Since returning to campus, my daily time on Instagram has dramatically decreased to less than 20 minutes. I didn’t closely monitor my social media activity this summer, but I guarantee it was pushing 90 minutes a day. Granted, I have a much busier schedule in September compared to June, and definitely more face-to-face social interaction now. But I’m no longer turning to Instagram for stress relief or boredom. And I’m much happier for it.
This summer, after sacrificing significant chunks of time to Instagram, I never felt good about myself. In fact, I typically felt the opposite. Nevertheless, my thumb habitually returned to the pink, shining box on my screen.
Social media is not a pure evil, and it can be enjoyed in moderation. But its current status is dangerous. It’s like asking a 10-year-old to walk over a crumbling bridge across a valley — just plain foolish. Social media needs significant remodeling: an appropriate age requirement of 16 and a change in presentation.
Social media is programmed to be addictive. Receiving likes, follows, and comments causes the brain to release the neurotransmitter dopamine, which chemically rewards the brain for the use of social media, creating a wired addiction.
Psychiatrist Anna Lembke, author of “Dopamine Nation,” draws parallels between the use of social media and addiction to drugs, alcohol, and sex.
“The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation,” she writes.
In Netflix’s documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” computer scientist Edward Tufte went further, comparing social media to illegal drugs.
“There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software,” Tufte said.
There are age requirements for drugs and alcohol and there should be for social media use as well. If you’re old enough to make decisions about driving, you are old enough to make decisions about screen time, but this addictive dilemma should not be introduced before then.
These addictive habits are driving America’s spiraling mental health.
“Social media starts to dig deeper and deeper down into the brain stem and take over the kids’ sense of self-worth and identity,” Tristan Harris, head of the Center for Humane Technology, said in “The Social Dilemma.”
The “for you” page in the search bar of Instagram displays reels and ads portraying ideal couples, outfits, and date ideas. Social media has become a feast of comparison, obsession, and discontent. And this is where most of the time suck occurs.
“They always are pictures of tall, slender girls — people I want to look like, but don’t,” one source said. “I don’t know if that’s a me problem, but it’s frustrating and hurtful.”
While reels promote mental health care messages of self-love and beauty, advertisements of the hottest good-for-nothing swimsuits—swimsuits that most women could never wear—fill the screen. Advice on the best ways to stand for a flatter-looking stomach drive girls to look in the mirror with dissatisfaction. This message is an insecurity trap for girls and a porn trap for boys. It is drowning our daughters and suffocating our sons.
Social media creates a false sense of reality, causing young boys and girls to be disappointed with the real world.
Our standards must protect adolescents by establishing an age requirement of 16 and removing the lies on the screen. Instagram should delete the “for you” page because it does nothing but taunt kids with images of “perfection” they don’t have. A certain level of modesty must be maintained as well. No nudity should be permitted under any circumstances.
This type of censorship is not oppressive. It is protective. And it may even grant back those lost hours from my summer.
