Social Media: The Hidden Virus

By: Aasim Musani

Facebook. Instagram. Snapchat. Twitter. Billions use these platforms for entertainment purposes. Billions add friends and like photos. Billions of people post pictures of themselves to see if people will give them attention. Many of those people are harming themselves right now as you are reading this because of overexposure to social media. The worst part about it is that those very people don't know that they are addicted to this unknown drug. Social media has created a toxic environment for millions of people, causing them to lose friends, self-esteem, and sometimes even their own lives.

So how do people become addicted? Well, it starts as soon as you create an account. Most people get social media because they want to know what their friends are doing or to keep in touch with them.₁ Soon after people make their accounts, they make their first post. A study by Harvard University shows that when people get likes on their posts, the same part of their brain, that lights up when taking an addictive substance, activates and releases dopamine. That release of dopamine makes the person feel positively inclined toward the action that caused it; getting likes. Slowly but surely, the brain rewires itself to desire likes more and more often to a point where social media takes the form of a drug.₄

Even if you aren't fully addicted, there are still many effects of overexposure to social media. One such thing is FOMO; or fear of missing out. FOMO is where people feel that by not constantly checking their feed or responding to every alert they will miss something significant going on. This in turn triggers anxiety attacks and lowers self-esteem when the affected individuals see others living better lives than what they are living.₂ Another example of problems caused by overexposure to social media is depression. Depression from social media is caused, in part, by low self-esteem. When people start comparing themselves to others on the internet, they find flaws in themselves; therefore giving them a negative mindset towards themselves, which can be deadly if continued for a large amount of time.

And the worst part about social media is that it affects young people most, especially teens. As a teen’s mind grows during their teen years, they are especially vulnerable to the effects of social media addiction.₅ Teens often face a high risk of suicidal thoughts once addicted, because once they develop a negative mindset about themselves, they become depressed and might proceed by attempting to commit suicide. To add another layer to this topic, the current world situation created by COVID-19 is increasing social media use tenfold. Isolation is ruining many teen lives, as they get pressured to do the wrong things such as sexting and cyberbullying. More and more teens are in dangerous situations.

All of us have seen our peers spend entire class-blocks trying to hide their phones from the teachers in order to scroll through Instagram longer. Many of us have friends that may not know that they are addicted but show the symptoms. How can we help ourselves and them? This question has a simple answer: set boundaries. By limiting the amount of time spent on social media apps, we lower our risk of addiction.₂ Try to help friends who have this problem by spending more time with them instead of letting them use their phone because, at the end of the day, you are your friends. I am not calling for us to delete our accounts and isolate ourselves from social media completely. There are a few benefits to social media, but if abused, they too could be deadly. So next time you use social media, remember to be safe while you like photos and follow your best friends.

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