Student Opinion: Be cautious when using platforms

The girl you sit next to in EVAN 101 freshman year just posted on her story that she will be taking a much overdue break from Instagram. Text her if you need, but she plans to unplug for the next few weeks. Her post joins the endless scroll of engagement announcements, Golf Park mirror selfies, influencer sponsored fit checks and relationship soft launches

How has the “I’m unplugging” post become the new social media trend? Is there even a point to deleting the app if it just gets re-downloaded a few days or weeks later? Are TikTok and Instagram actually as bad for you as people claim? Toxic media culture doesn’t include BeReal, right?

The short answer is yes, social media can be bad for you. However, social media also includes benefits, but they do not always outweigh the consequences. 

Social media is a powerful tool of connection and communication. Keeping up with high school friends and faraway family members has never been easier. The messaging inbox of a prominent business leader is just a few clicks away. 

From a purely logistical standpoint, receiving information about upcoming events for clubs, church and hall life often comes primarily through Instagram or Facebook. Disconnecting from those platforms can mean missing out on real-life community. 

There are still ways to stay connected. Turn on GroupMe notifications. Make a regular habit of calling the people who matter. Iron your T.J. Maxx dress pants, type up a resume and actually go to the Career Fair. 

The abundance of alternate methods to receive the benefits that social media grants negate the necessity for a profile. The bewildering impact that social media has on mental, emotional, spiritual, social and physical health cannot be overstated. The clout isn’t worth it.

I don’t feel the need to give statistics about the negative effects of being constantly online. We already know that our daily scrolling is actively damaging and reprogramming our brains. 

More than the forces that manipulate and persuade our subconscious, we are willing and desperate participants in the insecurity comparison scroll of doom. We cannot stop looking at everyone else’s lives and wondering how much better they are than ours. Every social gathering, every trendy outfit and every new cool job, we are comparing to our own. 

Our ego demands both the horrible pleasure of self-degradation and the thrill of getting likes on our photo of our spontaneous late-night trip to Waffle House. The brilliant simplicity of social profiles is their ability to satisfy our vanity.

Social media provides a way for us to carefully curate an image of ourselves, to create a persona. Even the most seemingly random and carefree photo dump is a purposeful piece in a personal brand. A social profile gives us control over how others perceive us, and that in itself is too enticing for our vain and insecure egos to ignore. 

Pride and idolatry form the core of all sin, and social media joyfully dances in both those fields. Funny memes and strategic advertisements play a part in our social media addiction, yes, but our real addiction is to our sin nature. 

Social media is a powerful tool, but whose hands is it in? 

My point is not to shame those of us who enjoy posting pictures of friends and laughing at TikToks. Trust me, I get it. The latest Kardashian internet antics will always make me chuckle.

I simply want to ask you to think more about what role social media plays in your life. What value does it bring to you? What harm is it causing you? 

What would your life and your mind look like if you didn’t have social media? Are you willing to find out?

Ginion is an opinion writer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *