Recently on my podcast “The Gist.” We discussed a story about a rise in “Tics” amongst girls during the pandemic, the belief is that TikTok was the reason. If you want to hear more about that, check out episode 23 of “The Gist” This isn’t the main point of this article.
People are catching more than “Tics” on “TikTok.” While there is a lot of good on social media platforms such as TikTok, there is a lot of bad. I’m not going to argue about the content on these platforms.
While the content is an important topic, the amount of time teens spend on platforms like TikTok is more critical. From what I found, it is believed that teens spend an average of nine hours a day on social media.
This is a huge number! I believe there are good things on social media, but I am a firm believer in the importance of using your time wisely.
There is a lot of harmless content on these platforms, but also a lot of not-so harmless content on these platforms. When you are spending hours a day on these platforms, you will come across some of the more harmful posts.
One study published by JAMA Psychiatry reported that youth who spend more than 3 hours a day are at 60 percent higher risk of mental health problems compared to those who do not use social media at all. Those logged into their online accounts for 6 hours or more increase their risk by 78 percent.
As stated earlier, the average teen spends roughly 9 hours a day on social media.
I found an article from “The Pew Research Center” by A.W. GEIGER AND LESLIE DAVIS to go along with this data. That stated, “The total number of teenagers who recently experienced depression increased 59% between 2007 and 2017. The rate of growth was faster for teen girls (66%) than for boys (44%).”
So, depression rising amongst teens in general and mental issues directly relates to social media.
Gen Z is catching a virus, and I don’t blame social media or the content creators on these platforms. Parents and young adults need to take responsibility for their children’s time and their own time.
Time is valuable, and how you use your time determines who you are and how you feel about yourself.
When you are pursuing a purpose or even spending time looking for your purpose, you will be more fulfilled than when you spend all day comparing yourself to everyone else.
There have always been things that try to steal your time. Social media is just what’s popular right now.
You have to learn how to guard your time and spend it on the things that matter instead of the things that don’t.
So, you can live a refreshing and more fulfilled life.
