Young and Socially Employed - The Next Wave of Recruits
The Dubai School of Government and SAP have released a report on Social Media and Arab Youth which asks the question “Can this huge usage of social media play a powerful role in the economic empowerment of the most active group in society, the Arab youth” finding that in the wake of the Arab Spring, in fact the answer is yes. Youth are using social media increasingly to look for jobs, upskilling and to create SME’s.
On the other hand, an infographic about how Facebook Addiction is affecting our minds makes the striking observation that internet addicts experience a 10 - 20% decrease in speech, memory, motor control, sensory and other information, however people with significantly more Facebook friends tend to have larger orbital prefrontal cortexes, the area responsible for social behaviour and emotion. More Facebook friends means more time spent online, which has potent effects on the secretion of hormones, which accounts for its addictive nature.
It’s no secret Facebook and other social networks, even overall internet addictions are rewiring our brains. The ability of the brain to change whilst learning is called neuroplasticity. Areas which are infrequently used atrophy and new neural pathways and synapses are formed and deepened with other more frequent activity.
The question we need to ask is simply; when it comes to thinking about the next generation of the workforce: Is work exciting enough to focus the attention of employees?
Internet usage and social media result in constant mini bursts as multiple tasks are completed simultaneously as well as processing much information in multiple formats.
For example, a typical twenty year old is on facebook, youtube, gmail and news and other content sites all at the same time. Rapidly engaging in little communication volleys. If you need further convincing about this dopaminergic power simply observe the symptoms of over dependance. One social network is not enough, many have Facebook, Whats app, BB messenger, Viber, Skype and Twitter. This would seem a highly inefficient use of resources, there should be saturation at some point, but in fact every new network brings an increased chance of interaction (a message, a beep, a poke, an image) resulting in an increased hit of dopamine.
The Entrepreneurship Section is curated and edited by Seeqnce, a Beirut-based internet startup accelerator.