Addiction or Socialization: Social Media Addiction among Teenagers
By: Syed Quadri
Tags: Mental Health, Addiction, Awareness, Teens, Social Media

Teenagers are considered to be the future of any society, a catalyst of change, the torchbearers of the future, and with the rise of social media, nothing is out of grasp anymore.

Social media is a powerful tool that allows anyone to better express anything, be it an idea, an expression, or just communication in the blink of an eye all with a few clicks. Today, social media has become accessible to everyone and teenagers have become an integral part of it. It is primarily used amongst teenagers for communication purposes, however, some teens prefer it over talking in person.

The ease of access social media provides is unparalleled to other means of communication, and teenagers are a perfect illustration of this. A majority of teens believe it is far more convenient to communicate with one another through social media and text rather than in person. Does this mean social media is superior to interpersonal communication, and switching to it is going to solve a lot of the communication issues? No, not necessarily because overuse of social media can cause severe addiction amongst teens. So what do we understand about social media addiction, I discuss this in my podcast:

From this, we get a general idea of what social media addiction is and how it affects the lives of teens. There has also been scientific research done documenting social media addiction and the impact it has on a person, especially amongst teenagers.

Brain scans conducted at UCLA show, acknowledgment through ‘likes’ on social media activates the same reward centers associated among teens with eating chocolate or winning money. Lauren Sherman/UCLA

A question that arises in the mind of an audience is, “Isn't this a little too specific? It is almost as if it was designed to target the psychology of a human being” and the truth of the matter is, it is.

Make no mistake: that creep of compulsion happened by design. Social networking firms need customers, and they want users to remain linked as much as possible to their services. Ron Delibert, the founder and director of Citizen Lab, a research centre based at the University of Toronto says, “While you very well may remember the first thing you ever posted to social media — not as exciting as a first kiss, but still powered by the same neurological chemicals”

In this day and age, social media has become a necessity, teens can not even begin to imagine a world without it. Their reliance on it to fulfill their needs is unparalleled be it social approval, news, or just communication. If social media addiction among teenagers is prevalent, how does one identify it? How does one know if they are actually addicted to it or it is just the norm? This can be done by asking a few questions:

Is social media a means to forget about your personal problems?

Do you become restless or troubled if unable to use social media?

Is the use of social media having a negative impact on your job or studies?

Furthermore, there has also been a strong correlation between social media and mental health. Instances where social media has the capability of just demolishing a person's emotional wellbeing. The impact this has on a teenager's mental health where most of them cannot even properly identify the issue let alone deal with it is a major cause of concern.

If we think about it a majority of the population goes through some form of mental or emotional stability in their lifetime, usually in their earlier years when there isn't just socialization to get used to but also the physical changes of puberty an adolescent goes through. Coupled with anxiety, depression, or even stress this can cause some serious damage in their growth phase. Furthermore, if the teen has underlying issues of anxiety or depression a social media addiction could exacerbate the problem or even worse mask it and push it under the rug.

So, how does one deal with social media addiction in a day and age where it is woven into our society, with a design to make you hooked onto it, and peers that communicate through it. It’s certainly not harmful to use social media every once in a while. But overuse would lead to lower self-esteem, as well as alienation, anxiety, loneliness, and depression — motivated in part by contrasting your life to others.

One of the best ways to start combatting social media addiction is to become aware of it and also aware of your habits while using it. This is a crucial skill for teens to master as social media will play a vital role throughout their lives. This does not mean it is entirely the child’s responsibility, parents should do their part and make sure the teen understands what they are getting into.

Establishing rules before you give a teenager a phone can do wonders and really set the boundaries on what is expected from him/her. Furthermore, it can help foster a healthy relationship between a teen and a child rather than being a means of escaping family time.

Overcoming social media addiction amongst teens is similar to any other addiction and is a really complex issue, requiring all hands on deck. It can be dealt with in numerous ways, but it does need a serious commitment from the individual and their loved ones.

Social media is a powerful tool that has the power to change the very fabric of society and propel humanity to greater heights. Using this marvel teens can greatly influence change at a pace that will hardly seem believable, only if they can overcome the trap of social media addiction.