“You averaged 10 hours, 16 minutes of screen time per day last week,” reads my iPhone’s screen time feature. My stomach drops — that is almost half my day. How did that happen? Digging a little deeper, the answer becomes obvious — social media.
Growing up alongside the social media boom has affected today’s youth significantly more than other generations. You have probably seen your parents scrambling to find their phone while yours is glued to your hand. It’s just not the first priority of older generations.
Personally, my entrance into social media began in fourth grade, when — with my mother’s permission — I made a Facebook account. Everything changed from that point on. That same year, I got my first phone, which was probably not a coincidence. The up-and-coming realm of social networking was too engrossing to resist.
Most users abuse these platforms as a form of escapism. Long before social media, books filled this same void as a coping mechanism. However, they proved to be a highly productive way to do so. Nowadays, retired bookworms would be embarrassed to show you the amount of time they spend online each day.
After Facebook came Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, along with many others. If you spend two hours on each application, soaring screen times begin to make a lot of sense. Our generation feels obligated to join these spaces because our society relies on them as our main mode of social interaction.
What does this mean for the future?
The technologically reliant characters in the 2008 movie WALL-E may come to reflect reality rather than remaining the comical dramatizations they once were. Like these characters, social media users may become dependent on technology rather than engaging with the outside world. Social media will only drive us farther from real-life if its prevalence fails to subside.
Shockingly, even toddlers have fallen victim to this phenomenon. Screen times have become a big part of their lives as well as ours. According to peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, from 1997 to 2014, screen time for children under the age of two rose from 1.32 to 3.05 hours per day. Popularly referred to as “iPad babies,” these little ones reveal the severity of this shift in our population.
On the same note, children are getting phones at younger and younger ages. “But mom! Everyone in my class has one,” says the second grader. Overall, they are spending less time having real-world experiences like playing outside with friends, participating in stimulating activities and enjoying family. The higher the screen time, the higher the distortion of traditional childhood.
Some may argue that social media can help all ages feel accepted to some degree. Though safe spaces online can feel comforting, it is nothing compared to those found beyond the screen. Additionally, what may seem safe may be quite the opposite. Once invested, it can be far more complicated to detect the toxicity present in the media we consider to be safe.
It may seem hypocritical on my part — as an avid social media participant myself — but that is the irony of our current climate. A majority of active users want nothing more than to break away from their devices.
Sadly, the apps now serve as society’s most vicious crutch. At the same time, those who do not use them are deemed outcasts, suspicious and anti-social.
In the 90s, our parents used their phones solely to make calls. Even once smartphones made their revolutionary appearance, the previous generation still utilized their devices primarily for practical reasons.
Though they still have their Facebook and of course, Candy Crush Saga, in my experience, their views rarely resemble ours. My own mother sees posting on her Facebook as more of a chore than anything else.
Meanwhile, my peers have created entire realities unexplainable to those outside these platforms. It is a blatant display of our detachment from reality.
This conversation can seem trite after being voiced time and time again by our patronizing parents, but we must take it into our own hands. Opening the discussion to those who are directly impacted could produce unprecedented results.
Negativity and judgment aside, experimenting with slowly reducing your screen time can be a step in the right direction. Friends can encourage each other and create a positive environment to stimulate progress.
On this journey, note changes in yourself. Tapping into your unique experience could open up doors you never knew existed.
Screen times have skyrocketed, but we have the opportunity to take the matter into our own hands. The harmful effects of social media leading to higher screen times cannot be ignored solely because they are being preached by an older generation that didn’t grow up in the digital age. Allowing this to deter us from realizing the truth is undoubtedly counterproductive.
