Effects of Social Media On Introverted Students

January 27, 2023

Many of us can relate to feeling shy and intimidated while being on or around campus, we can also relate to having heavy usage of social media whether that be scrolling through endless Tik Toks or feeling insecure and comparing ourselves to others on Instagram. The effects of social media on introverted students is a growing problem with social media replacing face-to-face conversations. The over-usage of social media can be harmful to anyone but introverted students like myself hold comfort in their own space and may use social media too much in this case. As someone who uses social media, I have noticed whenever I have free time I’m reaching for my phone and going straight onto social media, I admit that my social media use has definitely taken up some of my study time. At the beginning of last semester, I noticed this and thought I would try and completely delete these apps from my phone just for a week and see how it goes. During this week I found myself being more productive and finding free time to do something else. Complaining about having no free time was a lie considering I spent most of it on my phone. Now of course I re-downloaded my social media apps because we live in a generation where it’s heavily relied on but I use it less, I recognize when I spend too much time with my phone and apply that to my everyday life.

Social media also isn’t a bad thing for us students considering it contains information all around the world, we can be exposed to languages and cultures from around the world in the palm of our hands, but when does it become a problem? Not just your grades can be affected, emotional stability is essential for students, social media can cause increases in anxiety and depression, and seeking likes and approval online takes an emotional toll on anyone. “Some studies report that 41.6% of college students report anxiety as a top concern”. As a student take a look at your screen time and think of ways you can lower it, even if it’s just recognizing that you spend too much time on your phone is a good start. Social media can be used for good but we need to know when to stop.