Waking up in the morning, the first thing she does is look at her phone. She is opening and closing the same three apps over and over again: Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok… Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok… Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok. She stares at the tall, skinny, idyllic models and wonders why she can’t look like them.

Comparing herself to the beauties on the screen, she judges. While scrolling through social media platforms, she forgets that photoshop and filters are ubiquitous. Edited photos make up standards that aren’t realistic. Society is loudly whispering to us that we need to look a certain way in order to be beautiful, and it’s not healthy. Studies have shown that social media can lead to anxiety, depression, and even eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. 

Around 46% of young adults do not trust the pictures or videos they see on social media. In addition, 93% said that they have posted an edited version of a photo online. 

She looks at the happy faces of her “not so inclusive” friends. She frowns as their mocking faces stare back at her. Social media makes it so easy for her to see all the events she missed out on. She can’t go a day without looking at her phone, checking to make sure she is not forgotten. The same sad tears rolling down her face as she watches the girls who she called her friends have fun without her. Almost 70% of teenagers have experienced the fear of missing out (FOMO). Teenagers all over the world are confronted with negative thoughts and feelings, which result in worsening mental health and an overall increase in anxiety. People with FOMO will constantly check social media, concerned they will miss something. 

Jealous people make others feel bad about themselves. As she is doing her schoolwork, her phone is blowing up full of others telling her what she should wear or do with her hair. Some say she is too skinny, so she eats more. Then they say she is gaining too much weight, she stops eating. Social media makes it so much easier for people to hide behind a screen. These people make hateful comments that they would never say right to someone’s face. Cyberbullying is a huge problem worldwide and has increased exponentially with the increase in technology and social media. People showing signs of low self-esteem are likely victims of cyberbullying. Over one in three teenagers have been victims of cyberbullying, but only one in ten get help from a trusted adult. As you can see this is a growing problem in today’s world and is worse due to social media.