Negative effects of social media

Generation Z (people born in 1997-2012) is the first generation to grow up with social media playing an essential role in daily life. Gen Z has never lived in a world without mobile technologies and therefore never experienced life without social media. In fact, most of us probably created our first social media accounts back in middle school- if not earlier. Though most of our lives have been spent on screens using various forms of social media, we are oblivious to most of social media’s consequences.

Social media’s constant presence in everyday life has caused extreme issues for individuals’ mental health and safety. To combat the increasing risks associated with social media, many schools have added online awareness and safety classes to their curriculums. Unfortunately, many of these classes focus primarily on issues like cyberbullying and fail to include other, arguably more serious, issues that come with social media. Therefore, many users are unaware of the deeper consequences of social media, and just how prevalent they are.

An extremely prevalent negative impact of social media is its toll on mental health. According to the CHC Resource Library, 91% of Gen Z have reported mental health issues, making Gen Z the generation with the largest amount of mental health problems in history. Of course, not all Gen Z mental health issues are caused by social media alone. However, statistics show that in many cases, as social media became more prevalent, mental health issues increased. For example, social media has led to an increase in self-harm and suicide rates. From 2009-2015, self-harm among girls ages 15-19 rose 62% and ages 10-14 rose 189%. Tragically, during the same period, suicides also increased 70% for girls aged 15-19 and 151% for girls aged 10-14.

Social media is detrimental to mental health because of the unprecedented issues that occur on the platforms. For example, users experience cyberbullying and blackmail frequently thanks to the globalization social media provides. In fact, more than fifty percent of adolescents have experienced cyberbullying. In my experience, many people wrongly think rude and mean comments made online are not as hurtful as those made in person.

Beyond cyberbullying, sexual harassment and blackmail are also more prevalent because of social media. According to NSPCC, in 2021 the number of recorded online grooming crimes increased by seventy percent compared to prior years. Additionally, most incidents of online fraud and blackmail occur on social media platforms. For example, a story about a seventeen-year-old Michigan teen committing suicide recently made national news when he was blackmailed on Twitter after sharing explicit photos of himself.

Misinformation spread via social media has also led to extreme political volatility. A very prevalent example from the past few years was the spread of misinformation about COVID vaccine efficacy. Some associated with the far right made wild claims online saying the vaccine carried a chip, it caused rare medical diseases or that COVID 19 did not exist and was a government “scam.” These absurd claims started on social media and gained popularity due to social media algorithms adding these posts to users’ feeds. Another example that also occurred during the pandemic was the storming of Capitol Hill. The riots were initially planned online after Trump ended a speech to his supporters encouraging them to march on Congress to stop the certification on the Presidential election. Supporters were convinced through misinformation online that the election was stolen from Trump. The rioters used far right social media sites like Parler and Gab to communicate their plans to attack the Capitol. According to the New York Times, rioters discussed what roads to take to avoid police, what weapons to bring to the riot and how to pry open locked Capitol Hill doors in the comment sections of posts.

Social media is designed to keep users engaged and on their platform for as long as possible. The more time someone is on TikTok, the more money TikTok makes from showing ads. Social media companies have different algorithms for all their users, so they can maximize content engagement and the time users spend on the app to increase the company’s profits. Each algorithm is specifically tailored to show each user “relevant” content based off what they favored in the past. The algorithms use your psychology against you, so that self-discipline is often not enough to stop scrolling.

Social media is a powerful communication tool that Gen Z will use for their entire lives. However, social media is still evolving, and the risks are not yet fully understood. Therefore, my tip to Gen Z: scroll, like and follow at your own risk.