Are We Losing Our Individuality in the Crowd?

In todays times it feels as if peoples opinion on social media may matter more than our own opinions. Even if it's just checking feedback on a product, we are always seeking an outside opinion online.

I want you to think about your many opinions and beliefs. Truly ask yourself, are these opinions really your own? What made you form this point of view? Or rather - Who did? Are you conscious of your everyday decisions? What bias do you have? Why?

The following blog is from a college essay from my junior year of highschool. Read how I attacked this pressing issue to the best of my capablities.

Prompt: Describe a problem that you want to help solve-it can be local (in your school, community, or town) or global(state, country, globe). Why does this problem matter to you?

Response: A democracy exists when the citizens of a nation elect the representatives to lead the nation. But in a nation where citizens lack individuality and the ability to critically think for themselves, democracy cannot properly function. According to Airestech.com, a nanotechnology publication, “ the average U.S. teenager spends almost 45 hours on their phones each week.” That equates to around 40% of their waking hours spent on a phone per year. Put another way, each year, teens spend more hours on their phones than they would working a full-time job. Teenagers are slowly losing the ability to focus on long and intensive tasks due to the instant gratification that apps like TikTok promote. The repercussion is psychological damage to impressionable teenagers, ultimately causing them to lose the ability to form original thoughts and opinions. An unreasonable amount of teens are forming their opinions solely based on mainstream rhetoric found on social media. These same teenagers who are spending countless hours on social media, will inevitably become future voters for our nation. While many overlook the severity of this issue, I believe that we are already seeing the crippling impact of excessive social media use among teenagers in our society.

Internally, this issue weighs heavily on my heart because I refuse to live in a nation where its citizens lose the ability to think critically. It is imperative to have educated and free-willed citizens who can debate on how a nation should operate. Discussion is the only way a society can mature and grow sustainably. Therefore it is crucial that our nation is filled with educated individuals who possess the ability to hold difficult conversations. To confront this issue, teenagers need to understand the amount of time they are spending indulged on social media and the content they are absorbing. I would encourage my peers to rescue some time back from the black hole of social media and spend more time reading books, participating in sports/clubs, or dedicating time to community service. While these activities may not bring the instant gratification of social media, the fruit borne from dedication to them will exceed any results of mindless scrolling through TikTok. As teenagers engage in these beneficial activities today, they will foster a strong, healthy, and vibrant nation tomorrow.