Social Media Impact

-Project Description-

For this project, I explored the effects and impacts of social media in both my own life and in society as a whole. I took a social media addiction quiz, discussed an interesting statistic from the new learning, and reflected on the impacts of social media as they apply to myself and society in general.

-Social Media Addiction Quiz-

I agree that I need to rethink my amount of time spent on social media and try to get off my phone more. Although it has significantly decreased down to 1-3 hours a day recently due to school work, I should will aim to spend more of my free time off electronics and doing better things with my time. Overall, it will improve my mental health and allow me to be more productive and to use my time more wisely.

After completing the "AM I ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA?” QUIZ, I noticed I was fairly reliant on social media and that I should try to shave down on my social media usage. My results stated,

You're fairly reliant on social media, but there are far worse culprits! Still, it's good to be reminded that UK adults spend an average of 8 hrs 41 mins on screens every day, and 4 hours of that on smartphone apps alone (mainly social media). That's about a third of each day checking apps. Do you need to rethink your social media habits and the amount of time you spend scrolling?

-Interesting Social Media Statistic-

The most interesting statistic from the provided articles is that TikTok is a lot more popular than I expected. In fact, it is the 5th most popularly used social media cite among U.S. adults following Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. I also wouldn't have guessed YouTube to be the most widely used, and by quite a bit! I have always used YouTube, which I didn't expect most older adults to use, and my time on TikTok has definitely increased in recent years, but I did not expect it to rank as high as it does.

-Social Media's Impact on Society-

I believe social media poses both positive and negative effects on society. Social media is a great way to connect with loved ones and can serve to be educational and especially useful in finding tutorials. It also aids in allowing people to express themselves and to discover new interests. However, negative connections made over social media can prove themselves to be dangerous, there is a lot of misinformation, and social media can negatively impact people's mental health. Too much social media is always harmful, however, when it is monitored and used wisely, the benefits of social media can outweigh the potential drawbacks.

-Lessons Learned-

In general, I realized I'm spending too much time on social media. Although many of my friends use it a lot more than I do, I should still aim for using it less because many are fully addicted. This is because in large amounts, the negative consequences outweigh the benefits, however, the less time I spend on social media and the more I use it only for things that are necessary, the more helpful it will be and it will have a positive physical and mental impact on my own well-being.

-Sources-

Gottfried, J. (2024, January 31). Americans’ Social Media Use. Pew Research Center. Retrieved April 20, 2025, from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use/

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