About two weeks ago, I made the switch from an iPhone SE to a Nokia 2780. The Nokia 2780 is a feature flip phone, released in 2023. It only cost me $90.

I did this because I am someone who, apparently, cannot have a good relationship with social media. I would end up spending too much time scrolling through different social platforms like Instagram and Tiktok, and since half the content I saw either involved politics or how I’m not a “masculine enough guy”, it made me overly anxious and self-conscious.

I know that what I’m saying is nothing new so far, as many studies have shown that social media can cause negative mental health effects. But as someone who no longer carries around a tiny supercomputer like everyone else, I’ve noticed quite a few things about modern internet culture. I’m just going to talk about two of them. (Please note that half of the stuff I say is likely nothing original; this is just my observations).

Lack of Care for School

I know that teenagers not caring about school is nothing new. But what I think is new is total lack of care for grades, and how they’ll affect your future.

I can’t help but look at students with stupidly low GPAs, like 1.7 or something, and think that this is not an understanding issue. This is a lack of actual trying, replaced by this dumb habit to just scroll and scroll, consuming as much mindless content as possible. 

With daily screen times on the rise, I don’t think this is an awful theory on my end. I’m sure that if screen times and social media was more regulated by parents, this just might not happen. But take my opinion with a grain of salt, I’m not a parent.

People Don’t Do Things Anymore

The title of this section is very arbitrary, I know, but hear me out.

From my personal experience, I feel as though teenagers don’t seem to want to leave their houses anymore. Which I think is a bit depressing, and I can’t help but feel as though social media may be at least somewhat responsible. The biggest piece of so-called evidence I have is the “bedrotting” trend.

At its core, the trend involved lying in bed for many hours a day, not sleeping, but rather doing passive activities, such as scrolling through social media or watching TV. I guess I can see the appeal, but I can’t shake the feeling that this sort of thing is just not healthy. And it being considered “trendy” and “normalized” should really not be happening.