In recent years, light has been shed on the actual effects of social media. In its earlier generations, social media–including Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Musical.ly, and Vine–were friendly platforms where one could view funny videos, meet new people, and spread positivity. Partaking in these apps was encouraged because they strictly benefited users. Inversely, social media today has quite a detrimental effect on many of its users.

While the positive effects are still present, they are far less prominent in comparison to the new side of social media. This new side largely includes hate speech, slander, cancellations, arguments, highly inappropriate and graphic content, and more.

Additionally, social media transformed into a necessity in the typical modern lifestyle.

Besides these apps being used for communication, ordinary people spend countless hours scrolling through different social media platforms each and every day. The average American spends 2.5 hours per day on social media. That translates to 36 days, or over a month’s time. This average applies to the average person, not the average child. With free-range access to the internet with no restrictions, kids run wild with social media usage. These kids are being raised on addictive technology and media.

“A majority of educators said students’ learning challenges rose along with their increased screen time and that student behavior worsened with more screen time,” according to an EdWeek Research Center survey.

So, in response, many people looked to delete social media from their devices. These people notice the plentiful negative effects of social media and wish to free themselves from it. Poland Seminary Junior Richard Madeline spoke on the issue.

After deleting TikTok, Madeline said he “took a new stance on social media, realizing that it negatively affects me more than anything. I spent way too long staring and scrolling. It brainwashes you to worry about things that don’t actually matter, and you lose your grasp of reality and position in your own life.” 

Overall, people should consider reducing, if not eliminating, social media consumption.