With almost everyone you meet, whether you’re at a party or meeting friends of friends, they will most likely give you their Instagram username rather than their phone number. Instagram and other social media apps have become the main source of networking amongst young adults, especially in the United States. But have these fun, lighthearted apps become detrimental to the mental health of its users?
Instagram has recently been under fire for how the creators organized the application to make it addictive and harmful to the human brain. For instance, the app will alert you when you receive a new like, comment, or follower. When this happens, the brain releases the “happy hormone”, also known as dopamine. This chemical response to the notification causes the brain to constantly crave this feeling when dopamine is released, therefor getting these users to check up on the app more frequently, till it becomes a daily or even hourly habit.
Another issue that Instagram has been dealing with is the backlash from people saying that receiving a number of likes causes users to subconsciously compare themselves to others on the app, turning Instagram into a competitive playground where people feel as though they cannot be themselves with the chance that they won’t get as many likes. Due to this, an idea has been in the works to remove the number of likes off of posts to create a more positive environment on the app.
Young adults whose minds are not fully developed yet will have a larger response when effected by outside stimuli. This meaning, when a 14 year old girl sees beautiful “Instagram Model” on her feed receiving many likes or comments, she begins to contemplate if her looks are good enough. This comparison to others on social media has people not only judging themselves, but thinking that their life is insignificant.
But the truth is, Instagram is anything but the truth. No one posts about the struggles they’re going through, only the times when they were the happiest. This creates the other users to see their “perfect” fake lives and compare that to their own behind the scene lives. Eventually, everyone starts to believe that the grass is greener on the other side and feel saddened by their perception of their own lives.
Instagram and other social media apps like Facebook and Twitter have more issues overall than positive impacts on our society as a whole. Not only their programmed addictiveness, but their negative effects on the developing brain that can cause serious mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. If changes are not made to fix these issues caused by these applications, there could be serious repercussions in the very near future.
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