Studying at Ithaca College’s affiliate campus in Los Angeles, California, McKelvey found that social media provided a toxic environment for her while she was studying there.
“I had to delete Snapchat and Instagram for a while because I felt myself being either glued to my phone or missing being back in Ithaca too much.”
Anna McKelvey’s Smartphone Background / Apps Photo by: Melissa Megali
McKelvey explained that the overall use of social media could sometimes be too good to be true and that people may post pictures onto their social media platforms, but most of the time their “picture, perfect, lives are not what they are set out to be.”
McKelvey now only uses social media to talk to her family members and to occasionally post Instagram pictures about her Los Angeles experience. But she does believe that social media will create more of an impact on people only as time progresses.
Karolina Baranowski, had similar feelings to McKelvey about their social media experiences. Baranowski said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, she felt as if she was constantly comparing her physical appearance to others on social media as well.
“I found myself comparing myself to others on social media in the context of fashion, and seeing how great someone looks in something,” Baranowski said.
Baranowski has eased off social media slowly. She recently deleted TikTok and Youtube because she found herself using those platforms the most. Baranowski also said that when she has to study for either her finals or big tests, she deletes the bigger platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram because they “lead more to a distraction.”
Baranowski did suggest that after her undergrad time at Ithaca College, she is considering deleting the bigger social media platforms for good. “The only reason I have social media now is to keep in contact with close friends and family from back at home, I don’t really find myself needing it after this,” she said.
Brothers, Sam and Tyler Haraden, had recently resorted to being back on social media after steering away from it for a short time. Sam Haraden resorted to only using social media for an hour per day because he felt that it wasn’t good for his mental health as well and his screen time dramatically increased.
Sam Haraden scrolling through his Instagram Feed Photo by: Melissa Megali / Ithacaweek
Tyler Haraden said that he believes that social media does have its benefits with local businesses and promotions like his father’s car dealership located in Saratoga Springs, New York but it cannot always be beneficial for everyone.
“I would like to see a world, like when we were younger where social media did not exist, where people weren’t constantly in competition for likes, views, or subscriptions.”