SAVANNAH, (Oct. 22)– On average, teens are spending a maximum of nine hours on social media a day, according to a study by Common Sense Media. Whether it be Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, or virtually any other app, what seems like simple scrolling in our spare time, is evolving into something so much bigger- mental illness and isolation.
Young adults and children as young as seven are being affected by social media in ways that were never even ideas when the apps were being created. With the power to follow essentially anyone, it is an invitation for constant comparison, jealousy, and cyberbullying, which can lead to anxiety, stress, and depression.
“I can’t stop comparing myself to other people, like I’m not good enough, pretty enough, exciting enough,” Stephanie Whitman, a fashion blogger with over 14 thousand followers still finds it hard to separate reality from highlight reels of Instagram. “I find myself acting fake, it’s like I can’t show when I’m feeling down or stressed out because I have to maintain my image.”
Forbes magazine states six negative impacts social media has on youth today: It’s addictive, it triggers more sadness– less wellbeing, comparing our lives to others is mentally unhealthy, it can lead to jealousy– a vicious cycle, we get caught in the delusion that it will help, and that more friends on social media doesn’t make you social.
Even for regular users, without a large following agree to the struggle, “I deleted Instagram when I got obsessed with comparing myself to everyone else. It was exhausting mentally and was a huge waste of my time.” Kate Hasson, 20.
Users get caught up in seeing highlights of seemingly perfect influencers who use apps for whiter teeth, tanner skin, edits for perfect cohesive colors, apps for planning a feed, scheduling posts, and organizing a platform to create a brand. People look into these accounts at face value and wind up jealous that they aren’t like that. They find themselves obsessing over how to be like that, and get caught up in numbers of followers, wishing they were bigger, their bodies, wishing they were smaller, their lives, wishing they were more “insta-worthy.”
“Exposure to such highly idealized representations of peers’ lives may elicit feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier and more successful lives, which may increase perceived social isolation.” (BBC) The comparison, jealousy and isolation that comes from social media is toxic.
“It may be plausible to speak specifically of ‘Facebook Addiction Disorder’…because addiction criteria, such as neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, mood modifying experiences, tolerance and concealing the addictive behavior, appear to be present in some people who use [social networks] excessively.” (Forbes) The cause of the depressive, anxiety inducing effects of social media are making people insecure, uncomfortable, and reliant on their devices. People have become addicted, and do not know how to separate.