Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest; these social media networks are some of the most used apps today. They attract millions of users a year, with users spanning a large range of ages. I myself have accounts on all of the platforms, checking each one constantly and always wondering what is happening. Last month, my friend told me she was getting rid of her Instagram account. I was shocked! Why would you ever want to leave the world of Instagram, with its food, travel and celebrity pictures?! She told me that she felt she was too absorbed in it and needed a break. That got me thinking about how unhealthy our obsession with social media really is.
Swansea University did a study where they found that social media use is like an addiction. It’s participants underwent the same criteria that any addiction possess, including neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, and concealing the addictive behavior. They also found that when participants were cut off from social media, they underwent a sort of withdrawal, some even reporting feelings of anxiety and depression. Studies have also found that we seem to be less happy the more we use social media. Facebook use has been linked to a lack of life satisfaction and often creates feelings of social isolation. Feelings such as these weigh on our mental health and our perception of ourselves.
I thought about this and realized that everything they say is true. Every morning, the first thing I do after getting ready for my day is sit down and check my social media. I scroll and scroll for anywhere from 20-40 minutes, reading news, looking at pictures and responding to tags. While I love Instagram, it puts a lot of pressure to put your best self forward. You can’t just post a picture; you have to have the right lighting, the right caption, the right tags. There is so much pressure to make yourself seem flawless that it can be degrading to your mental health. On Snapchat, I get jealous or feel left out if I see my friends with other people or FOMO on events happening far, far away. Some days, it’s just plain exhausting. I know I’m not alone; so many students undergo the same pressures, especially high school and college age students trying to find out who we are.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot that is great about social media. Facebook lets us keep up with family and friends. Twitter gives us the latest news. Snapchat broadcasts events and our lives like never before. Instagram provides gorgeous pictures of anything you can imagine. Pinterest inspires us with food, fashion and DIY projects. They give us a more interconnected world than ever before. However, we need to be careful about its use and remember our lives outside of social media. We’re happy, healthy and loved, with so much more to explore. Our mental health, our self-esteem and our relationships are so much more important than how we look on social media.