Social media is powerful because it taps into deep psychological needs and links them to fast, visible, and repeatable reward signals. It is not simply a matter of weak willpower or poor time management. A like, comment, message, or shared post is psychologically more than a technical notification—it can feel like a small moment of social resonance: I am seen. I belong. I have had an effect. I matter.
I would just get really upset and sad and feel like I wasn't worthy I guess. The lack of online engagement made her feel insecure, and made her feel like she looked ugly, and affected her self-worth. When asked why she continued using YouTube despite negative experiences, including bullying, she responded: because being off of it bothered me more than the comments.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die: Gore Verbinski's mad, mad, mad epic is angry, angry, angry. And with good reason. The apocalyptic dramedy shoots its poison-tipped arrows at two of the most deserving targets in America right now: our addiction to social media and our willingness to let AI assume command of our lives. Both trends get eviscerated, trashed and stomped on (this is by no means a subtle film) in cathartic ways.
The tech-backed charity also edited out references to children feeling unable to stop using TikTok and Snap, social media exacerbating a devastating epidemic of isolation, and a passage questioning why people would want to spend years of their lives scrolling TikTok and binge-watching Netflix, the edits show. The 2026 iteration of the Childnet-run event takes place on Tuesday with more than 2,800 schools and colleges listed as supporters.
Are people turning away from social media? But that tide might be finally, yet slowly, turning. My Gen Z students have recently been the ones telling me about social media "cleanses", whereby they take a break from it all for a prescribed duration, and "grayscaling" their socials (whereby color images turn to black and white, making them less eye-candy-esque-and all around having better cellphone etiquette such as putting it away during class and turning it off at night.
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