Social media and its impact on Tunisian teens and youth: Teachers` perspective

Abstract

This study broadly aims at probing into the impact of social media on the Tunisian society. It does so by particularly investigating how Tunisian teachers view social media and its influence on Tunisian teens and youth. A mixed questionnaire of fifteen closed-ended and two open-ended questions is used for a random sample of teachers to fill out online. The analysis of the questionnaire demonstrates that Tunisian teachers have a significantly critical outlook on social media. First, they strongly believe that not only does social media have a negative impact on teens and youth`s lives, but rather it controls their thoughts and way of life. Second, Tunisian teachers believe that, by agency of fashion and entertainment influencers, social media has become a social and moral authority that determines what is morally and socially acceptable in Tunisian society. That is the constitutive social power of social media, which is, also, considered by the participants in this study as one of the main causes of moral decadence. At last, Tunisian teachers view social media as a medium for propagating and perpetuating western cultural values within teens and youth. What is academically more significant is that the findings of this study are consistent with numerous other studies. Specifically, the idea that social media controls reality and how we perceive it, that it constitutes an ideological apparatus that molds our thoughts and practices, and that is run by western ideologies and agendas is well established across multiple studies dealing with social media and its impact on culture and youth.