Social media consists of many different platforms and apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube. On these platforms you can share pictures and videos, get likes and followers, and find new interests and friends. But because social media is so public and opening, many problems can follow. 

Addiction

After being on social media for a while, some people become attached. This can be caused by a wanting of likes and follows, validation, or entertainment. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are the most addictive apps because of the release of dopamine (a chemical in the brain that gives a feeling of pleasure or happiness) and the repetition of the release. Some people become so addicted to this release that they spend hours at a time scrolling on social media. 

Mental Health

Social media can promote a number of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, or inadequacy. Posts from celebrities, models, and beauty persons are known to lower self-esteem of appearance in females yet they don’t think about the hours of treatment, preparation, and photoshop for a post or update to make the user look picture perfect. Some people have increased anxiety from being left out from a friend or family member post of an event or activity without them. Other users can have increased depression from seeing someone else’s life on social media that they would rather have. 

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying has become more common with the evolution of technology and the younger generation joining social media. Cyberbullying 10 years ago could be someone spreading rumors about their classmate, while today a person could post anything and have some sort of hate or rude reaction to it.

Younger users

The youngest age rating to open an account on social media is 13 (mostly). But some children who are younger than that have social media accounts because they lie about their age. Some social media platforms like TikTok allow users under 13 but restrict their privileges. Users who are under 13 cannot post any content and users under 16 cannot have a public profile. Many children are able to get past this by simply lying about their age. Social media consists of tons of content that is not appropriate for children, hence why there is an age rating. Some children sneak into an account while others have help from their parents. Following the other problems social media can bring, young children should not be exposed to these problems so early. Users of age are also pushed to create more appropriate content for the younger users who may view the content when the younger users shouldn’t be on the platform in the first place.

Social media is a fun and public way of expressing yourself and others. While problems do come with being on social media, they can be easily managed. Limiting your time on each platform, only talking with people you know, and reporting non-tolerated behavior can all be ways of making social media better.