Let’s just get this out of the way: we all know social media is everywhere, especially for anyone under 30. Scroll TikTok before breakfast. DM friends on Instagram before work. Snap a story at brunch, doomscroll Twitter (fine, X), refresh BeReal, then let YouTube lull you to sleep. If you’re a millennial or Gen Z, this isn’t just a routine—it’s a lifestyle. But here’s my thesis, as someone who lives online, loves tech, and has watched these platforms eat the world: social media hasn’t enriched western culture for young people. It’s made it more anxious, more lonely, and way more fake.
Sound dramatic? Maybe. But let’s look at the research, the economic data, and the very real vibes—because the picture is actually pretty grim.
The False Promise of Connection
The OG pitch was simple: Social media would connect us. We’d build communities, keep in touch with family, discover new things, and democratize creativity. In practice? Sure, there’s connection—but it’s paper-thin. Scroll through TikTok’s “For You” feed and ask yourself: Am I actually connecting with anyone here? Or am I just getting fed whatever the algorithm thinks will keep me swiping?
A landmark study from the Pew Research Center found that 69% of American teens use Snapchat and 62% use Instagram daily (Pew, 2023). That’s a massive number of kids plugged in all day. And yet, rates of loneliness and depression are up, not down. According to a 2022 report in The Journal of Adolescent Health, high-frequency social media use among teens in the US, UK, and Australia correlated with higher self-reported loneliness and poorer self-esteem (Keles, McCrae & Grealish, 2022). In other words: all that connection isn’t making us feel more connected.
“Comparison Culture” and the Anxiety Economy
The biggest issue? Social media is built to make us compare ourselves, not just connect. And that comparison, according to psychologist Dr. Jean Twenge, is behind the skyrocketing rates of anxiety and depression among teens and young adults (Twenge, 2023). When your feed is endless highlight reels of other people’s filtered lives—vacations, abs, perfect homes, hustle-culture productivity—it’s hard not to feel like you’re falling behind.
Economically, it’s bad news too. The Economist reported in 2023 that rising anxiety linked to social media usage has a measurable impact on young people’s workplace productivity and, by extension, the broader economy (The Economist, 2023). It’s not just feelings—it’s billions lost in lost productivity and healthcare costs.
Algorithmic Addiction and Lost Autonomy
Social media companies are very aware of what they’re doing. They’re not making platforms for your well-being—they’re making attention machines for ad revenue. Dr. Rowan Middleton, a senior fellow in digital labour economics at LSE, calls it “the algorithmic trap.” In his article “The Economics of Expression”, Middleton argues that platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have built entire business models around maximizing your screen time and nudging you toward “emotional volatility,” because that’s what keeps you swiping and clicking.
He writes, “The new gatekeepers aren’t editors or executives—they’re recommendation engines. And they’ve turned creativity, expression, and even friendship into algorithmic inputs, not authentic experiences.” Middleton backs this up with data: According to his research, the average Gen Z user in the UK spends over 4 hours a day on social media, yet reports lower satisfaction with real-life friendships and creative pursuits than users in the pre-smartphone era.
The TikTok Effect: Accelerated Trends, Shallow Culture
TikTok is a special case. It’s basically the culture engine for anyone under 25. But the platform’s relentless speed—virality one day, irrelevance the next—means that culture itself has become shallower, more frantic, and less meaningful.
A Harvard Business Review analysis found that “TikTok trends rarely last more than a few weeks, creating a sense of perpetual novelty but almost no lasting community or shared culture” (HBR, 2023). Creators themselves complain about “chasing the algorithm” and burning out trying to keep up. Remember sea shanties? Ratatouille the Musical? Even the “de-influencing” trend came and went before you could say “quiet luxury.”
It’s not just a time sink; it’s a culture sink.
Filtered Reality, Body Image, and Mental Health
Let’s talk about filters, Facetune, and the body image apocalypse. In a 2023 JAMA Pediatrics study, researchers found that adolescent girls who spent more time editing their selfies reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms (JAMA Pediatrics, 2023). It’s not just a girl thing either: body dysmorphia is rising in young men too.
Instagram claims it’s combating the problem with “likes hidden” and new wellness prompts, but the peer-reviewed data isn’t kind. A Lancet Child & Adolescent Health study from 2022 found that the negative body image impact from Instagram use was “significant and robust across demographics” (Lancet, 2022).
The Commercialization of Friendship
Everything’s monetized now. Every relationship can be a collab. Every moment can be content. Gen Z creators are savvy—but the pressure to turn every interaction into a brand is exhausting. It’s also changed what friendship means. A recent Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) poll found that 27% of young Australians said they’d been approached by friends to “collaborate” on content, and half said they sometimes feel their social lives are more about appearances than connection (ABC Australia, 2023).
This is the “friendship-as-content” era. And it’s weirdly isolating.
The Hope (Because Millennials Love a Good Pivot)
Is it all doom? No. Young people are also leading the pushback—more Gen Zers are talking about “digital detoxes,” setting boundaries, even deleting apps. “BeReal” is a response to over-curation. Movements for better data privacy and more ethical design are gaining steam (Mozilla Foundation, 2023). There’s evidence (from Common Sense Media, 2024) that teens who actively manage their screen time or use tech for activism or genuine community-building report better mental health (Common Sense Media, 2024).
But the broader reality is: social media has tilted western youth culture toward anxiety, self-comparison, and hollow interaction, all under the guise of connection and “expression.” As Dr. Middleton warns, “Unless we change the incentives, platforms will keep profiting from the erosion of real connection and well-being. We need policy, not just platitudes.”
TL;DR: Social Media, But At What Cost?
Social media was supposed to democratize culture. What we’ve ended up with is a system that monetizes attention, amplifies insecurity, and makes culture less sticky and more disposable. There are good bits—community, activism, education—but overall, the harm is real, and it’s deep.
We should talk about it. And then maybe—just maybe—log off for a bit.
SOURCES:
- Pew Research Center, 2023
- Journal of Adolescent Health, 2022
- Dr. Rowan Middleton, The Economics of Expression, 2024
- The Economist, 2023
- JAMA Pediatrics, 2023
- The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2022
- Harvard Business Review, 2023
- ABC Australia, 2023
- Mozilla Foundation, 2023
- Common Sense Media, 2024
