In this blog post I will be reflecting on my inquiry project by answering the following questions:
1. What challenges did you overcome throughout this inquiry project? How did you go about overcoming these challenges?
The concept of social media addiction is extremely broad, and different resources allude to different ideas which could cause social media addiction. From how the algorithm works, to social media using psychological tricks and concepts to lure us in, there were many aspects of this topic to keep in mind, and distributing between what was crucial in the blog post and what was additional information that maybe wasn’t as significant to the topic at hand was challenging. How I overcame this challenge was first writing down all the information I had gathered about the topic (what makes social media addicting), and I ordered them from broad and well-known concepts to more detailed and unknown concepts. This helped me prioritize what topics/concepts I want to dive into the most, as my priority in this inquiry project was uncover all which we don’t know about social media addiction, and whilst expanding on what we know is very important, touching on topics we hardly know of will further help us understand how social media addiction works. After prioritizing topics, I would reduce my list of topics I wanted to dive further into and gather even more information about them accordingly. This process not only helped me overcome the challenge of what concepts to include and expand on in my research, but it also helped me order all my information, and my blog post accordingly.
2. How did this inquiry change the way you think?
This inquiry project opened my eyes to the tricks and ways of social media and how we all get sucked into it, as well as how we can get out of this endless cycle. Though I did have some previous knowledge about social media addiction, its algorithm, its impact on teenagers, and how to reduce our social media usage, I did was not aware of exactly how and in what scientific ways we become so dependent to social media, or how exactly does the algorithm trap us, and how can we truly break free from it. After this inquiry project I now see social media for its different psychological methods and the very ways which it has trapped us. For example, I now know that quickly scrolling from one video to another is, and really the ability we have to quickly sweep through content, is one of the very ways which we end up stuck in a loop as we have less decisions, and thus less control. Or by forcing ourselves to go through videos for a longer amount of time before scrolling past them, we will be more likely and capable to break free from doomscrolling and put the phone down. I have now implemented the information which I have learned and have become more aware when on social media. I am able to view social media differently whilst also implementing what I learned into my own everyday life.
3. How did this investigation impact your future decisions?
In the future I plan on inputting what I learned even more into my own life, and also being able to break the cycle of dependence which I have with social media. And whilst I cannot completely cut off all ties with social media, by using the knowledge I have gained and the methods which I have learned, I hope to improve in this matter. The decisions I make when it comes to my consumption of content and media will now be with a newfound awareness and understanding. I also will continue to research and understand social media addiction, and especially ways to break this addiction in the upcoming future, as I believe there is still more to learn especially with technology advancing the way it is. I also will raise awareness about what I have learned to the people around me, in hopes of reducing social media’s impact on our generation. Previous to this inquiry project I often did not give my true input on social media addiction, as I also felt like I did not have enough information on the cause and effect of this matter, but now I hope to share what I have learned with everyone around me.
4. What impact will this investigation have on others locally and/or globally?
This inquiry can help us all understand how we truly all end up hooked to social media. Whilst, most people have some sort of an idea on this matter, I don’t think many of us know exactly how the algorithm traps us into a loop or why we seemingly can’t stop. By raising awareness and knowledge on this matter, our society can be better equipped to break away from social media. Part of my inquiry was looking at why teenagers are more susceptible to social media addiction, and this is extremely impactful to my generation and my own peers, as it is very much something which we all struggle with, and this investigation will help them become more aware of the problem at hand, as well as use this knowledge to prevent themselves from being impacted by social media as much. I also researched how we can break the cycle of social media addiction, and this can help everyone, of all ages, anywhere in the world, as it is something which we all can work towards. And this research allows specific ways on how we can take small steps to break free from social media addiction, steps which everyone can somehow implement into their life.