Without enough knowledge and courage, young people will be 'drowned' by social networks

Young people are having many positive activities to express their love for their homeland.

Multiplying positive trends

In the digital age, social networks have become an indispensable part of young people's lives. Not only a place to share information and connect with friends, social networks have also become a powerful tool for young people to express their patriotism through images, videos and symbolic trends.

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But the overreaction and extreme reactions of the online community reflect another aspect of social networks. The crowd effect is pushing many things too far. This is also a valuable lesson for young people who are immature in their thinking and rash actions on social networks, which seem to be virtual but are actually very "fierce".

Platforms like Facebook and TikTok have become places where many young Vietnamese people choose to express their love for the country. During the recent National Day celebration on September 2, through trends such as "Taking photos with the national flag" or "The national flag is in the eyes - The country is in the heart", young people not only expressed their national pride but also aroused patriotism in the online community, creating a strong influence and receiving enthusiastic support from viewers.

In addition to these trends, transforming roofs into the image of the national flag has also attracted the participation of many young people. On TikTok, they also express their patriotism through transformation videos based on the song “Aspirations of Youth,” recreating the images of national heroes who sacrificed for the independence and peace of the country. These videos not only demonstrate creativity but are also a way for young people to pay tribute to the contributions of previous generations.

On the social networking platform Facebook, many young people responded to the trend of changing their profile pictures to include the red flag with a yellow star and hashtags related to National Day such as #ngayQuocKhanh, #QuocKhanh2Thang9, #ToiyeuToquoctoi, #TuHaoVietNam, creating a patriotic atmosphere that permeates online platforms.

Many young people realize that patriotism is not the privilege of any generation, but each generation has a different way of expressing it. Dang Ngoc Linh, a student majoring in Journalism (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi ) shared: "Today's young generation has the ability to be flexible and creative thanks to the support of the media. This helps them express their love for the country in a stronger and more creative way than previous generations."

Another perspective from Nguyen Manh Hieu, a student at the University of Culture, believes that social media is an effective tool to help young people spread national pride. "Just seeing the image of the Vietnamese national flag on any platform is enough to make us feel moved and proud," Hieu shared, adding that social media is not only a place to express patriotism, but also a tool to preserve the thousand-year-old cultural values of the Vietnamese people.

The above trends and opinions are just a small part of many trends created by young people to express their patriotism as well as share the good values of the Vietnamese people. Not only stopping there, young people also have actions to express their patriotism through historical events, admiration for the leaders of the nation... creating a series of very special trends, spreading the good values of the nation such as covering (re-performing) the melodies of many heroic songs about the country, about traditional cultural values... or joining hands to share historical lessons, important information of the country when necessary in new ways, easily accessible to many people.

There are still countless positive activities of young people on the Internet that need to be expanded. However, we cannot ignore a few cases where young people are behaving in an inappropriate manner, following trends or making inappropriate statements on social networks, creating unnecessary waves of "boycotts".

Young people actively participate in volunteer activities.

Creative freedom but need standards

One example that can be clearly seen in the trends of the 79th anniversary of the National Day is the negative side of the story of painting the national flag on the roof. There is nothing wrong when the trend of turning the roof into the national flag of a TikToker in Vinh Phuc spread nationwide, then had many variations. Initially, people used the available red corrugated iron roof on the roof, measured and drew a star shape, then painted yellow to complete the star on the red corrugated iron background, creating the image of the national flag. For roofs without red corrugated iron, people painted the entire red background and the five-pointed yellow star on the roof. Many people even painted the flag on tiled roofs and rolling doors. Hundreds of videos and images of the national flag were continuously posted on social networks, some videos received millions of views and hundreds of thousands of interactions. However, this trend quickly received criticism for painting the flag at the wrong size and in inappropriate locations. Therefore, many social media accounts, mostly young people, had to apologize and take timely corrective action.

Looking at the story of the above trend, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam - Vice Principal of the University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that expressing patriotism on social networks, in addition to having to come from genuine pride, also needs to be guided so as not to unintentionally lead to misunderstandings, improper use or disrespect for national figures and symbols.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint and analyzing more specifically, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Manh Ha - Director of the Center for Training and Development Cooperation - University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi said that with the current trends of young people, it is necessary to strengthen education about history, culture and the meaning of national symbols, in order to provide specific instructions on how to express patriotism appropriately; organize competitions and events for young people to express patriotism in a creative but still appropriate way; always create conditions for volunteer activities, so that young people have the opportunity to express patriotism through specific actions; promote communication about typical patriotic examples. Along with that, the authorities need to play a guiding role, create forums and spaces for young people to discuss and share about patriotism, thereby forming correct awareness. Appropriate and timely rewards are needed to recognize and honor individuals or groups who demonstrate creative and meaningful patriotism.

Raising awareness from each individual

Issues related to the nation and people are the most sacred things when mentioned anywhere, in real life or on social networks. Therefore, when young people create trends, take actions or say anything related to the history of the country and people of Vietnam, they need to be self-aware and responsible for their words and actions.

Sadly, while many young people are actively involved in building a rich and civilized Vietnam, there are still some individuals who make shocking statements. For example, a contestant who participated in the show Road to Olympia, after posting on social media on September 1, received a lot of criticism from the online community.

After the above statement that caused outrage, this student admitted that his thoughts were shallow, stemming from limited observation and experience. Through the incident, this student also understood more about the feelings and gratitude of Vietnamese people towards history and towards those who have fallen for the ideals of the nation. The male student took full responsibility for his incorrect statements and hoped to receive everyone's forgiveness.

But despite the apology, the incident still could not calm down the strong reaction from social media, the content and images were continuously spread on forums. It can be seen that the reaction of the online community for the contestant of Road to Olympia is also understandable. But the excessive and extreme reaction of the online community reflects another aspect of social networks. The crowd effect is pushing many things too far. This is also an expensive lesson for young people who are immature in thinking and acting rashly on the social network environment, which seems virtual but is actually very "fierce". If there is no proper direction when saying anything on social networks, the consequences are unpredictable. Anyone needs to have self-awareness of the consequences as well as the effects of the words that have been spoken. Especially for young people, social networks are like a double-edged sword. If you are not careful when using them, they will "cut your hand" without you knowing.

Education for orientation

Just a quick look at the events that have happened on social networks in recent times is enough to see how much influence social networks can have on the lives of young people. It can guide, control thoughts, and even lead to wrong perceptions for young people. Therefore, to ensure safety in cyberspace, the young generation needs to be educated to acquire correct knowledge and have clear behavioral orientations so as not to be swept away by wrong views.

According to psychologist Nguyen Dinh Son, Hanoi Psychology and Education Association, inappropriate behavior of young people on social networks can stem from causes such as personal psychology, educational environment and the influence of spam and toxic information on social networks.

“Therefore, it is necessary to educate students about core moral values so that they understand the most basic etiquette and manners, thereby respecting and being grateful to those around them, from their parents who raised them to their teachers. Family and school teach them honesty because only when they know how to be honest will they dare to admit their mistakes and take responsibility,” said Mr. Son.

Participating in the endless vortex of social networks, more than anyone else, each young person needs to build their own “resistance” when using social networks, where a slip of the tongue or a misstep can lead to extremely unfortunate consequences. The excitement and excess of social networks can easily “drown” a life, a fate if they have “slipped up their tongue” and do not have enough courage to overcome it.

Therefore, the response of the community, family and school to cases of people making mistakes in speaking out on social networks requires sympathy and sharing, not generalization, speculation, and generalization, and pushing the story too far. That could very well push young people, a future generation of the country, to be "drowned" in the online storm. Therefore, the responsibility of families, schools and society is to equip children with skills to limit the negative impact of social networking sites on the education, nurturing and development of perfect personality and good lifestyle of today's young generation.

According to MSc. Nguyen Thi Thuy (School of Transport Management), each family, school, unit, and locality needs to do a good job of educating and training young people to raise their awareness of the role, effects, and shortcomings of participating in and using social networking sites. In addition to educating young people to improve their understanding of social networking sites, it is necessary to guide and advise them on knowledge and skills in using social networking sites.

“It is extremely important to show them the two-sided nature of social networks, especially the consequences and implications of using social networks indiscriminately and excessively. Instruct them on how to behave and how to be immune when exposed to bad, toxic, provocative, enticing information that is widely posted on social networking sites. At the same time, educate young people to raise their awareness and social responsibility, making them know how to master and control their own behavior. Information posted online must comply with the provisions of the law, of the unit, locality, in accordance with good customs and social ethical standards; must be extremely careful when posting information, images of individuals and activities of the unit, especially state agencies, authorities performing public duties on social networking sites”, Ms. Thuy stated her opinion.

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Participating in the endless vortex of social networks, more than anyone else, each young person needs to build their own “resistance” when using social networks, where a slip of the tongue or a misstep can lead to extremely unfortunate consequences. The excitement and excess of social networks can easily “drown” a life, a fate if they have “slipped up their tongue” and do not have enough courage to overcome it.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/khong-du-kien-thuc-va-ban-linh-nguoi-tre-se-bi-mang-xa-hoi-nhan-chim-10290807.html