Social media is a huge part of our lives now, especially for younger people. It is common for teens to spend a lot of time on social media, with some spending five hours or more. Some of the most popular social media apps, Instagram and Snapchat, came out in the early 2010s (Instagram in 2010 and Snapchat in 2011), since then, they have become staples of every high school and college's student interactions.
I myself was a late adopter of both of these apps, as well as social media in general. Not only did I not get my first phone until 2019, but I was fervently opposed to social media as well, seeing it as a waste of time. While I still see it largely as a waste of time, it is helpful for long distance communication and relationship maintenance. I am able to easily send pictures and posts to friends back home. I only got social media around 2021, because it was all my friends used to communicate.
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I imagine the majority of people adopted social media for similar reasons. Younger people want to stay in touch with their friends, and while there is nothing wrong with that, social media has ulterior motives. Regardless, it is so widespread that anyone without social media is seen as weird by most, and noble by some. I believe we are at the point of laggards choosing to fight against it, and have passed the late adopters, where I believe I was.
As for the negatives of social media, there are a few glaring ones. First off, it significantly grows the "fear of missing out", causing people to be glued to these apps and sites out of fear they might miss someone asking them to do something. Second, people's self-image is torn apart by social media through the posts of models and celebrities. It emphasizes looks and outward appearances through posts instead of who people actually are, creating a vicious cycle of intense trends and body dysmorphia.
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