Human beings are innately community-based and dopamine-seeking, creating a fertile ground for social media to embed itself into our society. As technology advances quicker than we seem to be able to catch up with, it begs the question…How is our virtual quest for connection affecting our physical realities and mental health? Tiktok influencer, Ava Notkin, breaks down the fourth wall on how our media consumption impacts everyone, from social media’s most active segments, adolescents and young adults, to content creators such as herself. Her talk urges consumers and creators alike to challenge their current media practices and infuse responsibility and mindfulness into their daily consumption while highlighting the dark side of media platforms that are rarely warned about. If social media is in fact here to stay, how do we utilize it for some sort of good? How do we protect ourselves and future generations to come? Ava Notkin graduated in the Fall of 2020 with a major in Marketing Management and a minor in English Literature and Creative Writing. While at university, she founded the TAMID business club, aided many short film productions, and was a tutor at local elementary schools for the Syracuse University Literacy Corps. After graduating she continued activism on campus by writing an article about Rape Culture for the Daily Orange and giving the key speech for the Body Exhibition event hosted by SASSE. Post-Grad, Ava worked with NBC Universal for the 2020 Summer Olympics and gained a notable following on Tiktok, empowering women and teaching about spirituality, as “The Flowerpoweress”. She currently works as a freelance Content Creator and Social Media Strategist for an international company while managing her own platforms. Ava’s biggest goal is to continue empowering women of all kinds through her professional and personal work. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx