my wife and I are raising my 15 year old niece and her sister, who is 7.
I drive the 15 year old to HS everyday. Yesterday, she was bemoaning the Instagram update that doesn't put photos in order of when they were posted but in order of some ranking of popularity/relevancy.
I was telling her it won't matter to me because I ONLY go on there when I'm bored and have nothing else to do so I just wanna see pics it doesn't matter if they are in order or if I miss something cuz I just scroll pics and go "that's interesting" or "that's boring" basically.
she said it messes her up because she might miss something her friends post or they might miss something she posts because it's their OBLIGATION (her exact words) as friends to like and comment on each other's posts.
i straight up told her (in so many words as nicely as possible): wow, social media has made you kids different then when I grew up. i grew up having confidence in my own identity and self-worth so when i post something on social media i don't care if no one likes it or 1000 people do, because i know i like it and it's the shit.
long story short, these kids seem to ONLY get their confidence and worth from the attention they receive from each other. i know there are exceptions, but these kids on the WHOLE are much more different than the kids we grew up as.