We Want Social Media to Die. Why Hasn’t it?
Like many, I have felt this intense need to delete apps off of my phone; Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. I have gone through periods of ignoring them by turning off notifications or removing them from my home screen. But deleting my accounts? That just hasn’t happened quite yet.
Numerous Gen Zers have expressed their frustrations with the extremity of social media in our society. I have been in various conversations where people in their early 20s, me included, seem to have already decided that their future children will not be allowed to have social media accounts until specific ages out of fear that it will do to them what it did to us. There is a rush of anxiety and insecurity that seems to run through many of us just by scrolling through these platforms. Yet, we continue to do it, daily.
We watch videos of people telling us how to look, how to think, how to be. We scroll mindlessly. It is agreed upon by many that attention spans have gone down drastically over the years with the introduction of apps like Vine and then to Tiktok. People barely sit down for a full Youtube video anymore.
Gen Z is the first generation to grow up being surrounded by social media at such a young age. Older generations have not felt the effects of it in the same ways. A recent study done by The Harris Poll found that “about half of adult Gen Z social media users (47%) report that they use social media for 2-4 hours per day. Sixty percent of the sample spend at least 4 hours a day, with 22% saying they spend seven or more hours each day.” However they also found that nearly half of adult Gen Zers wish that many of these apps were never invented.
There is clearly something happening here.
Social media is so prevalent, to the point where it feels that we are missing out on major events if we were to get rid of it. There aren’t many modern day physical media options anymore. Young generations are not getting the New York Times delivered to their doorsteps. A lot of news coverage is spread through platforms, like Instagram, for example. So, by removing these apps off of our phones, we also lose our connection to the rest of the world. We create a strict line between our lives and the globe. Which, in some cases, is good, but also puts us in a difficult position.
Can there be some sort of new platform created? Of course, there are online newspapers and magazines. They make apps for those. But can we create a news platform that is sharable and interactive in the way that TikTok and Instagram are without the need to post our own lives on there?
There is no doubt that social media will be around for years to come, whether we like it or not. These companies are huge. It would take more than just a few Gen Z future parents to get rid of them completely. And online addiction is real. Like stated earlier, there is a lot more being said than done when it comes to us getting rid of accounts and platforms. Real change needs to start being made.
According to Meta, there will be new rules implemented to Instagram to help protect children from the dangers of social media. Some of this includes privating accounts for all who are under the age of 16, content and messaging restrictions, limited interactions and times limits on the app.
It is nice to hear that some changes will be made, but only time will tell if any of this will actually work. Kids are smart. They can find their way around rules like this. It is hard to know if we will ever truly be able to save future generations from the dangers of social media.
As time moves forward, more and more cautions must be taken. It is a matter of figuring out, as a collective society, what those measures are. Will everyone be happy? No. But if a majority of Generation Z agrees that social media is the true enemy here, changes can and should be made. It is our job now to protect the future of those who matter to us.
