Generation Z aka Gen Z consists of individuals born during the range of years 1995 to 2012. It’s a generation that has never quite known the world without the existence of the internet. Having been born at the beginning of the initiation of the World Wide Web, Generation Z quite frankly earns the title of being a ‘digital native’ and faces an inescapable influence of the technological era in their lives. From their high dependence on media consumption for entertainment purposes to their intrinsic reliance on the digital world for knowledge curation and limitless communication, the Internet satisfies all of this generation’s desires at the click of a button (Chicca & Shellenbarger, 2018).
The internet and social media platforms, in particular, are huge contributors to instant gratification among individuals of this generation. They not only make it simple and easy to obtain means of entertainment, interaction, and knowledge, but they also create a consistent mental stimulation that entices people to use these platforms for indefinite periods of time.
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This of course takes time, minimal effort on the consumer’s part, and a strong attachment to the digital communication or content being produced. Inevitably facilitating a dangerous and vicious cycle of technological addiction, leading us to our main question for today. Does technological addiction to social media platforms lead to unhealthy habit formation within Gen Z, and if so, how does it psychologically impact their mental health and well-being?
Let’s examine Instagram as one such social media platform, given its immense popularity amongst Generation Z and its widespread use for a variety of purposes. Instagram as a platform is typically utilised for four purposes:
a) personal branding,
b) entertainment,
c) connectivity, and
d) as a source of information.
As a means for personal branding, Instagram provides integral tools to manage one’s reputation, style, look, attitude and skill set to represent the best image of an individual’s personality, organisation or service making it an essential commodity for a profitable career. Moreover, personal branding promotes an individual’s efficacy, identity and control within their surroundings and is always the key to influencing their opportunities and advancement within society.
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For Gen Z in particular, the use of Instagram in projecting themselves is even more so due to the ease and fluidity with which they move across the platform whether they’re conversing with others, collaborating on projects, learning through endless access to unique accounts or simply enjoying media created (Vitelar, 2019).
Instagram’s social immersion, which includes entertainment and connectivity with others, is a distinctly defining characteristic of this generation. Gen Z is estimated to spend about nine hours per day engaging with media, staring at displays on their devices, multitasking, and ultimately spending a total of 13 hours per day, on average, on social media.
As a result Instagram quite obviously becomes a part of their daily routines owing to regular engagement as 60% of users are reported to visit the platform at least once a day and spend over two hours on every visit. This naturally includes online communication and the sharing of information through social media platforms, and these features are powerfully used and thereby have a significant impact on how Gen Z behaves, shapes their personalities, forms relationships, and views themselves, serving as the foundation of their self-image, self-esteem, and self-confidence. (Kemp and Childers, 2021)
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The connection between Instagram use and declining mental health has become a growing concern. From highly repeated use of the platform to the ingratiation of Instagram trends and content in a person’s personality, routines, and emotional life it has a significant impact on their subjective well-being. A prominent reason for Instagram’s noticeable detrimental effect on psychological health is extraneous stressors. These include stress and anxiety caused as a result of social comparison.
This is recognized when their peers share peak experiences, flattering images, their achievements or cherished relationships via social media and this leads to an increase in anxiety stemming from a need to belong. The sheer thought of being an outside, or at the risk of being an outsider can lead them to excessively worry and stress about managing their social media networks and creating superficial social ties that may often be void of genuine, human connection but pose as strong social capital providing individuals with a false sense of security and support.
Moreover, this social connectedness further fuels the individual’s need to possess a feeling of belongingness and high self-esteem which is consistently validated through likes and comments contributing to a technological addiction and dependence on Instagram (Kemp and Childers, 2021).
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Burnout, body image issues and depressive disorders as a result of comparing themselves to others, sharing content promoting risk-taking behaviours and posting negative content or utilising Instagram negatively to cope with life situations. Research shows that individuals are more likely to become insecure or ruminate in negative emotions due to their perceived inferiority gained from comparing themselves to individuals who post the highs of their lives as part of their exaggerated aesthetic online personas.
An appropriate example of this perceived inferiority is often viewed by young adult women who often set unrealistic body goals for themselves as they compare themselves to models and actresses who portray the perfect lifestyle full of healthy meals, exercise and clean skincare routines when in fact they are facilitated by professionals in their respective industries whether it be professional nutritionists, hair stylists, dermatologists etc., to achieve an airbrushed and unattainable look (Robinson et al., 2018).
Additionally, research concludes that an increased role of social media in Gen Z’s lives has led to an unhealthy increase in dependence and emotional attachment to their devices. Gen-Z youth have taken to technology and Instagram as a means of avoiding struggles in their reality by escaping into dopamine-filled fantasies, to occupy both their time and to fill emotional voids. This observable trend of severe attachment has not only attributed to a decrease in coping capability with a specific focus on being unable to manage frustration, fear and uneasiness but has also contributed negatively to their academic achievement and caused a decline in grades.
These factors lead us to believe that there is a significant decline in Gen Z’s emotional and social development as they struggle to connect in person with their peers due to avoidance of difficult behavioural situations, a lowered want to feel emotions or unpleasant thoughts and the decreased in opportunities to develop healthy coping mechanisms as a result of a declining face to face communication, high-frequency usage and established normalcy due to social interest in Instagram as a platform (Turner, 2015).
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