Why We Crave Social Media

Screen time was my biggest issue over the summer. And still is. I spent the majority of my time endlessly scrolling on TikTok and posting for my so-called ¨friends¨ to see where I was. I say so-called because hundreds of the people I have added barely speak to me or know who I am. 

But yet, I don’t want to remove them or unfollow them because of the attention they give me. Seeing the notification, ¨_______ liked your story¨, gives me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. They liked it. They liked it so much they pressed the tiny heart button in the corner of their screen just to show me the smallest bit of attention. 

Over the years, I never had a clear answer to why social media is so important to me. Why it matters so much to have a perfect profile with absolutely no flaws. Even though I’m 16, I haven’t fully matured to know how or why I care so much. Social media is rewarding. All the likes and comments trigger a release of dopamine and create a sense of pleasure or accomplishment. That’s the scientific answer. But my answer is how easy it is to disengage from the ¨real world¨ when you are using it. Like a utopia or separate universe to distract you from real-life problems.

People often visit art galleries all the time to view masterpieces created by famous artists. But. m just a 16-year-old girl navigating her way through adolescence who happens to have a cute profile picture. Not Vincent Van Gogh or Pablo Picasso. The hundreds of skinny blonde girls spend hours perfecting their story to say, ¨Hey! I’m at yet another coffee shop with the girls I secretly hate! I hope you love the basic song and filter I chose this time!¨. They’re the true ¨artists¨. I’m not trying to compare my posts to forms of art, but we worry about what we post so much because we care so deeply about what others will think of it. Will the 300 people who will most likely not acknowledge my existence in public like my post? Will the girl whom I still follow because I feel bad even though she talked badly about me, like my post? Girls who are obsessed and glued to their screens (like me) crave attention from their peers. They crave feeling noticed for their curled hair or baby pink top. It is normalized in our generation to care so deeply about what society thinks of you. For the person you are inside and outside. But when we post on social media, they can only see the outside version. The version you create for everyone else to see. I think what’s most important is the person your closest friends get to see. Even if the person you are cares about how many likes you get on a TikTok.