Kylie Trexler

Senior Kody Staggs and sophomore Jimmy Resendiz Luna bonding over videos during class.

As the clock ticks closer to 4:30 PM, students sit at their desk, eyes glazed over waiting for the exact second they can grab their phones, itching for their first scroll since 8:50 AM. Months past implementation of the Texas phone ban, students are feeling the effects. Social media overconsumption in students is the root of this problem. 

    The increasing usage of social media platforms like TikTok have accelerated dangerous aspects of meme culture, defined by Webster’s Dictionary, as the collective digital phenomenon surrounding the creation, sharing and adaptation of internet memes. This progression has normalized mocking users of online platforms, develops a catalog of slang that limits communication and detaches young viewers from reality. By not addressing this issue, younger generations, such as Generation Alpha (2010-2024), are growing up with the idea that this behavior is not only okay but also the expectation.

    Limiting daily social media intake will allow old and new users to cleanse these dangerous habits. 

   In the middle of 2022,  a new trend marketed toward young boys on TikTok called “looksmaxxing” emerged. This trend consisted of teenagers posting about features that determine attractiveness such as canthal tilt, jawline and the shape of your eyes. Another large factor was finding male celebrities and deeming them the pinnacle of “looksmaxxing;” this trend is just one of many examples that show how platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are normalizing the flow of hateful comments that lead to a continual mocking of other users across social media platforms. A 2025 study conducted by Michael Halpin finds that In relation to looksmaxxing, studies demonstrate that social media can negatively impact the body image and mental health of both men and women. 

   Looksmaxxing is just scraping the surface of these harmful trends, as they have been around for decades and don’t seem to be stopping soon. Molly Crocket, a psychology researcher, set out to find what about the internet exactly makes humans feel so comfortable with being mean online; through that research, it was found that content that triggers and expresses outrage is much more likely to be shared. The growth of social media has made it more enticing than ever to be rude to other people on platforms. 

     Entering the school year, there is not a hall to be turned where the number “67” (pronounced “six-seven”) is not being echoed repeatedly. But this raises the question: what does 67 even mean? The slang phrase was developed in the summer of 2025 from the song “Doot Doot” by Skrilla as a way to say “I don’t care.” This phrase has since devolved and instead is being put to use as a general throw away term for any situation that teens see fit. The craze surrounding 67 is a perfect example of how current slang is evolving at a pace where the users of said slang can’t even stay put to one meaning. This, however, is not a unique circumstance to just the phrase 67. 

   In the past, words like “skibidi,” which was derived from an internet show, evolved into a phrase to describe something that is cool. The evolution of slang is faster than the development of the words themselves. This is limiting communication between social media users and those who are not on social media, therefore creating a gap between the newer and older generations. The lack of communication limits the development of crucial life skills for younger age groups, causing large setbacks in life skill development. 

   Elizabeth Ashleigh George, a graduate student studying communications at Swinburne University of Technology, found that communication limitation is a factor that leads to slowed development of necessary emotional skills such as empathy, causing harder development of relationships. Through this research, speaking a little more clearly and forming deeper, more meaningful conversations were found to be the most efficient ways to form relationships. The study also found that social media limits these exact skills. 

   While forming bonds is an integral part of childhood, being present is arguably the most important part. The outreach of social media has caused detachment from reality, often known as derealization. In 2020, derealization across the internet hit a peak when a trend called “shifting” became popularized. 

   This trend encouraged users to separate themselves from real life and instead write a script and move to a completely different reality. When Business Insider dug into the issue by interviewing former shifters, interviewee Anya Woods told Insider that she had to put a pause on shifting because it became an obsession; she said she “stopped liking things” in her “current reality” because she was constantly thinking of her other fantasy reality. This trend was just the beginning of derealization across the internet.

   Anna Ciaunica conducted research on use of the internet compared to the amount of depersonalization experienced. One of the things found is that an increased use of digital media-based activities correlated with high feelings of depersonalization. Depersonalization and derealization begin to evolve constantly when the internet is in the mix. This introduces young social media users to these negative effects early on, which leads to children with internet access detaching themself from reality. When children detach themselves so early on, their development is severely limited. 

   To ensure that the internet is not harming users, young or old, we must begin to monitor internet intake. Platforms like Instagram have already begun this process by introducing a one hour time limit on their app. There has also been an uptick of apps to help users decrease their screen time, such as “Focus Friend” by Hank Green.  By regulating the amount of time spent on the internet, we are largely decreasing the harmful effects that come from overconsumption or consumption in general.