Faux-cial Media

In a recent article, New York psychologist and academic, Jonathan Haidt, showed (via a CDC survey report) what he believed to be conclusive evidence that the rapid rise in anxiety and depression among Gen Z is directly linked to the widescale uptake of social media platforms. 

Interestingly the findings indicate that COVID has made little impact on the overall trends which have been climbing steadily since 2012, the year Facebook took over Instagram and, perhaps significantly, just after the time when the front facing camera was introduced on smart phones.

He argues that the historical analysis, which concluded that social media’s correlation with anxiety is not sufficiently high to be labelled the major culprit, is false and that there is now sufficient data to conclude that social media (particularly Instagram) is the major causal factor contributing to depression and anxiety in teenage girls– to the surprise of not many of us. He does stress that social media is not the only factor – but that it is the most significant one. 

(this is a graph from a survey of 19,000 British children as they matured through adolescence. Note that such a graph of itself only demonstrates correlation not necessarily causation, which relies on further data and analysis)

Haidt also points out that unlike cutting back on sugar, where personal withdrawal can reduce the negative effects quickly, withdrawal from excessive social media may be more problematic. 

This is because the whole teen culture has now been transformed, and individual withdrawal, in a context where the whole cohort still relates and functions around the anchor of social media, may not reduce anxiety for the individual. This is one reason why this is such a challenge for teens and parents alike.

Unfortunately, things aren’t getting easier.

If you haven’t bumped into it yet, a new augmented reality filter has landed via Tik Tok. This beauty filter has been used over 16 million times and it contours your cheekbone and jawline, highlights the tip of your nose, the area under your eyebrows, and the apples of your cheeks. In addition, it lifts your eyebrows, applies a shimmer to your eyelids, and gives you thick, long, black eyelashes and whitens your eyes and teeth. 

It turns the average face into that of a photoshopped model and, most importantly, it is seamless and doesn’t glitch when you move like most current filters. Even those trialling it for fun look visibly deflated when they turn off the filter and return to their actual face.

Like many parents of teenage girls, I am trying to navigate a response. It isn’t easy and I have no silver bullet. I am trying to educate myself and am worried that even with the lines drawn in my own household, I may have missed the boat to some degree. I am challenged by Haidt’s observation that few parents would knowingly let their daughters become heavy users of anything else that had a similar level of correlation with mental illness.

I am hopeful that my children come to the party on this. That when they get to an age where smart phones are permitted (Year 10 in our case) they are also at an age where we can have conversations about their inherent risks, and we can collaborate in finding ways of developing self-discipline around usage and a deep understanding of how their value ultimately hinges on the fact that God thinks they are absolutely beautiful in the most meaningful sense of the word. 

Unfortunately, because I subsequently intermix these messages with ‘DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND CLEAN YOUR ROOM!’ I may be less successful in this endeavour than I would like…

Ultimately, this cannot be the end of the conversation. We are called to be a people of hope and challenging the seemingly irresistible tide of pervading culture is not something new to God’s people. 

So, I encourage you to continue to grapple, pray, learn, and, importantly, talk with your kids about how they are finding this space – they may be ahead of you in recognising the danger but have no clear path through and would value your support.