Social media was once a way to connect to long-lost friends and it’s now more popular than watching the evening news. More than just a place to upload old photos, social media has helped people start careers, become famous, and set political change into motion. But social media isn’t all likes and rainbows. These platforms also have a harmful side.
In fact, social media’s adverse effects have prompted some to take action to protect the public from this harmful virtual substance.
Social media may be getting a warning label
According to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, social media users must be advised about the harm hours scrolling can have on their emotional and mental well-being. In an op-ed in the New York Times, he stated that his warning label is essential for adolescents.
Warning labels are placed on cigarette boxes, medicine bottles, food labels, and other products to people consume daily. Why should social media be any different? The average person consumes social media for a little over two hours a day.
Of course, cautionary tags don’t always have a significant impact. After all, many cigarette packets come with graphic photos of blackened lungs, but cigarette revenue still reaches billions of dollars.
So, is a warning label for social media needed?
Why social media might need a warning label
Most of us will admit we have a tiny addiction to social media. We scroll when we first wake up, while watching TV, waiting in line, etc. But why? Why do we go to check the time on our phones and end up clicking on the TikTok icon? One explanation is dopamine. We get a little jolt of this hormone that makes us feel good whenever we see that someone likes our posts or sends us a message.
The problem with this is the unpredictability. We post one picture, and it gets thousands of likes. That feels great, so we post another picture, which only gets 100 likes, and doesn’t feel as good. So we post another picture, hoping to get that same rush of dopamine we got from the first picture.
Not knowing if one post will get the desired views and constantly seeking that intense feeling of dopamine can cause feelings of depression and anxiety. This can be more harmful to young adults and teenagers who are still developing their sense of self and can start associating their sense of worth with the attention they get from social media.
Another very influential and harmful factor of social media are the filters. I remember they were cute additions to videos, where you could have dog or cat ears. Now, you can completely alter your look. I can only imagine what kind of effect this can have on teenagers. When I was younger, I remember not liking my look and obsessing over the shape of my eyes or lips. If I had difficulty looking at myself in the mirror when social media wasn’t a daily part of life, I can only imagine the self-esteem challenges the youth faces now.
Social media needs more than just a warning label
Society has a habit of labeling things as bad. However, I don’t think that saying something is harmful will change behavior. It might help some people think twice, but more precautions are needed if we want to protect people from the potential harm of social media. There needs to be more comprehensive measures put in place.
A warning label is a good start, but it’s more of a bandage than a solution. Support must come from both sides: the social media companies, the public, and the government. For instance, education is something the public, including parents, guardians, friends, family, and others, can do to help protect the youth. Education can look like having more conversations around social media. Similar to the conversations parents have with their children on safe sex, drug and alcohol use, and car safety, why not throw in a discussion about social media addiction?
