Social Media Impact

I agree with my answer. I can spend time without my phone, but not for over an hour. I find that my issue isn't scrolling, but wanting to respond to people quickly. I have a lot of things I'm interested in that don't include social media; such as meditating, journaling, reading, cleaning, stretching, working out, researching, listening to music, and watching movies. Yet, I notice that periodically I will check my phone, because I feel like it's my duty to not keep people waiting. I also understand the sentiment about feeling unattractive after looking at social media. There are times where social media highlights my insecurities and it can take a toll on me. I have to remind myself that social media can be a controlled environment, people only show what they want other people to see, and I happen to do the same as well.

I chose this statistic because I found it interesting how certain races can use a social media platform more often than other races. I think the reason for this is because different platforms contain different content that could be catered toward a specific group of people. For example, you can assume that white people use WhatsApp the least because they have more access to iMessage, which is only for iPhones. Your socioeconomic status can dictate things like social media usage more than you would think.

In my opinion, I believe that social media is negatively impacting society. Technology addiction is more rampant than ever and it's affecting everyone. With this addiction, there's an almost certain timeline of events. First, a kid gets gifted a phone by their parent, their parent tells them it's only a safety precaution and the phone is not to be used for anything else. Undoubtedly, the child will use that phone for something else. They'll get TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and any other app they see on the app store. Their parents will tell them to not use their phone in class, so it's agreed upon that they will. The child plays games on their phone and follows their friends from school. This is only the start. A few years later and they're a teenager now. They use social media everyday, and can't go long without a hit of digital dopamine. Their grades drop and so does their mental health. They look at Instagram pictures of girls in bikinis with tiny waists and curves in the right places. Depending on their gender, there's two different roads they go down. If they're a girl, the phone will die and they'll get a peek at their reflection staring back at them. They'll eat less and look at themselves more, wanting to become just like the girls with the tiny bikinis. If it's a boy, they'll get off one page and go to the next, and the next, and the next. They'll wonder why girls their age don't look like the girls on Instagram, and a subconscious resentment starts to build. Years later, the boy or the girl will become a parent, and that addiction never leaves. They can't keep their toddler busy for long, so they'll hand them their phone, and that phone turns into a tablet, and that tablet turns into a laptop, and that laptop turns into their own phone. The unfortunate fact is that the kid will be even younger than the parent was when they got their first phone, and the cycle continues. Social media's negative impact affects everyone and in many different ways; addictions become easier to create, insecurities are highlighted and frowned upon, and the false idea of something being perfect starts to seem tangible. In conclusion, this is why I believe social media has a negative impact on society.