Social Media: A Call For More Responsible Regulation

I recently attended a yearly FT event at Kenwood House and succumbed to a growing engagement in the uncontrollable elephant in the room: the sharp rise of mental health issues caused by social media. I decided to write my first biography on this issue as I felt compelled to enhance my writing skills and generate new ideas related to this issue through the interview conducted at the FT fair.

Interview Overview

This interview was conducted by Murad Ahmed, a news editor within the niche of technology who explored the problems with social media such as how tech companies purposefully designed algorithms to disperse content in addictive ways; via algorithms and threads, the growing stresses of grades and the encouragement of competition between students through his diverse range of questions.

These questions were reciprocated through the speakers Sonia Livingstone, a professor at the London School of Economics, and Amy Orben, a psychology professor at Oxford University — generating multifaceted ideas that I found inspired to write my first biography relaying my ideas built from their intellect and extensive research.

Social media has become a core norm that binds and builds the very foundations and fabrics of society today, or so we think. The massive issue produced my engagement and curiosity due to the everlasting struggles of social media becoming progressively uncontrollable within the social media scene, with new and growing issues constantly on the horizon and many already blown far out of proportion to the brink of underlying social chaos in our society today — an illusion of appearance.

Social Media and Its Impact on Youth

One of these struggles discussed by both professors was the rise of perfectionism when it came to one's appearance. It has become clear over the years that social media has had disastrous impacts and effects on the youthful population's mental health in our current society today, comprised of teenagers, especially between the ages of 15–18.

This has especially been indirectly more common with girls of this age, suffering from the fear of how the public may make judgments through their external appearance creating conscious or unconscious victims of social media, which is impaired with existing gender inequalities today as well as rising sexual harassment levels.

The main problem with social media in general is this entrapment of internal obsession over appearances stemmed through Instagram, creating an illusion between what is real and what is not, which is hard to distinguish for the younger population. Facebook and Instagram market the beginning of the birth of social media apps amongst the widely reached younger audiences, most noticeably the birth of TikTok which rose exponentially in popularity in 2018.

Instagram and Its Impact on Young People's Mental Health

Instagram is the most popular social media app amongst the younger population, as well as TikTok. However, in my opinion, Instagram is the most impactful social media app on young people's mental health as it is based purely on one's lifestyle and appearance rather than mostly entertainment and funny videos commonly seen on TikTok or YouTube.

Although it now has "Instagram reels", this was created purely with the intention of a money-making algorithm — the focus still relies fundamentally on engaging in other people's personal lifestyles through viewing and liking posts which is what the app was originally founded upon.

The problem with Instagram is simple; it paints a fabrication of one's true character into a digital façade, which exploits young teenagers, like me and many others, into believing that their lifestyle is real, resulting in one copying the lifestyle patterns of others and the herding of those in voyage of a desirable, lavish lifestyle.

The irony is that these fake lifestyles are a make-believe fantasy, an illusion of reality, making young people inevitably feel more trapped and isolated in this world — it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. This can be seen through young people becoming more centered around dopamine-inducing apps like Instagram. This drives individuals away from their character and self in life, causing an identity crisis amongst the younger population today and of course exposing many to the infamous mental health issues of anxiety, depression, and stress.

The Dopamine Machine

Social media apps like Instagram and TikTok are not created just for pleasure or social connections — it's a money machine, carefully and purposefully crafted to exploit the vulnerabilities of younger people through its algorithms. It has created a never-ending loophole of unregulated mindless content, intentionally thrust upon the younger population gravitated around dopamine and pleasure.

Social media, by deliberation, targets the release of dopamine from receptors in the brain which explains why it is so dangerous to younger people, dopamine is the most addicting drug you can receive, as it makes one constantly want more of it whether it is the scrolling for the new funny video or a lifestyle hack which is either useless or faintly useful. These dopamine receptors are targeted through the videos we see on our accounts which are not just a coincidence or random, they are selected through what we previously liked — a "for you page" as it is widely known.

The Paradox of Competition

However, it's not just the never-ending spiral of social media in which young people get trapped; the paradox of competition is becoming ever increasingly real. This competition is facilitated through the need to impress and compete against others to become the best; a constant comparison between oneself and another.

This has been partly portrayed by the UK education system and the need for top grades, as well as the media shining light on those who got good grades, making other young people feel compelled to do the same. However, in reality, it isn't as easy as social media portrays it to be. This creates more stress and pressure especially as younger people become arrogant and expect to see results straight away.

In my experience, I have felt massive stress, especially during my GCSEs as I needed anyone else to do the best I could, as well as not seeing instant results which only added to my stress levels.

Through grades, appearance and personality I think it is important to know that in reality, an actual comparison cannot possibly be made as one cannot know another person's life through their external appearance, as portrayed on social media. The unfortunate reality is that young people suffer from this trap — falling for this illusion through social media's promotion of constant, habitual psychological comparison between one another, every day. This is what triggers feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and stress. Instead of self-improvement, or focusing on oneself, an unnecessary, obsessive, deep-seated compulsion is born to compare one individual to another based on appearance and rewards (materialism and wealth through consumerism) which define individual self-worth.

The Rise of Consumerism

This comparison and self-worth labeled from materialistic rewards represent the growth of consumerism through social media. All social media apps have been made with the intent to not only entertain but to commercialize online to younger, more vulnerable audiences. The rise of e-commerce has revolutionized business forever.

However, e-commerce has also created a culture based on materialism and money amongst the younger population. As a result, mental health has experienced an exponential rise due to the valuation of self-worth based on materialism, making those think that the more luxury goods you have, the happier your life will be.

This has led to consumerism and addiction amongst younger people having this craving; a desire to own more unnecessary luxury items as it is the only thing that seems to make one's life better - making younger people feel more entrapped and isolated as they perceive that they cannot make their lifestyle better unless they obtain these rewards and follow the footsteps and lifestyles of influencers on social media — normalising greed and unnecessary spending along with the established competition of owns the most wealth amongst one's peers.

The Positive Side

However, social media is not all bad as it can bring isolated communities together and enhance one's social connections and networks for the better. It is interactive-allowing younger people to learn from the more experienced and connect with family members through private messages and stories.

Social media has also fostered more equality and social mobility, offering an escape from poverty and perhaps bad family morals, enabling those who are less fortunate to become more educated on the world around them.

However, I think that overall though, social media has had much more of a negative effect on younger people's mental health over the past decade — which is much more likely to continue and get even worse over time unless measures are in place to restrict the ever-evolving social media.

Actionable Steps for Reform

The main actionable step I think should be done to reach a positive outcome is the regulation of content on these social media platforms. There should be developed features enabling young people to channel posts on mental health or educational content, such as STEM subjects like physics revision.

There are limited navigation features purposely created by Instagram reels and TikTok to enable bad habits of mindless scrolling to form (otherwise known as doom scrolling) and should be under reform by advising a set limit each day to younger people about the dangers of addiction to social media apps, as well as actionable steps which should be followed to prevent screen time on social media to spiral out of control.

Another actionable step is to reduce the overconsumption of luxury products, especially by the younger population. Although there is no way to control the spending patterns of young people, it is important to conduct information provision on the dangers of the formulation of spending habits and perhaps more advertisements and notices available on social media to advise better management of finance for younger people.

An alternative way is through developing the management of finance and spending in the UK education system to enable younger people to make well-informed decisions instead of mindlessly spending their money, especially as it is not taught in the education system at the present moment.

The Future of Social Media

The future of social media remains uncertain, yet its profound impact on the mental health of younger generations is undeniable, encompassing both positive and negative aspects. Without informed, proactive measures to educate and protect young users, these challenges are likely to intensify, posing broader societal risks.