Social Media Negative Impact on Humans

By Michael DiVito
Stonehill College News Blog Journalist

Like most teenagers, college freshman Brian Pescatore is drawn to social media almost every chance he gets but it often leaves him feeling dissatisfied and down.

“I look at social media everyday multiple times a day.  The things I see on social media make me feel like I’m living a horrible life,” said Pescatore, an 18-year-old student that lives on campus at Merrimack College.

Pescatore is not alone.  While many teenagers said social media makes them feel more connected to friends, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center also found that for some teens social media comes with additional social burdens.

The survey, “Teens’ Social media Habits and Experiences” by Monica Anderson and JingJing, was published in 2018 by the center.

Jiang and Anderson give in-depth analysis into the emotions that teens feel from social media. 

The survey found that 43% of teens feel pressure to only post content that makes them look good to others.  In addition, 37% of them feel pressure to only post content that will get the most amount of likes and comments. 

The survey said that out of frustration, 44% of teens say they at least sometimes unfriend or unfollow people on social media. The teens stated that they get so frustrated that it causes them to react emotionally instead of rationally. 

The survey found that teens become very calculated as they prepare to post something on their social media. 

Teens will only post photos or videos of themselves at their best moments in their life or if they look good. So, people viewing posts see others when they are on a tropical vacation or if they have just graduated from Harvard and tend to become self-conscious. 

Amid growing concern over social media’s impact and influence on today’s youth, the survey shows that many young people acknowledge the unique challenges and benefits of growing up in the digital age.  Social media has been proven to be deceiving, but some people take it personal and it is a real struggle for them. 

Kyle Marash, who is an 18-year-old student at the Mass-Bay Community College and a resident of Waltham, Massachusetts, said social media can make him feel self-conscious.

Marash said that social media posts make him feel as if others are having more fun than he is.

“I will be sitting at my house doing nothing and they are on a vacation looking like they are having a great time. They have more money than me to do stuff that I would like to do and that makes me feel a little bad about myself. Sometimes after viewing vacation pictures of other people I feel like my life is worthless,” he said.

Marash said there have been times when he’s scrolling through his social media posts and finds that his friends have gone somewhere without him.  He then wonders why he was left out and feels worse. 

“I am a huge admirer of cars.  I get upset seeing people at car shows which is something (my friends and I) love. They tell me they will bring me, but then do not which make me feel bad enough about myself. To make matters worse, I look on social media and see them at the car show with their girlfriends. This makes me feel bad and question myself that I may have done something wrong,” Marash said.

Pescatore shared that he is on social media pretty much every chance he gets every day. Pescatore said social media often leaves him feeling that his life can’t compare favorably with others.

“Yeah, if someone is going to a great school or has a great accomplishment like going Division 1 in a sport, I feel like I’m not good enough,” Pescatore said. “If someone has a cute girlfriend, just came off a great vacation, or lands a good job they post it on social media and I immediately start comparing it to my life. Sometimes it is not a great feeling and I feel sorry for myself and my life.” 

Jack Duffy, who is an 18-year-old student who lives on campus at the University of Rhode Island, shared that he thinks social media was not a positive for society overall.

Duffy commented on the social media influence and how it makes him feel when he scrolls through his feed, which is something he does on a regular basis daily from the minute he wakes up in the morning until he goes to sleep at night.

“Yes, I feel social media is doing a great harm to the overall psyche of our generation as we are left to compare ourselves to the people we follow, and the influences we see on a day to day basis,” Duffy said.

“I am not left jealous, but almost just disappointed for not going to a better college like Harvard, or an exotic vacation every weekend. It makes me feel like a failure almost,” Duffy said.

Christina Rinaldi, who is an associate professor of education at the University of Alberta in Canada, broke down what social media is and the major effect it can have on kids of this generation.

Rinaldi’s research focus is in the area of social and emotional development of children and adolescents.  Her emphasis is on peer and school relationships.  She is an expert in the social development of children and relationships in adolescence.

“The process of social comparison is totally amplified by social media because we are bombarded with images, updates, videos of others at their best and having the best moments of their lives, which is not realistic, and the internal and cross comparison arise as a natural reaction,” Rinaldi said. “The issue for teens is that they are still developing, so they don’t have a life time of experience to temper or put the social media content into perspective.”