In this day and age, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who does not participate in any form of social media. With platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Twitter standard on nearly every screen we interact with, social media would be impossible to disregard.
However available it is, and the fact of life that it seems to be, social media can have addictive properties that can negatively impact our lives. Too much exposure to social media can lead to the following adverse effects on one’s mental health:
- Anxiety
- Eating disorders
- Depression
- Suicide
- Self-harm
- Low self-esteem
Adolescents and children seem to be the most vulnerable to social media addiction. This has led the families of these young people to pursue lawsuits concerning social media addiction.
Why Choose to Be Protected by the Herd with Bighorn Law
- One of the cornerstones of our firm is accessibility. Our clients always have access to information about their cases. We have dedicated client meeting rooms and online portals for our clients so that they are always informed.
- Results drive us and will push through the complexities of your case to find the most generous and fair settlement possible for our valued clients.
- Accountability and justice are what we seek from those who wrong our clients. Moreover, we expect accountability from our team as well. You can count on us to deliver uncompromised attention to your case.
Social Media Deliberately Markets to Younger Users
Facebook (Meta), in 2016, instructed its employees to concentrate on drawing in more teenagers, as stated by an executive who had previously worked for Instagram. One-third of the site’s users are between 18 and 24 years old. Minors make up at least 8% of the users.
These numbers may be higher since kids have been known to fib about their ages. One must be 13 to join the social media giant, but kids who are younger slip by in unknown numbers.
25% of TikTok’s followers are made up of people who are between 10 and 19 years old. In contrast, Facebook claims around 21% of its users are under 24 years old.
Why Mental Health Risks Are Present
Instagram focuses on lifestyle and looks. It began, after all, as a photo-driven social media site. Because of their focus, unhealthy behaviors are more often linked to Instagram than other platforms. The pressure is naturally on users to look perfect and come across as if they are living perfect lives, which can cause teens to strive for unrealistic body images and unhealthy attitudes toward their real lives.
Meta has researched its apps’ effects on teenagers but closely guards the data collected. They have habitually de-emphasized the mental health risks of social media and the addiction many seem to face while avoiding opportunities to address the issues that cause them.
How Teens are Affected by Social Media Addiction
When teens and kids have an unhealthy relationship with social media, it can lead to addiction. This tends to appear in the following ways:
- Anxiety may be present that was not before
- Body dysmorphia can cause compulsive feelings of inadequacy about their physical form, always imagining flaws and weaknesses.
- Depression can stem from so much time looking for their shortcomings
- The short sound-bite style of social media can lead to difficulty focusing on longer, more challenging-to-digest content. This inability to focus can be problematic to overcome.
- Suffering from eating disorders can also result from the intensity of social media exposure.
- TikTok often posts challenges that are dangerous and even deadly. The risk associated with playing along can cause injuries or even death.
- Because excessive exposure to screens can interfere with circadian rhythms, sleep cycles are often interrupted, and insomnia is common. Without proper rest, physical and mental health can suffer.
- Self-esteem has always been a struggle for teens due to the media, but with a constant cycle of ingesting social media, teens are often even more at risk for a faltering sense of self.
- The risk of self-harm is another possible damage that teens and young people face because of the saturation of unattainable imagery they are constantly exposed to on social media.
- Some sexual predators prey on kids, teens, and young people and exploit them sexually online.
- These factors can lead young people to suicidal thoughts, attempts, and even complete suicide.
These potential side effects are not stand-alone conditions. Often the sufferer’s side effects overlap and add fuel to the fire. Cyberbullying and the constant comparisons it forces teens to make can lead to severely compromised mental health. Contact a social media addiction lawyer if you or your child suffers from these side effects.
Seeking Justice and Accountability From the Social Media Behemoths
Accountability has been a crucial yet missing piece for social media conglomerates. Many people searching for justice have begun to pursue it through lawsuits against social media companies. They are filing suits to cover the psychological damage they or their minor children have dealt with due to social media.
To pursue justice, contact the social media addiction attorneys at Bighorn Law. Their experience and history of results may be able to help you garner the results you deserve.
Compensation for Social Media Addiction
The treatment of addiction can be expensive and can be an ongoing process. To ensure the money is there to pay for the treatment, therapy, and medical care needed to manage a social media addiction, you might consider hiring a social media addiction attorney to help you recover compensation.
You could be eligible for compensatory damages if you or your child are addicted to using social media. If you or your child began using social media and became addicted when you were younger than 25. You can prove that you suffered physically or psychologically due to the addiction.
Seek Legal Counsel
This behavioral addiction can negatively impact a person’s conduct, mental health, and their brain. They can jeopardize their physical health and possibly end up with catastrophic injuries or even die due to their unhealthy use of social media. Teens are developing their sense of self, their opinions about the world, and their feelings towards themselves, the algorithms within social media have the power to influence them in ways that create substantial challenges.
If you or your teen have had your mental or physical health compromised due to social media’s dangerous side effects, contact Bighorn Law. Our social media addiction lawyers are ready to fight for your well-being and the most favorable resolution possible for this challenging time in your life.