When waking up in the morning, the very first thing that I do naturally is reach for my phone. I have become obsessed with social media by checking all of the different social media platforms that I have.
Constantly comparing my life and physical appearance to others really lowered my self-esteem, and it honestly made me feel as if I needed to seek approval about my life from the public. It has become extremely hard to not fantasize or compare myself to people who have more followers or more likes on the things that they choose to post.
Where I went wrong was that I ignored the negative feelings that I was having. These feelings led to stress, which started to affect my mental health.
Today’s generation can use social media for so many things such as connecting and creating memories with other people. However, it can have harmful consequences. In recent years, mental illness among teens and young adults have become more frequent.
According to the Pew Research Center, by 2015, 73% of teens had smartphones. One psychology professor at San Diego State University discovered that teens who spend five or more hours a day online were 71% more likely to have at least one risk factor for suicide compared to teens who spent only one hour a day online. This risk increases with only two or more hours spent online.
A recent study found that the more social media platforms an adolescent uses, the more likely they are to have symptoms of depression and anxiety, regardless of overall time spent on social media.
Young adults tend to put their positive and most perfect attributes, broadcasting only their best attributes and qualities online. They choose what to reveal about themselves and filter negative characteristics. They are able to promote a somewhat positive sense of self. In response, their friends’ feedback, comments, and posts tend to be overwhelmingly positive, creating a positive feedback loop.
”I think that social media causes us to constantly be concerned about what others think of us and making it seem like our lives are perfect and always comparing ourselves to everyone that we see on social media,” Jacqueline Stephenson, a senior from St. Louis, Missouri, said.
Katie Hurley, LCSW, has written books on the topic.
According to Hurley, social media can cause a number of things such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems, eating issues, and increased suicide risk.
It can become destructive by focusing on likes. The constant need to capture the most likes on social media can cause teens to make decisions, including changing their appearance, and accepting challenges on social media that are not safe.
Other negative consequences include: cyberbullying, making comparisons, and less face-to-face conversations.
Alexis Chandler, a senior, said social media is only okay when used properly.
“…we fail to recognize that social media, for some, is used only as a mask to conceal reality,” Chandler said.