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Carina's avatar

There’s a lot of truth here, especially about isolation and shallow relationships, but I don’t think we can explain the link without considering why teen girls are most affected.

Girls are more likely to struggle with body image. It’s common for girls to take hundreds of selfies, choose the best angles, photoshop them, add filters, and post... and then anxiously monitor the likes and comments. When your whole feed is glamour shots, it’s easy to look in the mirror and feel inadequate.

Another factor is that while girls are less physically violent, they hurt each other with malicious gossip and exclusion. Social media amplifies these behaviors. Female “friends” talk behind each other's backs, then when alliances shift they might send screenshots of the catty comments, which is devastating for the victim.

Social media also makes it obvious when a girl has been excluded. She will see photos of the party (no one invited me) or the coffee shop hangout (you said you were busy). Girls take this hard.

Boys also struggle with body image and belonging, so I’m not saying this is unique to girls. But the fact that girls seem to be most affected is important for understanding the problem.

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Steve T's avatar

As a high school teacher for the last 10 years, my biggest observation is the extent to which cell phones began as a way for students to connect with one another ("stop texting your friends during class!") and have now primarily become a way for students to isolate from one another. ("Stop playing a game or watching videos!")

I think what we're seeing is that social media is now more of a simulation of connection than actual connection. Because of algorithmic feeds and the "pivot to video," kids are basically accessing a personal hard drive that's been curated by the largest corporations in America. So they're going through all of the motions that one might go through if they want to connect with their peers, they're being told that that's exactly what they're doing, but they are absolutely not getting their most essential human needs met. And it's getting worse.

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