The Black Silk That Won't Fit: 17-year-olds with Internet Anxiety, Who's Forcing Them to Grow Ripe in a Hurry?
When they change into the thin layer of black silk in the corner of the bedroom and awkwardly hold the cell phone at a 45-degree angle, what is going through their minds? Is it the anticipation of the "likes" or the fear of the "no-shows"? Or maybe it's just to announce to the world: "Hey, look, I'm popular too!"Behind every hashtag, there is a silent cry that they want to be seen, recognized and loved. What do we see when the age of school uniforms and white shoes is crowded with the words "black silk", "pure desire" and "rubbing edges"?
"Seventeen" and "black silk"-- These two words are constantly colliding on the platform. When you click on the label, the screen is instantly flooded with teenage figures: long hair deliberately curled into waves, faces blurred in ambiguous tones, and striking black silk silhouettes under short college skirts. With well-designed innocent style copy or pretense of mature selfie expression. Some people in the dormitory to imitate the action of net red, some people at home to imitate the net red makeup ...... they in the screen this end of the clumsy reproduction, eager to screen that end can echo from the point of praise of the "drop" sound.
"Obviously I just wore a pair of pants for the photo, what makes you say I'm immodest?" Lin Ran, a sophomore, once rebutted the taunts of netizens in the comments section. Her "daily sharing" was inexplicably selected by the platform's recommendation mechanism, and overnight the comments were flooded with countless unpleasant insults. Her teacher called her into the office the next day, and her reproachful eyes were sharper than any accusations. "They think I deliberately seduced them, but I just... Thought it looked good." Lin Ran's classmate, Xiao Fei, imitated the blogger's "refusal to meet" pose and made a rubbing video that has soared in popularity. Looking at the screen full of provocative "private messages" and live reward, Xiao Fei tasted the sweetness. Three months later, but broke down to find Lin Ran cried: "a man to my photo P to adult picture threatened me to send private photos ...... I do not know what to do."
Who's forcing them to grow up faster?
Algorithms only love "hot spots". Hot words like "lust" and "girlfriend" grab attention. 17 year old hashtags + black silk content get far more traffic than studies or life, telling them in no uncertain terms: want to be seen? Just learn this.
The aesthetic is being brutally tightened. "White, young and skinny", "A4 waist", "cartoon legs" ...... These narrow standards imprison them like shackles The most important thing is that they have to be able to get the most out of their lives. When the social circle is filled with mean comments such as "stockings are not enough for long legs" and "don't wear tights if you have a thick waist", low self-esteem takes root like a seed. Backstage research shows that among female users aged 18-20, the number of women with low self-esteem has increased by more than 20%.41% have made non-essential purchases due to appearance anxiety, and more than half of them admit to being directly affected by the image of Netflix.
Real growth has been replaced by traffic. At an age when they should be sweating in sports, exploring the ocean of knowledge, and forming values in bonding with friends, they are trapped by the invisible prison of algorithms, devoting their minds that should be focused on academics to content data every day. "I can't help but update my work after 10 minutes of video swiping, and I'm happier to see the number of views go up than progress in exams," confessed an interviewed girl, making us heartbroken. When the virtual heat becomes a life value scale, the reality scale is destined to be out of balance.
Parents are often the last to notice.
Wang Wei found her daughter's lock screen password into "black silk" initials when still confused. Unintentionally clicked on the daughter's account, she stopped breathing - the screen with heavy makeup and black silk wrapped in the girl as if she were a stranger. After communicating with the daughter cried: "You think I'm strange? But classmates are so photographed in order to red!" Mom's heart instantly crushed: "We desperately want to make money to give her the best future, but she spoils herself for the vain praise on the Internet?"
Parents often try to solve everything by disconnecting from the Internet, roughly close the daughter's account but can not shut down the root cause of anxiety - when the surrounding students are still in the platform to show off the virtual glory, disconnected from the Internet, but the teenage girl deep into the panic of "being abandoned by the times".
How to catch their falling egos?
- Please don't dismiss her just yet, "What do you look like in this?" More effective than that is understanding, "How does this outfit make you feel? Is it more confident or are you catering to someone?"
- Don't let the algorithm be the only mentor: take her on weekends to see real landscapes, art exhibits, and volunteer activities, and see the rich colors of the world outside of online walls.
- Create a safe environment to talk: Let her know that mom and dad are always ready to hug her, even if she's wearing "weird" clothes and taking "out of character" photos. Only when you've established a sense of trust and safety will your voice have a chance to penetrate the walls of her heart beyond the inflammatory Netflix content.
Youth doesn't need to be wrapped in thin stockings, and confidence and radiance never come from cheap heat and short-lived vision.
They will eventually find out when they take off that age-inappropriate black silk and stand barefoot in the sun:Every moment of real growth is a million times more valuable than traffic numbers. A genuine smile without a filter is the light that really lights up a life.
