Social media platforms have a negative influence on younger generations

TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are some of today’s most popular social media platforms. Many teens now rely on apps such as TikTok for news and information on recent events. Nearly five billion people use social media worldwide. This is 59% of the world’s population, making it more than half of the world. The increase in TikTok users is exponential, as TikTok acquired over one hundred million users within a one year time frame.

Though social media has some positive impacts, the negative influence is far more egregious. Positively, people can express themselves and relate to people. Social media opens a gateway to people all around the world. Negatively, social media can harm people and their mental health. In opposition to this, the same relations that are positive, could easily invite harmful judgment.

“Social media is a really useful tool and it does have a lot of benefits, but as a whole, it has a lot more negatives, such as mental health effects in people, teenagers in particular. Like most things, it’s good in moderation, but after a certain point it becomes damaging and detrimental,” said Hannah Vinegra ‘26.

In comparison, social media can also lead to cyberbullying, the spreading of rumors, a disruption in sleep, and more. As well as this, content relating to the life of an influencer could put an unrealistic expectation on what life should look like and how it should be. Viewers may negatively view their current lives and strive for an unachievable perfect. This can deteriorate self-confidence and lead to low self-esteem.

The average teenager has an average of eight hours and forty minutes of screen time daily. The average person spends more than two and a half hours of this time scrolling through social media. Teenagers spend the majority of the time they are not sleeping on a device. This screen time does not even account for the people who use multiple devices, as this time stamp is per device, not person; so, the screen time per individual could add up to be greater than nine hours per day and is only increasing due to social media.

Grace Constantelos ‘26 said, “social media is taking up a lot of my time and I could be doing so many other things besides being on my phone all day.”

Another aspect of social media is that people can quickly access information from social media, staying informed in today’s news. Contrasting this, false information is more quickly spread. People can easily be misled by information they receive from social media platforms and that can lead to consequences. In 2022, misinformation led to the false spread of information on the discontinuation of the airhead candy. Though the production of the airhead was not being suspended until 2024 as rumors expressed, incorrect information was easily spread through social media.

Social media, for many people, has become an addiction. If viewers are not watching for entertainment, they are scouring the platforms for new trends. It has come to the point where people have such a fear of missing out, they are constantly checking their phones for new updates or posts. This can lead to a decline in mental health. Social media can cause people to have anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and other mental health problems. These issues should not be swept under the rug. The impact social media has on people, especially teens should be taken seriously.

It could be as simple as one post or comment and people can end up with incorrect news. This is the same for forming opinions on people; one wrong rumor can ruin the image of someone and social media can make that rumor spread rapidly. Social media is not 100% terrible, but should be used with more vigilance. Once something is posted on social media, it is very difficult to take it back. Billions of people have access to the information shared on social media and users must stop and think about what they want to go viral.