I use social media more than I care to admit. However, no matter how much I try to lessen my screen time, I can never pull myself away from Instagram.
Like every social media app, Instagram’s algorithm is designed to keep the user engaged for as long as possible. Through analyzing behavior and curating content that aligns with their behavior, it keeps you glued to your screen. The more you keep your eyes on Instagram, the better.
However, what makes Instagram different from other social media platforms is its monotony. Instagram is boring enough for me to wonder why I’m scrolling, but the algorithm is powerful enough to keep me there.
One of the most concerning consequences of this design is the tendency for users to engage in doomscrolling. Doomscrolling is a term for spending excessive amounts of time on social media just scrolling through content that could make one sad, angry, anxious, etc. Users can find themselves trapped in a cycle of despair as they scroll through a never-ending stream of alarming headlines, disturbing images, and sensationalized posts. Rather than simply allowing you to experience moments in your friends’ lives as they happen as their mission statement suggests, Instagram becomes a breeding ground for anxiety, fear, and cultivates a distorted sense of reality.
The allure of doomscrolling lies in its immediacy.
In a world where information travels lightning fast, social media users are constantly bombarded with news about tragedies, crises, and injustices happening all over the world. The Instagram algorithm, like almost every other social media algorithm, capitalizes on this urgency, presenting whatever content it needs that keep users engaged. For many, the desire to stay informed or give their own opinions morphs into a subconscious obsession, refreshing feeds over and over again.
If you’ve used Instagram recently, you’ve probably seen your fair share of Reddit “Am I The A**hole” posts, where commenters are asked to pick a side. The more outrageous the story, the more comments, the more it gets spread. The more people that are sucked into Instagram.
While Instagram can still be used to look at a friend’s photos, its recommended page has become a garbage dump of content from other sites, like the Reddit posts mentioned above. Every other post is a repost from Twitter, Tumblr, or TikTok. Instagram has no individuality.
Moreover, too much Instagram (and other social media) use has detrimental effects on teens brains.
“A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed that teens who use social media more than three hours per day may be at heightened risk for mental health problems,” Jefferson Health says.
However, the consequences of these dynamics extend beyond individual mental health issues. There is evidence that young people’s attention spans are getting shorter.
“We started studying attention span length over 20 years ago,” Gloria Mark, an attention researcher at the University of California, Irvine, said in an interview with CBS News, “We would shadow people with a stopwatch, and every time they shifted attention, we’d click, ‘Stop’ In 2003, we found that attention spans averaged about two-and-a-half minutes on any screen before people switched. In the last five, six years, they’re averaging 47 seconds on a screen.”
Thus, what can be done to combat these issues? Though it is easy to tell people to just “Get off their phones,” the responsibility does not lie solely with social media users. These companies, particularly Instagram, must take proactive steps to prioritize users heath and well being. The algorithm they have is a very powerful tool and must be wielded well.
Additionally, open conversations about social media’s impact can help young people recognize the signs of doomscrolling and establish healthier boundaries around social media usage. Encouraging critical thinking about content people see online can empower them to actively curate their feeds and ignore purposefully outrageous, seeking out positivity and support instead of negativity and despair.
As we navigate this modern, digital age, we must advocate for responsible social media practices and foster a culture that prioritizes the well-being of its users. Only then can we hope to create a healthier digital landscape for the future.
