Final Exam / Final Blog Post
Technology surrounds us, and at times it consumes us. Specifically, the relationship that the majority of society has with their smartphone can be ambiguously two-sided. There is the good and the bad, just like with anything.
Smartphones are in the palms of 81% of Americans (Pew Research). These rectangles of technology hold great power. Great power comes with the ability to be destructive. There are many downsides to owning a smartphone with all of its abilities. Social media is the one that stands out the most to me. From Instagram to Facebook to Snapchat, social media has toxic tendencies, especially for my generation. “Living your best life” is a running theme on many social media platforms. This saying promotes putting the best parts of your life on social media and there is nothing wrong with that until it becomes grossly consuming. People are so focused on showcasing their best moments that it can become fake and unrealistic. Social media blurs the line between an online persona and reality. Many photos posted are posed and edited. This causes unrealistic standards to live up to. With most teens spending on average nine hours a day on social media, this blurred line can lead to mental health problems (Lifespan). This number is scarily high and it does not leave a positive mark. “Between 2000 and 2007, the suicide rate among youth ages 10 to 24 hovered around 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people. Then, the rate curved upward, reaching a rate of 10.6 deaths per 100,000 by 2017 — a 56-percent increase in less than two decades” (PBS). Why? A large possible culprit of these deaths is the impacts of social media on the minds of vulnerable people.
Check out this video to see an animated cartoon that depicts the sad impact smartphones leave on our society:
Smartphones and the social media they possess are not all bad. There are many positives to having social media. Social media is a great way to spread the news and gain awareness. My mother’s side of the family lives in the Philippines so posting pictures and updates through Facebook is a way my family stays connected especially because talking on the phone can be challenging to do often due to the time zones. Social media can also be inspiring. Not every post is fake or edited. There is a lot of pure content on social media, you just have to follow the right people.
My Experience: The Impact of Social Media
As a woman, there are unrealistic standards set to look and behave a certain way. Social media is a dangerous place for women due to the nearly impossible expectations we as women feel we have to meet. The photoshopping done on women’s bodies makes it impossible to reach the goal look. As I mentioned before, social media can have a very poor impact on mental health, and a big reason why is because people compare themselves to what they see on Instagram. Personally, I have felt as though I were not living up to the presumptions I should. I have been guilty of comparing myself to Instagram models and posting a picture to make myself feel as though I am “living my best life” when in reality I am only posting the picture so others think that I am. Throughout quarantine, I found myself engulfed in social media. I would spend hours upon hours scrolling through my feeds only to find myself upset and feeling like I should be doing more. It still blows my mind that people found a way to make quarantine look so amazing and fun when in reality, it probably was not all that fun in real life.
I have found ways to build a healthy relationship with social media. Here are my rules:
A screen time limit of 30 minutes maximum on social media. You can set a time limit up within the General Settings of your iPhone.
Recognize that social media is not real life. Pictures are posed and manipulated. Not everything shown on social media is truly what it is.
Fact check. Not every news report or video that goes viral on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook is true.
Be the cute old lady. Enjoy the moment. A memory is more than an Instagram post.
Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
https://www.lifespan.org/lifespan-living/social-media-good-bad-and-ugly
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/youth-suicide-rates-are-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s
Picture Source:
https://www.boredpanda.com/movie-premiere-black-mass-senior-woman-living-in-moment-no-smartphone-celebrities/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
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