Twitter hashtag offering teenagers inspirational advice goes viral
‘March on. We’re with you’
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Your support makes all the difference.Filtering through the enormous amount of content on Twitter can be quite a task, with an average of 6,000 tweets posted on the site per second.
However, sometimes a trend will arise that has the potential to make a truly positive impact on avid social media users around the world.
The "#5wordadviceforteens" hashtag began making the rounds over the weekend, with adults offering a variety of inspirational, practical and sarcastic advice to those currently navigating their way through adolescence.
Some of the tweets highlighted current topics of conversation, such as the student protests against gun violence that have been taking place recently in the US.
“March on. We’re with you,” one person tweeted, attaching a photo of a group of the Parkland shooting survivors on the cover of Time magazine.
Another decided to give the hashtag a twist, writing: “Don’t take advice from strangers.”
Other entries offered teenagers struggling in math class some useful pearls of wisdom, with one individual writing: “You will never use algebra.”
Someone else decided to reference the controversial YouTube challenges that have caught on in recent times, such as the dangerous “Tide Pod” challenge that saw adolescents willingly consume laundry detergent.
“Just ignore all YouTube challenges,” they wrote.
The advice that adult Twitter users gave as part of the "#5wordadviceforteens" hashtag included a mix of guidance for teens today and tips that they would have given to themselves back in the day.
We asked the Lifestyle desk at The Independent what five-word advice they think would prove essential for teenagers today or their past teenage selves.
“Don’t be afraid of hairbrushes”, said Lifestyle Writer Olivia Petter, who believes that she should have given her hair more attention during her formative years.
Assistant Lifestyle Editor Rachel Hosie stressed the importance of being a genuine human being, saying: “Work hard and be kind.”
Lifestyle Writer Sarah Young recalled the horrors of the beauty trends of old, advising: “Do not over-pluck your eyebrows.”
As a teenager (and often as an adult) I couldn’t help but compare myself to others, which is why my five-word advice would be: “You are more than enough.”
The number of young people regularly using social media platforms has skyrocketed in recent years, with many young girls doing so for more than three hours a day.
That’s why it’s more important than ever that the content we collectively put out on the internet is as aspirational as possible.
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