“There are things known and there are things unknown and in between are the doors of perception.” — Aldous Huxley

I’m Huxley Westemeier (26’) and welcome to “The Sift,” a weekly opinions column focused on the impacts and implications of new technologies.

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How often do you use your phone to scroll online?

Do you find social media to be harmful?

You’re not alone if you answered “a few hours a day” and “yes” to those questions. According to the American Psychological Association, 77% of teenagers spend over two hours on social media during an average school day, with 37% spending over five hours. Additionally, a report from the Pew Research Center released on April 22, 2025, found that over 48% of teenagers find that social media harms them and their peers, dramatically increasing from the 32% seen in 2022. That same report also shows how 45% of U.S. teens view social media as detrimental to their sleep, and 22% believe it impacts their academic performance.

Now that these statistics are out, I want to discuss the numbers. It can be challenging to fully understand the implications of a report from an organization like the Pew Research Center, so breaking down the data from the source is crucial.

First, there’s the sample size. Most SPA students have run experimental trials in a science class and know that sample size can bias the results. The Pew Research Center used a sample size of 1,391 pairs of teenagers and parents for their calculations. In 2023, there were an estimated 42 million teenagers in the U.S., so it’s clear that the sample size doesn’t represent every American teenager. However, the report did include individuals from all backgrounds, using variables such as ethnicity, education, household income, and language proficiency to help account for any significant error sources. While there are likely inaccuracies if we choose to extrapolate the report’s findings to the entire population, such as how polling results from the 2024 Presidential Election led to mixed predictions before Election Night, the data still provides a reasonable estimate of the actual numbers.

As entertaining and intellectually stimulating as social media content can be (I enjoy watching YouTube videos from Veritasium and Computerphile after finishing homework), it’s no secret that social media can potentially become extremely harmful. Body shaming, ostracization of one’s opinions, and other forms of cyberbullying are common across all platforms and likely contribute to the 48% of teenagers feeling harmed by their feeds.

The fact that 77% of teenagers still spend over two hours on social media daily despite recognizing the harms indicates that current apps are addictive. From a technical perspective, the magical algorithm that controls our feeds leverages straightforward information. Apps like TikTok and Instagram’s Reels track how long each user spends on a specific post and use that data to create a picture of the user’s preferences. For example, I often watch pet or technology videos on my feed, so those videos become more likely as I scroll. I recommend watching this video from the Wall Street Journal for a more in-depth look at how these algorithms work and how quickly they can take effect.

What is there to do if teenagers are chronically online despite understanding the associated risks? I have two suggestions that have worked well for me. Last fall, I added Screen Time restrictions within Instagram and other apps, limiting myself to 30 minutes daily. I can override them if necessary, but I’ve found that the pop-up screen telling me to finish is enough motivation. Finally, I recommend placing all your social media apps within a separate folder on the second or third page of your homescreen, replacing the icons with less colorful variants. That way, whenever you pull out your phone for a necessary task, there’s more friction towards opening social media as it’s harder to access and less visually appealing.

If you’re bored? Read a book. Play a game. Interact with your friends in person. Go for a walk or take a nap.. There are plenty of more interesting things to do in your free time than Instagram or TikTok.