Once upon a time, anxiety came from exams, awkward school dances, or wondering if your crush noticed your new hoodie. Fast forward to now, and anxiety has taken a modern, pocket-sized form—social media.
Let’s be clear: social media isn’t evil. It’s brilliant for sharing memes, discovering obscure hobbies like competitive cheese rolling, or stalking your favourite band’s cat. But for many teens, social media anxiety is creeping in like that one relative who always overshares at family gatherings.
This particular brand of anxiety comes from the pressure to be “on” all the time. Did I post enough? Too much? Why did Alex like my photo but not comment? Why do I have 237 followers but only 14 likes on my post? Am I cringe?
It’s exhausting.
The thing is, social media doesn’t show real life. It shows the best-lit, most-filtered, highlight-reel version of life. Nobody’s posting a photo of themselves ugly-crying over dropped ice cream. But when you're scrolling endlessly through other people's perfect holidays, relationships, and spontaneous aesthetic breakfasts, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind at... well... existing.
This fear of missing out (FOMO) is like social media's little dark sidekick. Teens report feeling left out when they see friends hanging out without them — even if it was just an innocent get-together. Suddenly you're spiralling: did I do something wrong? Am I being ghosted? Should I become a hermit and live in the woods?
And then there’s the pressure to respond instantly. Left someone on read for five minutes? Expect the passive-aggressive "???" message. Anxiety spikes. Heart races. Congratulations—you’ve officially been guilt-tripped by an app.
So what can be done? Well, experts recommend little things like setting screen limits, turning off notifications, or having 'phone-free' hours (yes, really). Others go full renegade and delete apps altogether for a digital detox.
Ultimately, social media should be like hot sauce—fun in small doses, dangerous in excess. It’s okay to curate your feed, unfollow people who make you feel bad, and most importantly—remind yourself that nobody has it all together, no matter how good their selfie game is.
Your mental health isn’t worth sacrificing for a few likes. And trust me—your dog doesn’t care how many followers you have. They just want snacks.
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