Teens Afraid of Missing Out?
The importance of social media over the past few years has been drastically increasing among teenagers. Teenagers admit to using social media almost constantly, if they do not use social media, 34 percent of young adults say they are scared of losing out on things. When they do not look at incoming messages immediately, 22 percent feel uncomfortable. By 37 percent, no Internet connection is considered unpleasant. Compared with 2015, both of these metrics have improved. Older social media consumers are less fearful of losing out on things (17 percent) and are not as restless when their posts will not be reviewed immediately(12 percent). They are less likely to find it unpleasant that they do not go online (22 percent) compared to young adults. These stats do show a shift in mentality over the past years and the oncoming ones.
With the ownership of smartphones among teens drastically increasing. It’s difficult to determine how much social media use is too much, but it definitely has an impact on young people to continuously look for likes, feedback or new posts from peers and several reports show that it’s not a positive one. Furthermore, with the addition of COVID social media has become more of a necessity rather than a choice. This reliance will cost us heavily if we do not tackle the issue as soon as possible.
