The FLASH

     Throughout history, people have been self-conscious and tend to care a lot about what others think of them. Even Jeremiah, a great Old Testament prophet, doubted himself, and he had God on his side. He said to the Lord in the book of Jeremiah, "I don't know how to speak for I am only a boy" (NKJV Bible, Jer. 1:7). Self-doubt usually comes from comparison. Humans rate how good they are at things by figuring out how much better they are at something or how much better they look compared to their neighbor. For example, students may compare test scores, or how many minutes they play in a Varsity game. God himself warns us how dangerous this attitude is. In Proverbs 13:40 He writes “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”(NKJV Bible) The thing with social media is that it is very easy to become envious of things one doesn't have, most of which aren’t entirely as they seem. In an article from Business Insider, Yates writes:

“One of the problems with Instagram is that everyone presents the very best versions of their lives. So you can curate Instagram, you can take 100,000 shots if you want to before you actually share anything.” (Yates) This means what you see on Instagram is most likely only the best aspects of everyone else's life. Yates goes on to say that “Seeing the best version of everyone else’s life makes you feel deprived.” (Yates) McLean Hospital adds to this by saying that “Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat increase the likelihood of seeing unrealistic, filtered photos at a time when teen bodies are changing… It’s not only celebrities who look perfect—it’s everyone.” (“Here’s How Social”) No matter where you turn on Instagram, a comparison is right around the corner waiting for you. 

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     Comparison on social media is more than comparing skills or looks. It's daily viewing things like relationships, travel, and lifestyle, all which are portrayed as perfect—things you don’t have. In reality, these are things no one has. No one has taken a perfect picture, in every country, with a different color wedding dress in every spot. When it is said like that, people aren’t jealous, because it's unreasonable. But if one scrolls long enough, they see over and over what looks like many people living this perfected lifestyle. In fact, one can find just about anything they may want or are struggling with, and on social media someone else will have gotten it right; someone else will have perfected it. Influencers tell you you’re living your life wrong if you don’t roll out of bed at 4:00 a.m. with a full face of makeup already done. From there you are unhealthy if you don’t go for a two hour run, do some yoga and drink a very distasteful looking green mix from a mason jar. Relationship goals have also become a big thing. If your boyfriend doesn’t bring you flowers every day… Queen! Get yourself a new man. If one isn’t talking 24/7 to their significant other, they obviously don’t care about one another. Although everyone would admit these things aren’t realistic or practical, social media portrays this idea that it is possible. Not even just possible, but normal, and if you don’t have it, you are behind. Behind, left out, not good enough, leaving you feeling alone, cutoff, like you are the only one who doesn’t have the perfect life. 

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     Seeing it once or twice may not affect you, but Common Sense Media reports that the average teen spends “nine hours of entertainment media per day”, meaning they see this over and over again. (Landmark Report) “Social media have become an indispensable part of peoples’ daily lives.” (EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page - Ehost2, n.d.) This does more harm than most would imagine. A few weeks after COVID hit the UK, many teens were coming to doctors with symptoms appearing to be Tourette’s syndrome. The strange thing was they had no history of Tourette’s and neither did their family. Another unusual conundrum was that it was seen mostly in girls. This is odd because Tourette’s in teens is mostly seen in boys. After proper procedures and tests were done, doctors found out these teens weren’t experiencing tics from Tourettes syndrome after all. In “Is Tik Tok Causing Tics in Teen Girls?”, Kaputk explains:

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Studies show that they’re experiencing a movement disorder brought on by stress and anxiety… made worse by the pandemic and teens’ increased social media consumption. These tics are a complex way for the brain to release overwhelming stress. Essentially, their brains express an emotional stressor as a physical disorder. (Kaputk. “Is Tik Tok Causing Tics in Teen Girls?) 

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Those who have anxiety and depression are more likely to experience these symptoms like this. This is why it was showing up in girls more, because girls are more likely to have anxiety or depression. “When it comes to social media, this should be a wake-up call for us all.” (Kaputk. “Is Tik Tok Causing”)

So, if it’s hurting people so much, why do they keep going back? Yates explains:

When someone likes an Instagram post, or any content that you share, it’s a little bit like taking a drug. As far as your brain is concerned, it’s a very similar experience. Now the reason why is because it’s not guaranteed that you’re going to get likes on your posts. And it’s the unpredictability of that process that makes it so addictive. If you knew that every time you posted something you’d get a 100 likes, it would become boring really fast.  (Yates)

     Mcclean agrees saying “To boost self-esteem and feel a sense of belonging in their social circles, people post content with the hope of receiving positive feedback. Couple that content with the structure of potential future reward, and you get a recipe for constantly checking platforms.” (“Here’s How Social Media”).

      Now I doubt many people would agree that spending eight plus hours scrolling through social media is good for you. But, I doubt many people believe I am talking about you or someone close to you. When topics like this are brought up, we are quick to think “that’s not me,” or true, but she uses social media much more than I do. 

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     Over the last couple weeks I conducted a study to show how this is affecting some of our closest friends and families in the CLC. Thanksgiving break, Thursday to Sunday, was 96 hours total. In those 96 hours, students from Immanuel traveled home to see siblings, parents, grandparents and family, some of which they haven’t seen since Labor Day or before they came for school in August. During those 96 hours they had the Thanksgiving meal along with a few other meals, had one or more church services, and whether done or not, had assigned homework to complete. Last of all, in those 96 hours students went to bed for the night at least three times. 

   But, as much time as sleeping takes up during a day, plus all the activities we don’t normally get to enjoy, students spent an average of about 31 hours on social media. That is about ⅓ of the weekend, amounting to one full 24 hour day plus seven more hours. Just to be clear, to get an average that high a lot of people had to spend well over 31 hours.

   Another study I conducted was to see how many people from the junior high school class at Immanuel were on their phones during the five minutes in between classes. Out of the 25        students in the Immanuel Junior class of 2024, 22 students pulled out their phones in between classes. The addiction is so consuming that most people can’t go five minutes without it. 

I decided to do my research paper on this topic because of a bet I made. Since I got a phone my freshman year, I have gone back and forth deleting Instagram and Snapchat and then re-adding them. I don’t need them, and my life was actually better without them. But, regardless of what I knew, I eventually would re-add the apps to my phone, only to waste hours destroying my mental and physical health.  

     The Sunday I came back from Thanksgiving break, Prof Schaller (ILC’s Choir Director) and I were discussing changes I had seen in my friends since they got a phone. He declared that he could go until Christmas without even realizing he had left his phone under his bed. (If you know him, you know this to be true.) He went on to say that no highschooler could do this. I said,“I could, and I want to.” I asked if I could leave my phone at his house for two weeks, and he could hide it. Sure I could just delete Instagram and not use it, but deep down I knew I wasn’t strong enough to do that on my own. When I looked around at my friends, their parents, and grandparents, I saw them wasting hours on their phones instead of doing homework, taking care of their kids, watching their kids' sports, and so on. I told Prof Schaller, “I need you to take it, because I’m not strong enough. This is not who I want to be and I’m going to do something about it.”

     This experience helped me in a variety of ways. It freed up time to study and hang out with friends. Simple things like folding laundry and getting out of bed in the morning became easier and faster, because I did not waste time checking my snaps or likes while completing these tasks. The most important thing I learned was how much I was on it, compared to how much I actually needed it. From my 2-4 hour phone usage a day, many would assume that I need it on a regular basis. But, going for two weeks without it showed me that I don’t necessarily need to carry it with me everywhere I go. After a day, I very rarely thought about it, and I never desperately needed it. In fact it affected my daily life rarely if at all. 

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     So what do you do about the addiction social media has created? Destroy all technology? Isolate yourself in the woods somewhere? Give up your phone like I did? Obviously, these things are mostly unreasonable. This worked for me as a highschooler, because I don’t need it for school. If I leave campus, I’m with an adult who could call someone on their phone if it was an emergency. If anyone really needs me, they can find me in the dorm, Commons, or the AC. For a lot of people this may not work because of the society we live in today. Technology is not only a useful thing, but a necessary one for most jobs. The problem is we tend to use it for things that are unnecessary. I don’t expect that everyone can just go without a phone forever, but something has to be done. Ask yourself, “Is this who I want to be? Is this the type of kid I want my son or daughter to be? Is scrolling through social media taking time away from my family and the things that are really important?” Although you may not be able to completely avoid using your phone, challenge yourself to set up rules which you or your family can try. Start off easy and make them harder later. Try going five minutes without it. Maybe commit to not taking your phone to the bathroom with you. Maybe you put a rule in place that phones aren’t allowed at family dinner. Try plugging your phone in a different room when you go to bed, so if you wake up in the middle of the night, you go back to bed instead of reaching for it. 

     There isn't a one-solution-fits-all, and I understand that. Everyone has different lives that require different things. But I do want you to question for yourself what you think is the right amount of time. Just because everyone spends hours on social media doesn’t mean it's good. You have to look at your life, and decide if you are using the time you have in a way that you decide is appropriate. You can read all the facts and have the head knowledge, but the change is up to you. I can't cut back on phone time for you, your mom can’t, and neither can your grandpa. This is your life. A smart person knows what needs to be done, but a wise man applies that knowledge.