next day
pleasantly overwhelmed with the amount
of people who contacted him to inform
him that they were on his side now this
retired professor he already knew his
identity which was to inspire others but
the only obstacle for him was reaching
that platform to reach out to those
like-minded people and we helped him to
find that so what I want you to take
away from this is that there are people
out there who value your ideas your
vision and most importantly your true
identity so generally the first thing
you want to do is find your place in
social media you can join a club a
council a team or even subscribe to role
models online for example I took part in
the Skype conference with Greenpeace and
connected with people from places like
England and Australia we can have a much
greater global impact when the people we
connect with why not even be in the same
country as us another inspiring example
was of Shannon now Shannon was a girl
who wanted to better the education in
Aboriginal communities across Canada and
the global action Council here at
baroque secondary bruited the event
through social media and helped raise
$1,000 – were Shannon’s dream so join a
movement and settle in find out if
that’s where you want to be and what you
want to do the second thing is if you
can’t seem to find your place make it
the greatest people emerge from crisis
from a need to tweak change or transform
what’s happening start a blog then you
can test the waters and find your
audience
now the third step is the most important
step and that is one word commitment you
have to stay committed to what you’ve
started or what you’ve joined and here’s
a tip that will help you to commit think
of the end goal so think of what you’re
doing right now and how that will help
you in the end so when my father is
volunteering with the organization that
I talked about earlier and I asked him
why do you spend so much time in this
organization you don’t even get paid he
would answer by saying if there is a
chance for you to fix an issue that is
significant to you seize it
whenever I’m volunteering I think of the
end the result of my devotion I imagine
a better place with clean politics and
cleaner ideals and that’s what pushes me
forward I feel like I’m being part of
the solution not part of the problem
which is too many people staying idle
and so that can be one of the most
difficult parts for our youth to find a
place where they can stay true to their
identities but also stay committed
however it’s also the most fulfilling
part because of the end result so what
now find your place or make it and then
commit to it that will not only help you
to figure out your true identity but
also help you to find your niche and
change the world in the process when you
hear the words identity Youth and social
media together in a sentence what are
your first thoughts
hopefully they change from a negative
distraction for the youth to an
extraordinary springboard for nurturing
change how it encourage you all to
embrace this whole world by using this
incredible tool social media and be a
part of the solution thank you [Applause]
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