BY MALACHI

In today’s fast-paced, hyper-connected world, social media challenges spread faster than facts.

A 10-second video can reach millions before one sits down and even finish his lunch, and the fastest way to get there is through shock: mocking looks, risky stunts, nudity, or public shaming.

What once would have been a private embarrassment or a fleeting dare is now broadcast globally, monetized, and replayed endlessly.

The problem isn’t just “kids being kids.” That phrase lets us off the hook too easily. The entire system now rewards outrage.

Algorithms are designed to boost what triggers strong reactions, because strong reactions keep people scrolling. Peer groups reward what goes viral, because going viral means status.

And the human brain rewards what gets likes, because likes feel like approval.

So we get a loop of shock → views → money → status → more shock. It’s self-reinforcing. The more extreme the content, the more the platform pushes it, the more creators feel pressured to go further next time.

That loop has real casualties. Broken bones from dangerous stunts. Ruined reputations from videos taken out of context. Criminal charges for acts that started as “a joke.” And lives lost all for 15 seconds of clout that vanishes by next week.

The attention fades, but the consequences don’t. A video deleted from TikTok can live forever on WhatsApp groups, Telegram channels, and in Google search results. So the question isn’t “how do we tell kids to stop.”

That approach has failed for years. Bans and lectures don’t change the incentive structure.

The real question is: how do we break a system where harm is profitable?

The answer has to work for everyone youths, parents, platforms, schools because we’re all feeding the same machine. We scroll, we share, we comment, we reward.

Even outrage is engagement, and engagement is what pays.

Breaking the loop starts with one shift: youth should make dignity pay better than destruction. That means creating and rewarding content that earns respect, not just reactions. It means influencers and student creators using their reach to showcase skill, creativity, community service, and knowledge.

It means redefining “cool” so that a well-edited tutorial or a story about solving a local problem can get the same visibility as a risky prank. Platforms must adjust their algorithms to reduce the amplification of harmful content.

Rewarding watch time and shares is simple; rewarding positive impact is harder, but possible. Platforms can also make reporting and content moderation faster, and stop monetizing videos that promote self-harm, violence, or humiliation. Schools have a role in digital literacy.

Students need to understand how algorithms work, how data is used, and how their attention is being sold. Media literacy shouldn’t be an elective it should be as basic as reading and writing in 2026.

If students can spot manipulation, they’re less likely to fall for it or spread it. Parents and guardians need to move beyond surveillance. The goal isn’t to police every app. It’s to have honest conversations about why certain content feels tempting, what the long-term cost can be, and how to build an online identity that lasts beyond high school. We as an audience also have power.

Every time we choose not to share a humiliating video, we reduce its reach. Every time we comment on, like, and share constructive content, we signal to the algorithm what we want more of.

Attention is currency, and we decide who gets paid. This isn’t a call for a sanitized, boring internet. Creativity, humor, and even provocation have a place. But there’s a difference between challenging ideas and endangering people. The line is crossed when the goal shifts from expression to exploitation of others, and of oneself. If we want a digital space that prepares young people for the future, we have to make it profitable to be thoughtful.

That means celebrating creators who build rather than destroy, who inform rather than inflame, who uplift rather than humiliate. The loop won’t break on its own. But it can break if enough of us decide that 15 seconds of clout isn’t worth a lifetime of regret. Dignity should pay better than destruction. It’s time we made it do so.

(Doricah Malachi, Communication and Journalism student at Rongo University)