PRELIMINARY IDEAS DRAFT 1

Perhaps one could unarguably proclaim that the typical Singaporean teenager today would not be able to withstand a mere week without access to the internet. Indeed, the internet is an extremely prevalent and essential necessity to us now in this age of information. Smartphones are becoming more affordable and technologically advanced, and have proven to be the most convenient way to access the internet. As a result, since the advent of the social media (which is closely linked to the internet), online interconnections have exploded as a trend. This has inevitably influenced youths in many ways, especially so in the social aspect. Social media is defined as the use of websites and applications to communicate with other users, or to find people with similar interests to one's own. Through social media, youths can gain an increased awareness of current affairs. Facebook is a very common platform frequently used to share articles and graphics. This can be very useful in disseminating and gaining information about social issues in Singapore such as the state of affairs of the lower classes and the minority races. Likewise, other common social networking websites such as Youtube and Twitter can be used for the very same purpose. For youths to benefit from information-sharing platforms though, they have to be interested in the information they are receiving, which should be valid and valuable, like articles on how to better manage ones time. Yet, it follows that information we receive from social networking websites can be selective because of preference. This may prevent us from acquiring more perspectives of different social issues. If we choose to ignore the comments of an immigrant from China who is trying to make a point on Facebook, we will likely not fully understand him and immigrants in general. Furthermore, our journey through social media space might diverge, more often than one would expect, into pointless or even harmful content, such as pornography. Youtube may become a platform to incessantly entertain oneself with cute videos of playful kittens and Facebook may become an avenue to stalk the profiles of others. We might stumble upon articles which convey information that is in fact, morally or factually incorrect. Social networking websites may even preoccupy youths so much that they become aimless and self-absorbed and even feel unobligated to the social state of affairs in Singapore. In truth, social networking websites can be a real doubleedged sword to us youths. Since the more widely used social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are very broad and can be used to share almost anything, I propose to create a new social networking website that is centred on increasing the awareness of the social state of affairs amongst youths in Singapore. This includes topics such as race, religion, and issues such as the widening income gap, the ageing population, and the breeding of elitism amongst some students from top schools. As the aforementioned issues are rather sensitive, the platform should be regulated by moderators from the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). When youths who are meaningful and active contributors to the platform are identified, they can be appointed as student moderators. The website should adopt a user-friendly template and a clean theme to allow for a pleasant user experience. Users would be able to post their personal and insightful thoughts and musings after creating an account which contains a basic profile of them. Irrelevant and insensitive remarks would

be discouraged when users thumb down posts, leading to a loss of points, and if they become outrageous the user should be censored or banned. Conversely, they gain points when other users thumb up their posts, similar as to how many forum boards function. The points could be accounted under a ranking system, which would be reflected under the profile of the member. A higher rank would give a persons posts more credibility. There could also be a private chat function for users to engage in personal discussions with each other. This allows communication to be brought down from a public to a personal level, which at least might allow the most sensitive topics to be discussed privately. Through this platform, the advantage of social media increasing the awareness of the social state of affairs amongst youths will be expanded. Also, it will help to diminish the disadvantages of contemporary social media platforms: this platform will allow youths from all walks of life to put their opinion forth with the same leverage as everyone else which will encourage many perspectives to be considered, and also will help to prevent youths from digressing into other areas of social media irrelevant to the topic while engaged in learning about the social state of affairs in Singapore.