Scrolling through Instagram, keeping a Snapchat streak alive, and watching viral videos have become second nature for many students. Yet behind the endless stream of content and constant notifications lies a growing sense of exhaustion. Increasingly, teens report feeling emotionally drained and overwhelmed by social media; a phenomenon referred to as social media fatigue.
In fact, in a 2024 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens, it was found that around six in ten use multiple social media platforms. Students at Calabasas High are no exception. However, as these platforms continue to expand rapidly, users find that connectivity comes at a cost. The constant pressure to be online, increasing hostility, and inauthentic culture foster an environment many describe as toxic.
Freshman Sean Kim says, “It’s so exhausting to have to watch hate train upon hate train and thousands of people bully someone online who they don’t really know.”
Many students echo these concerns, worrying about these bleak online communities.
“Social media desensitizes people to hate and misinformation online. It normalizes it by constantly exposing people to it until they don’t feel anything from looking at it anymore,” adds Kim.
By creating a global, interconnected, and potentially anonymous network, hate is much easier to spread, often seen as acceptable and harmless.
Kim says, “I’m tired of it. It’s really sad how some people are persecuted online for doing nothing at all.”
Morgan Dishlip, a freshman at CHS, discusses how social media puts focus on negativity rather than good news.
“It’s sad to see, and it makes me feel bad about what’s online,” says Dishlip. Because people are wired to pay more attention to warnings and unpleasant news, many channels inflate and focus on these videos, such as political events, climate change, and fabricated hoaxes.
AI-generated content can also feel disheartening and discouraging for many students. Resources such as AI deepfakes and artificially generated images can make videos and images appear extremely realistic, confusing users.
Dishlip says, “It’s hard to differentiate what’s real versus what’s fake online. It makes me not want to have social media because you don’t know what could be real versus what’s fake, and combined with this [negative energy] online.”
In addition, the expansion of beauty filters creates unrealistic expectations for adolescents to face online.
“The filters propose a toxic beauty standard that is very hard to live up to; it’s overwhelming,” says Kim. After COVID-19, connecting behind screens grew rapidly. This opened up the opportunity for people to edit photos, hide behind screens, and record with filters, making impossible standards the norm.
As social media continues to evolve, students are left to navigate a digital landscape built on negativity, misinformation, and unrealistic expectations. The question is no longer whether social media affects students’ mental health, but how much longer they are willing to tolerate its emotional toll before stepping away.
