With a lifetime of access to tech, Generation Z has a more complex relationship with technology than any generation that has come before it. It is impossible to speak on Gen Z’s use of technology without talking about social media.
In interviews, every interviewed District 112 student cited social media as their main use of technology. Social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have had incredible effects upon the youth of the district. At its core, social media is a collection of platforms for content creation and social connection, but it has evolved into something greater. Many young people today view their social media as a form of self-expression and an integral part of their overall identity.
So, if social media is such an integral part of the lives of youth how is it impacting them?
The students of District 112 have a generally unanimous opinion that while social media has many positive uses it has an overall negative impact upon its users.
Ella Nesbit and Vanessa Da-Silva-Lay, two undergraduate psych majors at the University of Minnesota, highlight this contrast in technicolor.
“Social media is very detrimental to our attention spans and self images,” Nesbit said.
These are two negative outcomes of social media that are prevalent throughout any study or research done on the topic. Social media apps such as TikTok are designed to cater to users’ exact desires. The use of algorithms that cherry-pick short forms of media to be placed in front of users creates measurable drops in attention spans. Whenever students are bored, apps such as TikTok offer the immediate option to scroll away.
Another major downside to social media is a poorer self image. Social media apps like Instagram can create a sense of false reality. Instagram is infamous for being a platform where lives are glamorized and only curated positives are shown. When observing a space where only glamorized realities are presented, comparison is inevitable.
“I think [social media] is great… I come from a very closed-minded country and I learned from social media,” Da-Silva-Lay said.
She goes on to name social media as a creator of opportunity in the lives of the less fortunate. This perspective introduces many of the positive outcomes of social media.
The greatest effect that social media has is the creation of community. Many of the students of District 112 stated that finding community through social media is something that has had a profound positive impact on their lives. This is something that was especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time when face-to-face interaction was out of the question, finding people via social media became a precipice of connection in a sea of isolation.
Roughly 80 percent of students at Chanhassen High School, admitted to feeling like they waste a considerable amount of their day using screens. This dependency on technology becomes an addiction when people begin to become so consumed by their screen usage that they feel unable to stop it.
This is something that about 40 percent of students admitted to feeling. Just like most drugs, social media’s constant flow of entertainment stimulates the dopamine reward system in users’ brains which can lead to compulsive use. Screen and social media addiction is a real issue that has both physical and mental consequences. Effects of screen addiction can vary from eye strain to insomnia.
It is difficult to identify whether or not social media generally has a positive or negative impact upon its young audience. What is clear is that it has both positive and negative outcomes. The difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship with social media is dependent on a person’s maturity, sense of self and ability to navigate an asynchronous social setting.
