Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
EMMA KERR
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MELISSA SCHOLKE
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
DEREK WOLFE
MANAGING EDITOR
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@umich.edu
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
4
Thursday, June 25, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION
W
ith summer well under-
way, pool parties, sandy
beaches and sunny skies
appear splashed all
over social media.
Three weeks ago,
my friend confessed
to me that after
changing her pro-
file picture, she was
constantly checking Facebook to see
how many “likes” it received.
Then last weekend, I was spending
time with two friends who had both
posted photos on Instagram. One of
my friends turned to the other, after
being disappointed by the low number
of “likes” her post acquired and said it
was probably because she had posted
it at a bad time of day.
I don’t only hear these kinds of
concerns amongst my friends, but
I hear them as I sit in lecture halls
and from strangers chatting next
to me on the train or in the airport.
Best-selling author and social media
strategist, Julie Spira, calls a recent
trend of social media induced anxi-
ety, Social Media Anxiety Disorder,
which includes worrying about the
“likes” on photos on Facebook, Insta-
gram or otherwise. Although it’s not
part of the most recent Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Dis-
orders, SMAD describes a very real
and current response to one of the
challenges we face in the digital age.
There are many things I really enjoy
about social media outlets, such as Ins-
tagram and Facebook. On Instagram,
I enjoyed the pictures of cute baby
animals, delicious food, monuments,
nature hikes and important moments
in people’s lives. On Facebook, I always
laugh when I see the silly photos friends
post of each other for their birthdays,
and there are some great articles and
videos about current events circulat-
ing on the site. I like being able to keep
up with friends that are far away — as
a student attending college out of state,
social media can be a great way to stay
connected. But what worries me about
these social media sites is that they
produce a situation in which users
are constantly checking Facebook for
“likes” on their recently updated pro-
file picture or how many followers they
have on Instagram. Should “likes” on
posts really become the focal point of
Facebook and Instagram? It seems to
me that more and more, social media is
making it harder for individuals to be
satisfied with self-validation.
I’m not criticizing social media
users who keep checking back for likes
on their photos, because that’s some-
thing many people do. That behavior
is the result of the format of the web-
site, and these designs play on our
human desire for social acceptance.
However, it is important to highlight
that using social media outlets can be
more stressful than enjoyable at times.
When usage of these sites becomes
stressful, it’s a good idea to reevaluate
the time and energy spent on captur-
ing that perfect sunset or the profile
picture without a hair out of place,
because one day you may realize you
aren’t doing it for yourself.
People always ask me why I don’t
have an Instagram. For a while, I
did. I posted, checked for “likes” and
followers and noticed when people
unfollowed me. After a while, I real-
ized I was no longer really having fun.
When I first got Instagram, I thought
it would be a cool way to share
moments in my life with friends and
family. It didn’t cross my mind at
the time that it could also leave me
feeling like “likes” were validation.
I realized after some time on Insta-
Currently,
legislation
in
Michigan
permits
employ-
ers to provide young workers
under 18 with an income that
is 85 percent of either the state
or federal minimum wage,
depending upon which wage
is the greater of the two. These
young workers can be paid an
hourly wage of roughly $7.25
instead of the statewide hour-
ly wage of $8.15. The proposed
Senate Bill 250 intends to
extend this practice to individ-
uals 20 years old or younger.
However, the intent of the bill
operates under the assump-
tion that a majority of the
workers in the targeted demo-
graphic are merely students or
kids seeking a supplementary
source of income and have
access to other forms of finan-
cial means. Additionally, while
a lower wage is logical for
inexperienced workers who
may just be entering the work-
force, those 18 or older have
reached legal adulthood and
often possess financial obliga-
tions that require them to be
paid as such. A sizable portion
of this particular age demo-
graphic — rather than attend-
ing college — may immediately
enter the workforce full-time
after high school and an initial
minimum wage job may act
as their sole source of income
to cover all of their expenses.
For students, this income may
be heavily depended upon to
pay tuition or for other related
living expenses.
This legislation would be
particularly disastrous con-
sidering recent rises in tuition
rates across the state; the
University Board of Regents
recently approved a 2.7 per-
cent tuition increase. MSU
and EMU will also raise their
tuition by 2.7 percent and
7.8 percent respectively. In
the midst of college tuition
increases, students from lower
socioeconomic
backgrounds
who must work to pay increas-
ingly high tuition rates simply
cannot afford to be paid less
than minimum wage. In fact,
the emergence of this legisla-
tion only threatens to further
increase the overwhelming
financial burdens individuals
in this age demographic face.
One beneficial aspect of the
bill is its intent to increase the
“training wage” workers can
be paid as they gain knowl-
edge of their newly obtained
position within their first 90
days of employment. The pro-
posed increases would raise
this introductory wage from
$4.25 to $6.25 an hour. This,
however, in no way excus-
es the general objective of
the legislation.
It’s likely that the legislation
was created under the miscon-
ception that all adults who are
18-20 years of age are still reli-
ant on parental support. How-
ever, this is far from the reality
for many young adults. This
legislation is not only unnec-
essary, but unjust. Why should
they not earn a living wage
simply due to their young
age? There is absolutely no
legitimate reason to deny one
group of adults in Michigan
the right to a living wage that
all other adults in Michigan
are guaranteed.
Social media validation
FROM THE DAILY
Waging a war on youth pay
Proposed legislation seeks to lower wages for young adults
P
rospective legislation under the consideration of the Michi-
gan Senate intends to decrease the minimum wage for work-
ers under the age of 20. If approved and eventually signed
into law, Senate Bill 250 would permit employers to pay any employ-
ee under the age of 20 a reduced wage that’s typically reserved only
for workers under the age of 18. While the proposed legislation may
offer some economic incentives for employers and businesses, the
bill is highly presumptuous in nature, and if enacted, it would deny
a livable wage to a population of young adults who may be relying
on a minimum wage income for more than just spending money.
ANNA
POLUMBO-
LEVY
E-mail RachEl at Rdawson@umich.Edu
RACHEL DAWSON