By Lila Gallagher
Staff Writer
Beginning in the early 2000’s, teenagers have had nearly unlimited access to social media with just the click of a button. According to Pew Research Center, in 2022 reportedly 90% of teens claimed to be a part of some social media platform. However, the super-connectivity created by these platforms is ultimately detrimental for teenagers.
Some of the most common and popular social media platforms that teens use are Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, and Tiktok, according to the University of Minnesota. After the rise of these platforms, Columbia University found that there has been a 33% increase in teens that suffer from depression. Even though the draw to social media may be highly tempting, the outcome is usually not worth the self-criticism, comparison, and negativity it causes.
Social media’s effects differ for boys and girls, though teenagers as a whole feel the common pressures placed to come off as “fun” or “cool” to their peers, according to students at Costa. Nowadays, teens across America feel obliged to download every platform possible just to feel included and in the know of seemingly crucial news, gossip, and friends’ activities. This creates unnecessary stress, making teens feel as if they are missing out or living insignificant lives–facts that are untrue yet oftentimes impossible to believe on one’s own.
Similarly, many immensely popular Instagram “Influencers” and models only post about the positive aspects of their lives. Though these Influencers may portray their lives as being perfect, these fleeting moments of romanticization are usually fabricated and highly infrequent. This ends up convincing social media users to raise their expectations of themselves to unreasonably high levels, setting everyone up for disappointment.
As editing and photoshop becomes simpler and more popular by the day, levels of insecurity and self consciousness have risen greatly. On the platform Tiktok, which currently contains roughly 800 million accounts, women and girls make up more than half of the user population, according to The Pioneer. Additionally, trending videos have promoted toxic eating habits and disorders, according to The Wrap. Teen girls are especially susceptible to this toxic influence, which can oftentimes spur the creation of deep-seated and long lasting issues with body image.
Regardless, social media does have its benefits, as it acts as an efficient medium in spreading awareness and allows creators to build names for themselves. Still, these same platforms that foster collaboration also bring cyber-bullying, disagreement, and irrelevant competition to the table. Constant tormenting comes from behind screens, and those who choose to put themselves out there are subject to unsolicited and excessive harassment.
The utility of social media, more often than not, comes at a price. The cons outweigh the pros of social media by a long-shot, pointing to the undeniable fact that popular social media sites of this day and age are ultimately doing a disservice to today’s youth and society.
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