In today’s current digital age, so much media has been made easily available to us.
Although I hate to admit it, there are days I can spend hours doomscrolling on various apps. Never have I left my phone after scrolling and felt good about it; it’s always followed by a growing sense of guilt, or the feeling that I wasted the whole day.Â
The National Literacy Institute states that 54% of Americans read below a sixth-grade level and 20% read below a fifth-grade level. They also state that, on average, 79% of U.S adults are illiterate as of a 2024 study. Media has become so readily accessible that you consume so much of it in only a matter of seconds, and clearly tend to prefer it over more productive pastimes. Media consumption today has reached an all-time high, and I feel that this has significantly contributed to the literacy crisis. Â
We are what we consumeÂ
Apps with hyperspecific algorithms such as TikTok and Instagram feed you what you’re most likely to watch. Videos that keep you entertained and mindlessly scrolling are the goal to keep you engaged and coming back for more. It seems as though every other week, there’s a new trend on social media, and only days later everyone is participating.Â
Rhinestones and “whimsy” are huge right now. Suddenly, everyone is bedazzling everything when just a few months ago they were flocking to emulate the sophisticated fashion of Carolyn Basset.Â
The truth is, you start to act like what you watch, and it’s far too easy to get carried away and start losing sleep over a feed. Studies show that 64% of adults under the age of 30 say their phones hurt their sleep schedules. When this becomes an issue, our phones start affecting our lives because we are not getting the recommended hours of sleep. I’ve even noticed my phone affects my sleep schedule and sometimes my ability to learn at school. I would spend hours on my phone rather than doing assignments, then eventually lose track of time deep into the night. When I noticed this, I started implementing screen time restrictions on my apps. As of right now, my TikTok and Instagram have screen time limits of 3 hrs!Â
Who are you really?!
Seriously, who are you really when you put the phone down, have no distractions, and no algorithm to tell you how to behave? It’s exhausting seeing the same thing over and over. As 2026 comes to an end and 2027 nears closer and closer, we should all aim to live more media-free lifestyles.