Time to log off : Keep aside your social media

 According to a 2018 survey, 95 percent teenagers have access to smart phones and out of them 45 percent condemn it that they constantly use them.

And the most used apps are generally the social media apps like Facebook, instagram, snapchat and so on. These social media has become a platform to express themselves to the world, of entertainment and communication.

But along with these they also have many negative effects on teenagers. But the teens, who are the actual prey of these social media cannot obviously get it. There has been an increase in the number of anxiety, depression and suicidal rates among the youths with the rise of the social media and increasing screen time.

Some internal research papers from Facebook leaked to the ‘Wall Street journal’ by whistleblower Frances Haugen have put it clearly how Facebook algorithms are purposefully addictive so that the teenagers spend more and more time on these platforms.

Well, everyone need not a Frances Haugen to realize the bad effects of social media apps – just like the 19 year old Emma Lembke of Washington University, St Louis, US. Emma felt the negative effects on her own. And that’s why she launched the Log Off movement in June 2020. The main agenda of this movement is to make those teenagers aware of the adverse effects of social media, who are actually facing it.

From an interview by Julie Halpert, we get to know that Emma joined instagram at the age of 12 which was her debut to social media. She claims that she would find herself spending at least 6 hours on those apps. And this caused disordered eating. She quite often felt bad about herself but she just could not stop scrolling through the app. She got so addicted to it.  

Emma went through different studies showing the correlation between anxiety, suicidal rates and eating disorder along with the increased usage. But the main thing for her was that people were not sharing their personal experiences on the harmful effects.

Her team publishes blogs, podcasts on how to use the online platforms safely. The educational curriculum discusses ways by which we can make this technology a tool again rather than our master not letting it control us. She also said that they have “an advocacy initiative through Tech Politics which pushes for laws that help ensure teens have a safe online experience, specifically the California Age Appropriate Design Code Bill”.

Emma suggests that we should use social media in a healthy way – which means interaction with others such that the user does not feel they are being harmed or their mental health is suffering.

Emma uses a number of apps to control her screen time. Some of them are Grayscale, Screentime Genie, Habit Lab. Be Real is her favourite app, which pushes a notification at a point in a day saying “it’s time to be real”.  These apps, she says create friction between her and the addictive platforms.

When asked about her ultimate goals, Emma says that she wants the apps prioritize the well being of the users. She wants a change where individuals can feel better protected and find healthier habits.