Surveys suggest that over 93% of teens use social media, which is approximately 37 million teenagers in the USA alone. It is becoming a prominent issue in today’s society because it is addictive both physically and psychologically.

Many teens find themselves going to check their phone, but end up scrolling for hours. Many teens sleep with their cell phone next to their bed, which can cause a lack of sleep, and a worse quality of sleep. These are signs of an unhealthy addiction to social media.

Social media can result in depression, anxiety, cyber-bullying, and more. Social media has teens comparing themselves to what they see online; If a certain post gets a lot of likes, they feel like they are not good enough, which can lead to low self esteem. This is an issue because social media only highlights the best parts of someones life, and it could be used as a disguise. Social media is dangerous because people have the ability to hide behind their screen and potentially say rude things anonymously.

On the other hand, social media also has its benefits. Social media can connect people to one another all throughout the world. It also helps marketing and business, by allowing news and announcements to get out faster than ever before.

There is a fine line between a healthy and unhealthy attachment to social media. If you find yourself waking up and checking social media first thing in the morning, scrolling for hours, or tearing yourself/others down, rethink how you are spending your time.

A good way to reduce the use of social media is to set screen time on your device. You can limit the amount of time a day you can spend on a certain app. Turning off the notifications from an app can also help you not look at or think about the app as much.