Did you know that of the 8 billion people in the world, 3.8 billion engage in social media platforms? That statistic probably doesn’t pose much of a surprise to most people worldwide considering how commonplace phones are, but there truly has been nothing that has bridged the gap between people all over the world as fast as social media has.
We’re the first generation who has fully been exposed to something that allows communication at this scale, and as such, we’re at risk of experiencing a lot of the growing pains that come with rapidly changing technology. As more time passes, some of the side effects start to become apparent.
By design, social media is built to keep the viewer’ retention. By showing users content they like, they will continuously scroll for hours, completely losing track of time. Something that most people would argue is used to simply pass the time, instead drains hours of someone’s day. The problem also comes with content that may be viewed online, especially for young children and teens who are susceptible to unrealistic beauty standards or content that forces themselves to fit into what’s considered as “normal.” It’s common for social media to provoke a sense of dissatisfaction toward oneself, often making us loathe something we can’t control. This sense of shame may even be prolonged when someone projects his or her own shames and insecurities onto someone else. Most people want to fit in and conform with that status quo, and social media is patient zero for this pandemic of shame and low self-confidence.
I’m not opposed to social media in its entirety. In fact, I find it to be way more nuanced than most people let on. I find that it’s capable of doing good, as it allows for people to find communities that they would otherwise not be able to find in person. I feel that the internet as a whole gives a sense of belonging to those who struggle with issues relating to anxiety, depression, toxic environments either in school or at home, poor social skills or low confidence. It gives people going through hardships an outlet to voice their concerns, seek advice or distract themselves from a stressful outside world. When it comes to people who don’t have adequate access to mental health services, the ability to find any amount of help is monumental, and to take that away would be cruel to people whose only lifeline is the internet.
It’s possible that issues relating to mental disorders or self-image problems are perpetuated when someone is exposed to social media, but that does not directly imply causation. There are many factors that go into such issues, and to blame it solely on social media would be ignorant. There are various underlying problems in the way that some people socialize with certain behaviors starting at home with parents, at school with other students or sometimes even from the way that people’s brains are wired. Of course, social media isn’t entirely blameless, but issues relating to socializing can stem from other places.
As social media gives people the ability to congregate and gather regardless of distance, it brings into question the dangers it may pose. Finding community where there may be none in real life has its upsides, but what if these groups of people aim to harm others? Social media is grounds for harassment campaigns, allowing large numbers of people to gather online and share their harmful ideologies. Whether they base their claims off of misogyny, racism, homophobia or targeted harassment of marginalized groups, it’s easier than ever for like-minded individuals who share harmful ideas to gather together. There’s hardly anyone to call into question their beliefs, resulting in a constant echo chamber of the same thoughts that seek to harm and belittle others. These groups tend to defend themselves under the pretense of free speech, but freedom of speech does not imply freedom of hate speech.
With how widespread social media is, it’s not very hard to find posts that advocate for hate speech. When these ideals reach impressionable teens, it shapes the way that their brains view the world. Behavior seen online can reflect behavior in person, leading to people casually saying and thinking ideas that demean others in their day-to-day lives. Often, I overhear things that are racist or target vulnerable groups of people, be it joking or not. Beliefs that were once shunned for being intolerant are now normalized by content viewed online, which is then further normalized in casual conversation. Social media has an influence not just in making people feel ashamed of who they are, but also in spreading harmful ideas to impressionable people who have not yet gotten a full understanding of the world around them.
Between the smear campaigns championed by users online and the apparent effects of prolonged exposure to social media, the question remains: what can we do about it? On an individual level, I think it’s best for people to try and think of what good being infatuated with social media does for them. Whether it is the gratifying feeling of attention, or the adrenaline rush of seeing numbers on a screen go up, how much does it affect you? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to build up a version of yourself online or simply just scrolling to pass the time, but the issues start to appear when all of your free time revolves around constantly scrolling and seeking attention from people behind screens. The issues start when the line between online and real life begins to blur.
As someone who grew up with this technology, I completely understand why it’s so hard to use social media less. For most, it’s become a part of our daily routines, due in part to its convenience, making it harder for us to turn our phones off and do something else. To reiterate, I think that this technology is great, and I find it fascinating how we’ve created what is essentially a bridge between all of our lives no matter the distance. I don’t want to sound like a cranky old person caught up in a world of rapidly changing technology, yelling at young people because”‘all they know are their phones”. I understand what it’s like, but a growing sense of discontent over needlessly scrolling and consuming negativity has made me realize just how much happier I could be if I stopped. Personally, I’ve found that limiting my time on social media of my own accord and involving myself in other hobbies has made my free time feel much more fulfilling.
Solutions to these problems via legislation have floated around the United States and European Union, often under the guise of child safety. Here in the states, a bill known as the Kids Online Safety Act or KOSA, has been introduced. This bill aims to protect minors from harmful content online. On the surface, it seems great that there’s legislation that wants to fix much of the problems brought about by social media, but it raises concerns over possible censorship. With the bill’s vague wording of what’s considered as harmful content, it’s drawn criticism for its ability to restrict discussion and distribution of information relating to marginalized groups, racism, abortion or LGBTQ issues, just to name a few. It’s because of this that I believe that controlling content seen on social media through federally enforced legislation is very dangerous. It should not be up to the government to decide what does and doesn’t get to be online.
Social media as a whole is placed in a grey area that lingers between beneficial and harmful. It’s hard to conclusively say which one of the two outweighs the other, but is there really a need to? Like most things, the effects of social media aren’t entirely black and white. It’s important to outline the clear benefits of social media without cherry picking the obvious cons that come with it. Above all else, I believe it to be indisputable that taking away social media would take away the voices of millions around the world. The people have never had a stronger platform to voice their opinions and concerns, and as previously stated, bills that seek to control what content is and isn’t seen online is a dangerous tool for censorship. Social media use is something that more people need to be educated on, as there’s a distinct difference between healthily interacting with it and allowing it to take over so much of your life.
