Social media apps are structured to keep you on them as long as possible. You heard that right. They are designed to entertain you so long that you do not realize that so much time had just passed. Here is some information about social media that you may not have known all together.
1. Social media doesn't give up information
If you thought that all social media apps would sell all of your data, you would be wrong. Instead, they actually keep the vital information so that they can predict what you want to see online. They use your data to create almost a model of yourself that shows you on your media feed exactly what will keep you on the app.
2. Its not just TikTok
Some people think that TikTok is the app the started all of the addiction to social media but the addiction to our phones started way before that. In The Social Dilemma, one of the app developers for large companies admitted that it partially started with Gmail. Due to that being most people's communication online when cell phones first started coming out, they would just wait for the app to let them know when they received a message. Then came along Myspace, Facebook, Instagram... which are also apps that use up most peoples time of day now.
3. Major increase in anxiety
In The Social Dilemma, they also mentioned how anxiety and depression has had a major influx ever since social media has existed. If we don't have our phones near us but we hear a notification, we become very anxious to see what we are missing. As human beings, we are very curious and always want to know what is going on. Social media has only increased this now that we have everything right under our fingertips.
Overall, social media can be a more dangerous place then expected. After watching the first half of The Social Dilemma, I am challenging myself to lower the amount of time I spend on my phone each day. My goal is to lower my average daily use from eight and a half hours to only five hours. I know it is going to be a challenge for me, but I am going to do my best. I recommend that anyone reading this should also limit their time on their phone, but also on social media as well.
Wow this is so cool!
ReplyDeleteOlive!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, I think that it is super important to try and limit how long we are on our phones and on social media in general. Of course, we can't completely shut ourselves off from technology and the internet since practically the entire world revolves around both of those things. However, social media is something we can control ourselves. This can be very difficult because society for many years and even partially now still pushes people to believe that if you don't have social media or you aren't on it constantly then they are missing out on major cultural events which is not true at all. I think the belief in society is probably tied to the algorithm in many social media platforms that fixates on what people are interested in and feed them more in order to keep them on the platform.
I feel like we've normalized our addiction to cell phones and forgotten what life looks like without them. When you mentioned how we feel anxious to know what notifications we're missing, I felt called out. There are days where I'm rarely on my phone, but when I get a notification I feel the need to check it just in case it's an emergency.
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