A teacher of mine once told me that the gleaming blue light block of circuits and boards I often was caught up in was in fact the “devil.” The distraction, the problem, and for many, the root of it all. The “devil” is like traveling with a hypnotist, constantly tuning in with your subconscious to change your behavioral patterns or ways of thinking. Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, the unlimited abilities of Photoshop and the addiction with responding at the speed of light. These platforms all take the form of a hypnotist with no regard to the users and the permanent damage they are causing. 

Social media is leading to increased feelings of depression and loneliness among users of all ages. I fall victim to this hypnosis that comes with growing up in my generation. I have developed behavior patterns involving the belief that my worth is based on the messages delivered by the devil, my body image measuring up to Instagram models, or not being included, resulting in the never ending FOMO. 

 Technology is a normalized addiction, an addiction with no rehab continuing to kill people both mentally and physically. Like a drug, it is hard to withdraw from something that has been part of your everyday life no matter how toxic it becomes and how low it can bring you. Societal awareness for technology overuse is lacking recognition and consideration for people's mental and physical health. It is an addiction that for some ruins families, relationships, careers, and education. While this may sound dramatic, it is the naked truth and a sad one because of how we've grown so accustomed to it. 

A study done at University of Pennsylvania experimented with 2 groups, one continuing to use social media as they normally would and the other group limiting their social media use. Co-Author Jordyn Young, from the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, explains, “What we found overall is that if you use less social media, you are actually less depressed and less lonely, meaning that the decreased social media use is what causes that qualitative shift in your well-being.” You find teenagers failing classes but acing the art of texting, focusing on the people they interact with through their phones more than focusing on interacting with their homework. From one addicted person to another, I can say it's hard to withdraw from the feeling you receive when someone constantly is texting you, how you feel your worth growing with every unspoken word. This can turn dark for many people when the attention stops, putting people into depressed states because they suddenly feel unloved, worthless, or not worth someone's undivided attention all because someone is not showing them technological affection. 

Constantly being on your phone causes many people to constantly give in to this “upward social comparison,” stated in a Healthline article written by Gigen Mammoser. This is the growing comparison of your life to another person. Maybe it is your success compared to a social media influencer or your body to an Instagram model, but whatever it may be, users are both aware yet they are so unaware that the content they are receiving is all a part of this screwed up social media algorithm. It is meant to rope you in. It is like tying an arbor knot around your emotions so the more you “pull” at the social media, the tighter hold it has on you. 

Equally important to the link of social media to depression and social comparison follows the popular response of FOMO, the fear of missing out. If there's something happening the chances you hear of it or even see it is very likely in today's world. Scrolling through these platforms and seeing friends, smiling faces, faces that show a good time can cause oneself to feel a sense of missing out on relating to their happiness or lead to a state of overthinking. It is never a positive feeling to be left out or excluded from chances of being brought joy or happiness. Not everyone will be invited to everything, a sentence which your parents may have told you one too many times growing up. Social media makes it hard to understand that life lesson and even harder to escape the feelings that follow exclusion whatever the reason may be. 

One could say, “I spy a glowing blue light” it's the devil in every child, adult, even grandparents hand. Walk into a classroom, you'll never fail to find a phone limiting students to their full potential and becoming a growing distraction. Walk into a group of kids hanging out, sometimes in complete silence, individually nose deep in their phones. Phones are a blessing and a curse to the world, they bring about opportunity but they also crush it, they create happiness just as easily as they cause sadness. Technology has the ability to do good and continue to develop but it is our responsibility to contain it. Practice removing yourself from social media every once in a while, delete that app, mute the notifications or even turn your phone off completely. While you're setting boundaries, you're setting your mind free. Society needs to bring awareness to the good, the bad, and the evil so we stay in touch with our subconscious and don't lose ourselves from the outside in. 

Work Cited

Campbell, Leah. “The FOMO Is Real: How Social Media Increases Depression and Loneliness.” Healthline, 9 December 2018, healthline.com/health-news/social-media-use-increases-depression-and-loneliness#Our-curated-lives. Accessed 27 April 2022.