Gen Zers report highest negative impact from social media, nonprofits working to change that

It’s no secret that people 25 and under, also known as Gen Zers, spend the most time on social media, and a McKinsey Health Institute study shows that a higher use of social media coincides with a poorer well-being.

The McKinsey study shows 35% of young people around the world say they spend more than two hours a day scrolling on social media.

"Embarrassingly, I spend probably six hours average on my phone," said 20-year-old Abigail Bettow, adding that her favorite app is TikTok, then Instagram.

"A lot of it is finding people that have common interests as you, connecting with different people that you would never meet in real life," Bettow said.

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D'allen Rutherford, 21, said he probably spends about nine hours on his phone per day, mostly playing games or on the app Snapchat.

Hailey Rhodes described her approximately 11 hours a day on the phone as "atrocious." She said she enjoys Instagram after spending too many hours scrolling on TikTok.

"It can be fun to curate yourself in a way which is very how you want it to be," Rhodes said, adding that social media is a great place to show off artwork too.

People across generations report more positive than negative impacts of social media, but when it comes to Gen Zers, 27% report a negative impact, which is more than any other generation.

"I’ll be talking to someone, and immediately I want to go on my phone. I would say it impacts me socially," said Rutherford, who deleted both Instagram and Facebook off his phone.

He’s not the only one cutting social media from his smartphone. College student Casper Borggreve deleted social media apps too. 

"I feel a little bit better, started reading more," Borggreve said, adding that he was too unproductive with the apps on his phone. "It is a trap. It’s very easy to get caught up in it, and I have especially, looking at myself and comparing myself to other people, it’s not fun."

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The study found most of the negativity revolves around fear of missing out, body image and self-confidence.

Priya Singh admits she spends seven to eight hours a day on her phone on the weekends, mostly communicating with people via WhatsApp or Instagram, but says she realizes the negative impacts of social media too.

"We start fantasizing about other people’s lives, blaming ourselves and getting negative," Singh said.

When she’s feeling particularly down after consuming too much social media, Singh said it helps to talk about it with friends and family.

Juliet Kuehnle, a licensed clinical mental health counselor in Charlotte, North Carolina, said telling Gen Zers to cut back on the social media doesn't go over well because it's all they have known.

"The conversation has to be much more collaborative than that. Because again, there are a lot of positives," Kuehnle said.

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She explained that the teens and young adults she works with say they feel like social media has power over them and they don’t have the agency to limit their screen time by themselves. She also said it’s important for people to not internalize negative feelings when a post doesn’t get a lot of likes or when someone else’s post makes you feel bad about yourself. 

"It’s constantly reminding ourselves of what makes up who we are. It's not our presence online," Kuehnle said when asked about the key to overcoming mental health struggles related to social media.

When discussing a time to allow children on social media, her general rule of thumb is to "hold off as long as you can." If it’s not something the family can tackle together, it may be time to bring in professional support.

In Minnesota, the nonprofit LiveMore ScreenLess received state funding in 2021 to work with teens and young adults on digital well-being. The organization conducted a series of focus groups with teens and young adults and found that people are "very well aware" of how addictive social media can be.

Co-founder and co-CEO KK Meyers, who was a high school English teacher for 25 years, said she watched in class as teens were introduced to phones, then smartphones, laptops, and iPads.

"I had a front row seat to seeing the changes that technology brought into the classroom in positive ways, but then also the role that it played in the mental health of my students," Meyers said.

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LiveMore ScreenLess offers digital well-being training and certification to camp counselors, teachers, nurses and coaches. The ultimate goal is to expand to all schools and after-school programs in Minnesota and across the country.

"We are not anti-tech," said co-founder and co-CEO Maree Hampton. "We are about how do you thrive in this digital age."