Social media is an endless pit of entertainment, trapping users online for hours at a time. In becoming such a large phenomenon, Terms such as FOMO(fear of missing out) and doom-scrolling were created to name reasons why online platforms made it so easy for users to lose track of time. Doom-scrolling refers to users getting distracted and wasting hours scrolling through short videos and posts, jumping from topic to topic as they’re captivated by short-term entertainment.
“It’s a lot of new information you’re getting. Like drama, stories, and you’re just switching from one topic to another. It keeps you in because you want to know more.” junior Morgan Gaither explained.
Almost every social media app has its variation in the genre of short videos, stemming from TikTok’s surge in popularity. Instagram added ‘reels’ as a new feature, YouTube has ‘shorts,’ and so on. With popular platforms creating these algorithms meant to trap the users’ attention, arising consequences are quick to make themselves clear. Most prevalently the fact that it keeps users away from spending their time on actual productive activities.
“That’s a really big problem. They [users] are not productive and they don’t get a lot of stuff done,” sophomore Alyssa Yang said.
It’s hard to consume TikToks and other short videos within a reasonable standard. To do so, a lot of self-control is necessary; otherwise, users find themselves getting carried away.
“I would say [social media] is mainly a problem for those who are easily addicted to things,” freshman Ilene Hwong said.
However, the effects of spending hours online are not identical among users and can differ greatly from person to person. For most, consequences include procrastination and other predominantly time-managing problems.
“I find myself getting distracted quickly. It stops me from doing things and then I’ll forget what I was trying to do,” Gaither admits.
Gaither isn’t the only one whose attention span was damaged by the addictive structure of content. A lessening attention span has been quick to plague users of social media that don’t maintain an appropriate amount of self control, but for those that have, social media can actually prove to be a benefit.
“Honestly social media helped me increase [my attention span] because of all of the waiting you have to watch YouTube. I tend to watch longer videos,” Hwong said.
Although it’s incredibly easy to fall into the habit of doom-scrolling and negative social media use, thereby introducing oneself to many mental and physical repercussions, many steps can be taken to limit the consequences or diminish them.
“At least don’t just watch reels, just watch one long video,” sophomore Alyssa Yang suggested.
In order to watch longer videos, users are required to retain a longer attention span to comprehend the information presented. In doing so, they can keep their attention span from getting used to short term entertainment as it would with short videos. Though it’s hard for many to keep restrictions for themselves, there are other ways they can improve their social media habits.
“You should tell your parents. They can set screen time limits on your phone, and you’d be forced to get off,” sophomore Toyosi Koyi said.
The most natural solution to the social media problem is to get off of it. Forcefully distancing from one’s phone can be a great way to explore other activities rather than sticking to day-to-day apps.
“This is from a personal experience. Start talking to people more and shut off your phone for a day, put it aside. It helped me after corona. I started going out more and talking more. This helped me with my addiction to social media,” freshman Ilene Hwong said.
Having both negative and positive impacts, It’s certain that social media, as a whole, has created an inevitable dent in our minds and the way that we function.