How is ‘Instagram’ destroying youth psychology, a reality check

Instagram is strongly growing as one of the biggest social media platforms in 2019. According to the company, it has around 1 billion active users, and major chunk of them are young youth. Due to their rapid growth, many have raised questions about the impact Instagram has on its users and particularly teenagers. Although users use the app differently, most of them are experiencing the same negative issue. Moreover the surveys conducted by UK based Royal Society for Public Health of 1500 youngsters aged 14-25, the photo saturated app Instagram was found to be the worst app for our youth minds. These issues are:

Fake Profiles

The internet is filled with fake profiles, and Instagram is no different. You can easily find bot and fake account on Instagram. These accounts are generally created to boost the followers of a user. It has become a business to create and sell fake accounts. Some of these profiles are actually created using real-life images and their bio to sway opinion or impact a business sale. Some people take a step further and chat with people using these fake profiles. This generally doesn’t end up well for either side. Teenagers are the main victim as we can see many stories of teenager indulging in unlawful activities using fake profiles.

Editing apps, Curated Reality

Another dimension that Instagram has given is editing apps. We can say for sure than more than half of the pictures you see on Instagram has undergone editing. Even Instagram celebrity uses these editing apps to look beautiful and gain followers. This has made teenager weary that they need to use editing apps to look good. Such is the obsession of editing apps is that young people are editing even the shape of the nose, lips, hair, etc. to look good for their Instagram picture.

Fake Luxury Sells

Instagram was started to show off your artistic and creative skills. However, it has become a place to show off now using fake luxury. One such example is youth going to malls just to wear branded clothes and show off on Instagram. When they get more hearts, their action seems justified to them. This has a negative impact as youth are learning that showing off is good and that too with fake luxury which they don’t require. All of these are ingredients for spoilt learning, and Instagram is fueling this brand of showing off using fake luxury.

Feeling of Jealousy, Personal Comparison

Now that we know that most thing post on Instagram is an exaggeration of the truth, we need to understand what effect that has on other people. For instance, two childhood friends move to different during their college years. One of them show off and shows his life is filled with fun and happiness. The other friend sees this and starts becoming jealous of his friends. Subsequently, he tries to replicate that fun and happiness, he buys things and show off at an expense he can’t handle, and it all comes crashing down after some point. This act of jealously is what breeding in Instagram due to fake profiles, editing apps, and show off diverting the teenager from his path and destroys his mental health.

Teenagers Stimulated For Stress, Isolation

As we can clearly, there is more chaos on Instagram than silly. Young Teenagers who are 10 to 12 years old often drag themselves into this mess. Typically, their innocent heart gets hurt in this fake world, and with no one to guide them, they feel depressed and sees the world as evil and harmful. They isolate themselves and build a wall, restricting people to come close to them. This has an adverse effect on their physical and mental health as they are confined to themselves. They become introvert and doesn’t like spending time with other people who never works in their favor and alienate them in the world.

These are the ways how a social media platform, Instagram is destroying the future health of young youth. As we can clearly see youngster are more depressed than ever, and Instagram is contributing pretty substantially to it.