For a long time, long before I joined this magazine, I’ve desired to write a meticulously-constructed and perhaps strongly-worded article explaining my disdain for social media; I figure now, with Tiktok being a central point in American-Chinese tariff discussions, I have almost constantly been “outside-the-loop,” so to speak, in terms of social media— I have never installed apps such as Instagram or Tiktok onto my phone, and I don’t use media slang in my speech. This does not mean I am unfamiliar with the culture of these platforms, however. I am still kept fairly up to date regarding current trends, whether it be through short clips shared to me by peers, or my youngest brother screaming “Six-Seven” god-knows how many times per day. To use a metaphor: I am not a Victorian-era child being shown a television and not knowing what it is— Instead, I am an onlooker standing in front of a television store, not interested in purchasing one, and curious as to why everyone’s so obsessed with it.
Social media is not a beneficial thing. It perpetuates a spread of lies and misinformation, while encouraging low-quality or occasionally even dangerous trends. It skews the worldviews of young, impressionable children and leads to incredibly self-destructive, addictive cycles. CdMHS Junior and avid Instagram user Cassidy Zubia commented, “[social media] always seems to affect how people handle anything. Anything, as in relationships, school work, hard situations, their own mental and even physical health.”
Now, this is not the people’s fault (Unless they’re an influencer actively spreading misinformation and promoting illegal activities— Then it’s absolutely their fault.) Media is actively designed by corporations to be as addictive as possible; big companies seek to destroy the integrity of their users for maximum profit. Who can blame people for engaging in something that is A. Widely accepted by society, B. Intentionally designed to be as addicting as possible, and C. Actively utilized by everyone they know?
It is absurd, especially at this point, to simply encourage people to “quit” social media.
What I do ask, however, is this: Do not let social media be how you view the world, and do not let social media impact your character. And this is exactly what is wrong with American culture— People are willingly listening to and fully trusting people they’ve never spoken to, and likely will never meet, on online platforms where a false sense of importance and popularity is gained via the spread of, as said by CdMHS Junior Chloe Freehan, “negativity and insecurities.”
This is far too large a problem to expect to solve with a school magazine article, that much I know. But it is important for people to recognize that the problems with social media stretch far deeper than just an inability to stop doomscrolling—these apps are attacking and destroying our identity.
