A person’s identity is now split into two parts. One part is the identity we present to our friends, family, colleagues, and partners in real life, and the other is the one we carefully curate for our social media followers.
Your Instagram self is likely very different from your real self. With filtering, body morphing, and recently artificial intelligence, you can create a very happy image of yourself for your followers, with many of them involuntarily feeling that they are not spending, studying, partying, or working out enough.
The WHO has already declared loneliness a severe global health threat
This duality comes at a cost. The loneliness associated with excessive social media use is well-discussed, and science has now confirmed it.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared loneliness a severe global health threat, with the mortality threats associated with it equivalent to smoking as many as 15 cigarettes a day.
Now, researchers have established a direct relationship between excessive smartphone usage and loneliness. Not surprisingly, online friendships and connections, though fulfilling, are not nearly as important as real-life interactions.
Children and young people are at increased risk of becoming addicted to their smartphones, with toddlers not eating their meals without watching YouTube or Instagram being a common occurrence.
A study has now concluded that 60 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 16 exhibit behaviors indicative of potential digital addiction, and close to one-third of the total world population may be addicted to smartphones.
These statistics speak of an impending mental health disaster that requires our immediate attention.
Warning labels, similar to tobacco products, for social media
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called for ‘warning labels’ on social media for children. Similar to tobacco products, these labels will be displayed to minors before they use social media.
Murthy added that they may help in ‘increasing awareness and changing people’s behavior, if not alleviate the issues around social media.’
Some places, like Florida, USA, have banned the use of social media applications for people under the age of 14. New York now also requires parental guidance for accessing certain content on social media for minors.
While overuse is a pertinent issue to be discussed, the companies behind our favorite social media applications must share heavier blame for the crisis we are all in. Companies like TikTok, Meta, and Google have been time and again found to not be doing enough to protect children’s mental health and restrict excessive usage of their apps.
Real-life threats
‘Phishing, catfishing, honey-trapping, bank fraud, kidnappings’, and even ‘virtual sexual assault’ have become terms we are all now familiar with due to the rampant misuse of social media. Combine cyber threats with algorithms that literally track our swiping and scrolling, and we are left with one big question: Is all of it worth our safety?
Plus side too?
The cons of social media use are overwhelming, but there are some pros to using it too. Social media has saved lives. This quality of connecting people was on display during the second wave of COVID-19 in India, when Twitter storms helped people find precious oxygen cylinders. From long-lost friends to cats and their owners, happy reunions have been made possible by the power of social media.
Way forward
Like all things, social media too has its pros and cons and must be used in balance. But maybe it is time for consumers to stop blaming themselves and demand Big Tech companies (for whom we are just consumers) to step in and take action.
If they fail to do so, all of us might continue going to sleep with all of the world’s bad news 10 inches away from our faces. We shouldn’t be surprised if we wake up tired and burnt out.