YOUTH VOICES
How Gen Z Is Fighting Back Against Big Tech
chat or TikTok is, at most American schools today, to be in a distinct and socially left-out minority. Even before the pandemic, 95% of teens in the U.S. had their own smartphone or access to one, according to 3HZ 5HVHDUFK &HQWHU DQG KDG DW OHDVW RQH DFWLYH VRFLDOPHGLD SUR¿OHDFFRUGLQJWRWKH$PHULFDQ$FDGHP\RI&KLOGDQG$GROHVFHQW Psychiatry. At the same time, research is increasingly showing that smartphone and social media use is connected with heightened anxiety, depres- sion, self-harming behaviors, and sleep deprivation in teens. ,QZKHQSV\FKRORJLVW-HDQ7ZHQJHSXEOLVKHGDQDUWLFOHLQ7KH Atlantic linking increased smartphone use with a 56% rise in suicide UDWHVLQ$PHULFDQVDJHV±EHWZHHQDQGKHU¿QGLQJV were widely dismissed. “The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect
BY ELAINE MEYER Many in this generation are aware of what they have lost by having grown up on social media, so they’re logging off and working to create a safer, healthier future. As a seventh grader, Emma Lembke was one of the last in her friend group in Birmingham, Alabama, to get on social media. When she did, VKHVD\VVKHVRRQIRXQGKHUVHOIDGGLFWHGVSHQGLQJ¿YHKRXUVDGD\RQ the apps, mostly Instagram. “At an important developmental period in my life as a young fe- male, as a young kid, in middle school, [I got] wound up in this world RI OLNHV FRPPHQWV YHU\ GHHSO\ TXDQWL¿DEOH PHDVXUHV RI P\ YDOXH addictive algorithms, and the endless scroll,” she says.
of teenagers’ lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health,” she wrote. But our understanding of social me- GLD KDV FKDQJHG GUDPDWLFDOO\ VLQFH with recent revelations by Facebook whis- tleblower Frances Haugen that the com- pany’s own research found that teen girls’ eating disorders and body image issues got worse on Instagram. This came as there was already a growing awareness of the negative H̆HFWVRIKHDY\VRFLDOPHGLDXVHEHFDXVHRI the forced isolation of the pandemic. The UHOHDVH RI 7KH 6RFLDO 'LOHPPD RQ 1HWÀL[ LQ 6HSWHPEHU ZKLFK IHDWXUHV IRUPHU employees of Facebook, Google, and Twitter revealing the addictive, emotionally manip- ulative design of these apps, furthered this cause.
When Lembke reached what she calls a “breaking point” in ninth grade, she began ORRNLQJ LQWR WKHH̆HFWVRIVRFLDOPHGLD6KH found research articles, statistics, and a now ZLGHO\ VKDUHG7('[7DON WKDW DOO VXJJHVWHG to her that the anxiety, body image issues, and isolation she thought she was alone in feeling were in fact linked to social media use.
'XULQJ WKH SDQGHPLF /HPENH ZKR LV now 19 and a freshman at Washington Uni- YHUVLW\ VWDUWHG DQ RUJDQL]DWLRQ FDOOHG /RJ 2̆ ZKLFK SURYLGHV UHVRXUFHV IRU UHGXFLQJ screen time, advice for better digital well-be- ing, a curriculum for schools on navigating social media, and a place to submit personal stories so teens can break what Lembke says is a stigma around admitting that use of so- cial media is making them miserable. The JURXSKDVVLQFHJURZQWRDWHDPRIGLJLWDO\RXWKDGYRFDWHVIURP GL̆HUHQWFRXQWULHV “I was unaware of the heavy editing and toxicity of the body stan- dards present on the apps, but what I was aware of was how I was not meeting that preset standard,” starts one anonymous story published RQ WKH RUJDQL]DWLRQ¶VZHEVLWH ³,ZLVK VRPHRQHZRXOG KDYH WROGPH to never get on the apps as a young, highly insecure 7th grader. It has WDNHQ\HDUVRIVHOIGLVFLSOLQHDQGUHÀHFWLRQWRJHWWRDSODFHZKHUH,FDQ look in the mirror and smile.” /RJ2̆LVSDUWRIDJURZLQJ*HQHUDWLRQ=PRYHPHQWSXVKLQJEDFN against companies like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, and the way they control teens’ social lives. Those born between 1995 DQG DUH RIWHQ SRUWUD\HG DV ³GLJLWDO QDWLYHV´ ZKR DUH JOHHIXOO\ glued to their phones. But they, like all age groups, are struggling with WKHPHQWDOKHDOWKH̆HFWVRIVSHQGLQJKRXUVLQZRUOGVWKDWHQFRXUDJH KHDY\VRFLDOFRPSDULVRQDQGYDOXHWKHTXDQWL¿DEOHWKHRSWLPL]DEOH and the performative over the authentic. Forty-two percent of Gen Z-ers now say they’re “addicted” to social media and couldn’t quit if they tried, and more than half believe life was better before social me- dia, according to polling by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. “Teens face a choice: Either risk your social circle or risk your men- tal health,” Lembke says. The Social Media Generation Unlike older adults, Gen Z never really had a meaningful choice about whether to use social media. To not be on Instagram or Snap-
,QWKHSDVW\HDUDQRQSUR¿WKHDGHGE\7KH6RFLDO'LOHPPDSURWDJ - onist Tristan Harris called the Center for Humane Technology—per- KDSVWKHRUJDQL]DWLRQWKDWKDVGRQHWKHPRVWWRUDLVHDZDUHQHVVRIDQG put pressure on Big Tech—has begun heavily supporting the work of young activists. 7KLVLQFOXGHV/RRN8SDQRQSUR¿WWKDWIXQGV\RXQJSHRSOHWRUDLVH awareness about digital wellness and develop more ethical and inclu- VLYHWHFK7KHRUJDQL]DWLRQZDVIRXQGHGLQ E\6XVDQ5H\QROGV D IRUPHU (QJOLVK WHDFKHU DW D SULYDWH ER\V VFKRRO LQ &RQFRUG0DV - sachusetts, who began researching the impacts of tech after noticing WKHDGGLFWLYHQHVVRI$2/,QVWDQW0HVVHQJHULQWKHODWH VIRUKHU DQGKHUVWXGHQWV%\WKHVVKHZDVPHHWLQJZLWKFROOHJHVWXGHQWV to share research on associations between smartphone use and weak- ened cognitive capacity and sleep disruption. “What was clear to me was that [teens] needed data, but they didn’t QHHGPHWHOOLQJWKHPZKDWWRGR´5H\QROGVVD\V In the past year, LookUp has expanded, with chapters in the Unit- HG.LQJGRP,QGLDDQG$IULFD,Q2FWREHUWKHRUJDQL]DWLRQKRVWHGD \RXWKVXPPLWWKDWGUHZUHJLVWUDQWVDQGIHDWXUHGPRUHWKDQ \RXWKVSHDNHUVDVZHOODVDSDQHOKRVWHGE\'HYDO3DWULFNWKHIRUPHU JRYHUQRURI0DVVDFKXVHWWV DQG UHPDUNVE\0DVVDFKXVHWWV6HQ(G - ZDUG0DUNH\ZKRLVFRVSRQVRULQJWKH.,'6$FW,ISDVVHGWKLVOHJLV - lation would ban social media’s addictive features, such as autoplay, push alerts, and follower counts, for users under 16. 5LWRP*XSWD GLUHFWRU RI FRPPXQLW\ HQJDJHPHQW IRU/RRN8S India, believes raising awareness is especially important for his peers.
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PATHWAYS—Spring 22—15
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