Are you in control of your social media? Or is your social media in control of you? Many teens of this generation are falling down the black hole of social media. Social media is becoming more of a problem everyday.
In 2014 and 2015, about 94% of teens who have some type of mobile device go online daily, according to the website HHS.gov.
Many teens now-a-days worry about how many likes they’re getting on their photo on Instagram, rather than what’s going on outside the world. Since social media has grown over the years, it’s hard not to fall into the cycle of checking your phone every five minutes. Teens want to see what their classmates are doing.
Although it’s understandable to want to keep up with what your friends are doing, there become many negative outcomes to this.
Teens in this technology generation are comparing themselves to super models through social media. Teens’ self esteems are decreasing from them comparing themselves to people that they think are beautiful, this making them want to look this way as well. There was a survey conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health and they asked teens ages 14-24 in the UK about how social media influences there mental and physical health. The survey resulted that social media such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all led to “increased feelings feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness,” according to Child Mind Institute.
What many teenagers will argue is that social media is actually better for them. They will relieve their boredom by “snapchatting” all of their friends. The average person is on social media for 135 minutes a day; and 70% of teens use social media at least once a day, according to the Washington Post. Teens will argue that it’s how they communicate to their friends they don’t see everyday.
This creates a toxic rotation of wanting to check for notification after notification. With having the urge to checking our phones, and waiting for that one person to reply to our message or like your picture on Instagram we are breaking our concentration. We are getting distracted from things that matter like what we’re learning in school or going outside and enjoying the fresh air. We’d rather stay inside glued to our phones.
According to Trevor Haynes, a Harvard graduate, our dopamine rises when we check our phones for a notification. He says, “Every notification, whether it’s a text message, a ‘like’ on Instagram, or a Facebook notification, has the potential to be a positive social stimulus and dopamine influx.”
Personally, I have time limits on my phone so I know when it’s time to unplug. This could be a good thing for everyone to do. There’s so much beauty in this world and we’re missing it if we’re glued to our phones.
