Social Media

Social media can either support true self-development or distract from it, depending on how it is used. Online bullying is more severe and more damaging than traditional in-person bullying. The article says modern digital life has replaced much solitude with a semi-connected state that draws attention outward. Anonymity on social media emboldens harmful behavior that would be far less likely in face-to-face interactions. Adolescents are physiologically oriented toward monitoring their place in peer hierarchies, and social media amplifies this tendency. Social media is identified as a primary driver of the current mental health decline in children. The article argues that too much connection can crowd out solitude needed to form an independent sense of one's thoughts and feelings. Video communication platforms such as Zoom and always-on digital life constitute additional digital stressors for children. A gap between public presentation and inner reality is presented as a useful object of curiosity.