Valleys of Social Media

In the past few years, social media has skyrocketed in popularity. Many people using it look at it as a great way to stay connected and up to date with family and friends. You can both express yourself and find new friends with similar interests.

While there are many positives to social media, the negatives outweigh them. These downsides, in specific, are unfortunately aimed at teens. Social media is dangerous and damaging towards the mental health of adolescents because it is linked to anxiety and depression. 

The depression aspect is derived from teens not feeling like they fit in or that they just don’t feel good enough. When someone doesn’t feel like they are up to par with their internet friends, they may begin to feel worthless. 

This feeling of constantly being inferior can really lead a teen into a dark hole. It becomes an addiction along with an obsession of constantly worrying about what other people are posting and what they think about you. This obsession is what factors into depression because it leaves a teen sitting in bed all day doing nothing except lurking on their phone. According to  Junior, Melissa Neder, “This can be very dangerous and it makes me sad that many teens deal with this feeling on a daily basis.”  

The anxiety portion can come from multiple different things. Teens can become too obsessed with what other people are doing, instead of worrying about themselves. When someone sees a post of a hangout that they were excluded from, this leaves a teen sitting alone, both nervous and upset. They are constantly refreshing their feed to see if anything else gets posted, which can become a harmful cycle.

A different type of anxiety that can come from mostly Instagram or Tiktok is when teens are constantly comparing themselves to unrealistic standards. Many influencers edit their pictures and put on pounds of makeup to erase every flaw they have. Constantly scrolling through perfect people’s photos can be very damaging to a anyone’s confidence. It can rapidly deteriorate a teenager's confidence so much more.

Here in Harborfields, I can say with full confidence that every student is unique and amazing in their own way. We should all be aware of how social media can ruin us and rise above what is behind a screen. It is so much more valuable to have solid friends in person and to worry about those relationships, rather than obsessing over what is written on  a screen.