Is social media bringing us together or dividing us apart from each other? Social media replaces face-to-face interaction with large amounts of screen time. “According to a recent Harvard study, 36% of all Americans — including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children — feel ‘serious loneliness.” (Kaminyar and Zimmerman). Despite thinking social media is making us more connected than ever, it’s slowly making us less social and more lonely.
One concern is displacement. Spending time scrolling, commenting, and liking is obviously not spending time with people in-person. Social media has shown that heavy amounts of time make people feel lonely, depressed, or have decreased life satisfaction. Most platforms designed to help connect us leave us lonelier.
“I think social media is both dividing and bringing people together. I feel like social media divides us because everyone is always on their electronics and most people prefer to talk over text or on the phone than in person, but I also feel like social media brings people together because, say, if someone posts about Hawaii and it seems and looks like a great time, then people will want to go to Hawaii,” says Izzy Gannie, 9th grader.
- Physical Impact
- Sleep deprivation: Electronics like phones, iPads, laptops, and LED televisions have a severe amount of blue light. Blue light disrupts sleep cycles, causing insomnia, which makes you more emotional and can cause memory loss.
- Reduced physical activity: High amounts of screen time can reduce physical activity and eventually make you live a sedentary lifestyle (a lifestyle with little to no exercise).
- School absences: Being on social media for a long time could cause school absences. It could disrupt sleep patterns, damage mental health, which could interfere with schoolwork, and reduce student motivation.
Works Cited
Kaminyar, Kevin, and Micah Zimmerman. “Is Social Media Making You Less Social and More Lonely?” Entrepreneur, 14 March 2023, https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/is-social-media-use-making-you-less-social-and-more-lonely/446849. Accessed 21 April 2026.
“Link between excessive social media use and psychiatric disorders.” PMC, 28 March 2023, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10129173/. Accessed 21 April 2026.
