Nowadays, Generation Z, often referred to as Gen Z, is a hot topic with its unique and fancy ideas in social media. They always come up with new trends on Instagram and try to influence differently. But that was not the case 10 years, ago. Instagram has played a huge role in this by introducing the concept of reels and making Gen Z addicted to this endless scrolling effect of reels.
So this article explores the multifaceted impact of Instagram on Generation Z, including its pros and cons, and where this generation should invest their precious time.
Generation Z and Instagram
Gen Z are the individuals who were born between 1997 and 2012. This generation follows the Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and precedes Generation Alpha (born from the early 2010s to the mid-2020s). As of 2024, Gen Z is roughly between the ages of 12 – 27.
Generation Z represents a unique and influential demographic characterized by their digital natives, diversity, and pragmatic approach to life. Their values and behaviours are reshaping various aspects of society, from technology and media to education and the workplace.
However, Gen Z has been caught up with Instagram’s popularity due to its unique combination of visual appeal, user-friendly features, and cultural relevance. This platform which centered on photos and videos aligns perfectly with Generation Z’s. Their preference for visual content over text makes it popular among them. Therefore, Instagram’s influential role in shaping trends and its strong connection with influencer culture make a deep impact on Gen Z.
Demographics of the Users
According to the statistics, the age group that uses Instagram the most is between 18 and 34, which includes Generation Z. This indicates that Gen Z devotes a significant amount of their time to such platforms, which profoundly influences their lifestyle.
Gen Z predominantly follows pages related to fashion, skill upgrading, and content creation. Additionally, they spend much of their time observing what others are doing in their lives, comparing their classmates or colleague’s achievements with their own, which often leads to mental disturbances.
In reality, Instagram is just a fancy platform where everything is showcased in a very positive light, lacking the portrayal of individuals’ real lifestyles or true selves. It is also a platform where people digitally compete to look good and showcase their lifestyles, sometimes even faking their real identities and skills.
Today’s Gen Z kids’ lives revolve around the perspective of social media, considering how people will perceive them and what judgments will be made. Consequently, they chase the deception of outward appearances by comparing their status with others instead of focusing on themselves. However, the reality is quite different!
How Social Media Traps Gen Z?
On average, we touch our phones 2,600 times a day. Our screen time spiked by 25% during and after the COVID period. If a phone is taken from anyone, there are higher chances that the person becomes restless, irritated, frustrated, and stressed. This behaviour is called addiction. This addiction can be compared to cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and gambling.
This can be understood scientifically when the neurotransmitters act as signals in our brain and their relation to the addictive nature of our bodies. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the body. Their function is to transmit signals from nerve cells to target cells.
Also Read: From Roasts to Rights: Carryminati Saga and Demand For Content Creators Law?
For example, oxytocin is a love hormone and is activated during any relational bonding. The serotonin hormone is a mood stabilizer; it keeps us emotionally stable. Similarly, when a body follows a pattern, it is called a dopamine pattern. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced in the brain. The chemical formula of the dopamine neurotransmitter is C₈H₁₁O₂N.
How Does Dopamine Work?
Dopamine is related to motivation and reward. For example, if we know that my dad will bring my favourite chocolates tonight, it works like a reward. Hence, automatically, in anticipation of that, our dopamine level will rise. In this case, there is nothing wrong; this is exactly how our body works.
There is an optimal level of dopamine, which means that the dopamine level should not be too high or too low.
There are three cases regarding the optimum level of dopamine. When we receive any reward, our brain reduces dopamine transmission below the baseline. Repeated exposure to the same reward creates a Chronic Dopamine Deficit State in our brain. In this scenario, we don’t enjoy the reward as much. When dopamine is consistently at a low level, we cannot experience pleasure anymore. The hedonic treadmill is a psychological concept evident in our daily lives.
When humans experience good things, such as winning the lottery, buying a new house or car, or attaining a long-awaited promotion, it induces an increase in happiness, which later reduces to a normal personal baseline over time. In simple words, we don’t get the same level of happiness, and to achieve that happiness, we need more stimuli. Here, Instagram acts as the stimulus, giving us instant gratification and making us addicted to such platforms, influencing our lives on a greater scale.
When someone likes our photos, comments, shares, or messages us, we get notified, resulting in an instant reward and happiness. To gain more and more of this gratification, we get into this pit and become addicted to Instagram.
These professionals draw huge amounts in salaries because they conduct several high-level psychological analyses of people and then survey their choices, which helps them create screen layouts and attractive logos for these apps, making them more addictive for users. Also, these apps are designed in such a manner that our mind subconsciously taps on those apps or that post and reel section of these apps.
Now the question arises: if everything works on this neurological process, why don’t we get addicted to our books or to learning new skills? The reason we don’t get addicted to our books but instead get addicted to social media is because of ease of access and speedy rewards.
Also Read: By the Memes, For The People?
For example, earlier, to explore any places or courses, we needed to step out of our houses and search for them and talk to people. But now, Instagram gives us the opportunity of ease of access; we can open the app and look for our needs with all the minute details, which results in speedy rewards.
Instagram also makes us familiar with the posts and reels of our choices with infinite scrolling time, which is also known as a rise in radicalization. This is a great example of ease of access and speedy reward.
The above examples show how Instagram influences today’s Gen Z and impacts their lifestyle dangerously by wasting time and distracting them from their academics. Furthermore, it also leads to insecurities and depression when we start comparing our lives with other people on Instagram, which is a complete depiction of outward appearance.
To stop this addiction, the solution is very simple. Firstly, we need to reduce our screen time by deleting these apps and switching off their notifications. This is the primary step we can take to stop addiction to this platform. We should focus more on our personal lives and productive activities and, of course, on social media apps that do not trap us but result in more productivity and achievement or progress in our lives.
Contemporarily Generation Z is influenced by What?
Contemporarily, Generation Z is influenced by “voices.” They know how to raise their voices, how to persuade people, and how to demand justice. They get influenced easily by any trending topic on Instagram, and they can also influence a large crowd with their voice or creativity.
In a world where “media” is effectively preceded by “social,” younger people have found a voice that previous generations didn’t have. They can also break any taboo by raising their voices and spreading awareness via social media.
Drawbacks of Instagram
1. An Increase in Screentime Results in Wastage of Screentime
Such social media platforms are designed in a manner that entertains you, traps your mind with fancy and funny posts, increases screen time, and deviates many youths from their goals, leading them to procrastinate their scheduled work, which overall results in a waste of time.
2. Deception of Outward Appearance
Instagram is just a fancy place where 85% of the content presented is fake or has untold mysterious stories. Despite this, everything feels real, and every second person seems focused, rich, and beautiful. This is the pitfall where we fall and start believing in products or fake business markets.
Additionally, we can also get trapped by fake accounts and end up sharing our pictures and secrets, which can result in mismatched information and various cybercrime cases. We get deceived by these appearances, which affects our mental as well as physical health.
3. Makes an Individual Insecure Which Results in Mental disturbance
This is one of the prime reasons why Generation Z is depressed most of the time. Many enthusiastic teens are becoming isolated because they start comparing their whole lives, from their status to family background, from looks to lifestyle, with their classmates or colleagues. This comparison makes them insecure. They feel insecure facing a large crowd. This insecurity affects their personality development and mentally disturbs them.
Coping Mechanism
Generation Z has developed various coping mechanisms to deal with the negative aspects of their lives. These include digital detoxes, following accounts on Instagram that promote positivity and mental health awareness, and using Instagram’s features like “Close Friends” to share more intimate, less curated content with a select group. Additionally,
Generation Z uses this platform to talk with strangers or their best friends whom they cannot connect with physically and depend on them for a good mood. Sometimes, talking to the right person heals us, and Instagram provides the opportunity to connect with such people globally.
Conclusion
Instagram has a profound impact on Gen Z, shaping how they perceive themselves, interact with others, and engage with the world. While it offers numerous opportunities for creativity, connection, and commerce, it also poses challenges, particularly related to mental health. As Gen Z continues to mature, their relationship with Instagram will likely evolve, reflecting broader societal changes and technological advancements.
Gen Z being at the ages of 12 – 27, is a critical period for personal growth, learning new things, achieving stability, and building a career. This generation represents the future of the nation and is experiencing a precious time in their lives. Hence, Gen Z should use Instagram for productivity and progress instead of getting trapped in it. They should spend most of their time apart from studies and sports on platforms like LinkedIn to build their profiles.
Authored by Krithika Gupta, a 1st year Law student at Calcutta University.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please share this article if you enjoyed it. Also, you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to get more interesting articles.