Eileen Liu
“Everything on social media is fake.” I hear this claim endlessly from my parents and from my friends.
Unrealistic beauty standards, body standards, relationship goals, and materialism are being portrayed to young audiences. Is social media still a platform to enjoy yourself or is it just a place for feeding the unhealthy feeling of not measuring up and of not being good enough?
Social media used to be a tool for communication with friends and building new relationships. But nowadays everyone has social media. In fact, many conversations start with someone asking for someone’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or TikTok. Although these virtual communities do help us see what friends and acquaintances are up to, they also feed deep insecurities of not measuring up, feeling not good enough, and of FOMO (fear of missing out).
Anyone who has scrolled a social media platform has experienced one, if not all, of these feelings, yet despite their downward pull of them, the scrolling continues addictively. Even though many users are aware of their addiction to social media, they can’t pull themselves away from hours of scrolling, often referred to as “the rabbit hole.”
The most vulnerable and largest group to fall victim to the addiction to social media is our younger generation. Young students who use social media see these pictures and advertisements that often lead to false expectations and envy. Although everything on social media may seem perfect, young followers may not recognize that not everything on social media is true.
Social media has become a battleground for society and its users are quickly destroying one another. According to an article by The New York Times, from the year 2007 to 2019, the number of teenagers sleeping at least eight hours per night decreased by 30%. One of the reasons for this is the increase in young social media users. Although this massive platform gives people an opportunity to learn and share, this platform is also a place where hate exists. Social media has a harmful effect on teenagers’ mental and physical health. It is important that everyone is aware of the illusions presented through social media so they do not fall into the trap of unrealistic comparisons.
Being born in a world where followers measure your popularity and the number of likes measures your success, the younger generation can’t help but have feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, envy and comparison. It does not end there either. Consider a job title that has emerged in the 21st century: social media influencer. These internet celebrities have hundreds of thousands of followers and get paid by big companies to advertise products, locations and other goods. The sponsorships also carry big payoffs. Behind these seemingly perfect photos are countless hours of editing, Photoshopping, teams of professional workers, funding and sometimes a fake smile. Yet, there are thousands of young students who do not realize this. They finish a day of school to open their Instagram and see influencers the same age as them traveling the world and promoting a new product.
People’s lives may seem flawless on camera, but nothing is ever perfect; even those who appear to lead enviable lives have their own personal struggles. Such is the nature of life. The purpose of many influencers and accounts is to trick users into believing that life can be perfect.
Social media is a powerful tool, but one should not use numbers and likes to define their success in life. Self-awareness and consistently working to be the best version of oneself are important to all users of social media.
Eileen Liu is a sophomore at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
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(4) comments
Thanks Eileen! Great column, especially appreciated from someone who has grown up with social media compared to folks like me for whom it is still pretty new. Believe it or not, E.M. Forster wrote all about this in 1909 in a short story called "The Machine Stops." It can be read online free and I'd encourage folks to read it. Thank you also for the call to action to always strive to be your best self, not someone who just gets the most likes, but, perhaps, someone who does good in the world and feels good about, likes, themselves. Keep writing, and to share kudos that you will understand if you read The Machine Stops, there are ideas in this!
Is that the story that ends with people unable to crawl a few yards because they have been seated in front of "the machine" for so long? I think I am headed there.
Ms. Liu,
Thanks for your column on social media from someone that has grown up with it as opposed to finding it at a later date as so many of us "old folks" have. I am glad you understand the limits and pitfalls of it. I have seen friends and family members get addicted to it and are consumed by things that are hardly worth the time to read.
I personally have a cell phone, a computer and an email address but no social media accounts. I also have a copper land line telephone also. I am looking forward to your next article, keep up the good work.
Thanks for an informative column. Keep up the good work.
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