Scientists reveal how Instagram and TikTok change our psyche, reality, and self-esteem

The popularity of social networks, in particular Instagram and TikTok, has significantly influenced the daily practices of millions of people around the world. These platforms have become not only a source of information and entertainment, but also a space in which ideas about norms of behavior, success, appearance, and social status are formed. At the same time, the number of studies that record the negative impact of social networks on the psychological state, self-esteem and general sense of well-being of users is increasing.

Among the main risks are increased anxiety, low mood, sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms, dissatisfaction with one’s appearance and social realization. Teenagers, young people, and users who do not have a clearly formed value system or information hygiene skills are especially vulnerable to the influence of digital content. In this context, a logical question arises: should Instagram and TikTok be deleted? Doctor of Philosophy, lecturer at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University Volodymyr Hrysyuk researched this topic at the intersection of personal experience, scientific analysis and observations of user behavior.

“Once I dared to experiment. During the day, I carefully monitored what content on social networks most attracted my attention. I decided not to just mechanically scroll through the tape as usual, but to capture everything that evokes an emotion – curiosity, envy, joy, irritation – and store it in the backlog. Later, I watched the whole thing to figure out what it was about this content that got me.” — says Volodymyr Hrysyuk.

The picture turned out to be colorful and seemingly innocent. One colleague gave birth to a child. Another published a book. A close friend was traveling in Ireland with her brother. A friend from Georgia proposed to his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. And some other guy, whom I don’t even know personally, posted a selfie from the gym, showing off his toned abs.

“I sincerely prayed for each of them. But at the same time, I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with me. where is my love where is my book Where is my trip? Where’s my abs? Something seems to have gone wrong.” – continues Hrysyuk.

This dissonance was not obvious. At first glance, everything is fine. As recently as yesterday, it was possible to attribute low mood to external causes: war, difficulties at work, vitamin D deficiency, magnesium B6 deficiency, or even global geopolitical instability. But it wasn’t anxiety, it was a different kind of experience — quiet, deep sadness, a sense of one’s own inadequacy. The feeling that you are a failure. Without reason. Without logic. But with an expressive emotion that is difficult to suppress.

“Should Instagram and TikTok be deleted? Probably not,” the scientist believes.

However, he further explains: it’s not about the platforms themselves, it’s just the tools. You can use them for your own good, but you can also harm yourself if you do not understand the principle of their action.

Most people do not follow the basic rules of information hygiene. They literally “eat” everything that enters the tape, regardless of the source, quality or benefit. As a result, consciousness is poisoned by digital noise. It contains not only funny videos, but also false ideas about the norm, success, appearance, and achievements.

Instead of using social networks to expand contacts, communicate deeply, or share ideas, most users just get stuck on endless videos. Bloggers ask passers-by: “How much do you spend on living in Kyiv?” or “How much does your look cost?”. Of course, the topics are not new, but the sums in the answers are often shocking. And here the question arises: do these numbers have anything in common with the real economy?

Another example: an acquaintance of Hrysyuk, after watching similar videos, came to the conclusion that he is paid too little. He lost his motivation to work. He became passive, indifferent. Later he was released. But does the blogger realize that his content has caused a chain of events in someone else’s life? Unlikely. His task is “an asset in the comments”, likes, reposts, coverage.

Let’s look at the situation from a scientific point of view. The problem is that there is still no way to accurately isolate the impact of social networks on a person. For an ideal experiment, it would be necessary to place people in a sterile environment, where they are not influenced by other factors – family, school, television, the general state of society. But this is unrealistic.

That is why, when someone develops complexes about appearance, intelligence, social status, it is often impossible to accurately identify the source of these ideas. But with a high probability, they have a connection with the media — in particular, social networks. This especially applies to young people, teenagers, users with an unstable identity, weakly formed value system.

In addition, researcher M. Jones from the University of Technology Sydney initiated a discussion in scientific circles about the use of Photoshop and its role in the formation of artificial, unattainable images. She argued that the body shown in the media and the real body do not exist separately. The media literally colonizes our idea of ​​the physical norm.

“So far we are surrounded by media bodies”, she wrote.

American scientists E. Stys (Stanford) and S. Bierman (University of Texas at Austin) confirmed: viewing idealized bodies contributes to depressive symptoms.

Researchers from Great Britain and Australia found that active interaction with social networks can cause:

— sleep disturbance;
— decrease in self-esteem;
— increased anxiety and depression;
— growing dissatisfaction with appearance and general depression of mood;
— development of obsession with thinness and body transformation.

In addition, it has been proven that the use of filters on Instagram makes users perceive images as real, and this contributes to the formation of idealized views of others. And the more time we spend in social networks, the stronger these effects become.

All this does not mean that you need to completely close yourself off from the world and live in informational isolation, but it is worth being conscious of the time we spend in the digital environment.