With the recent jury ruling finding Meta and YouTube negligent in designing addictive products that harm young people, we are seeing the recognition of an out-of-hand issue plaguing Gen Z. To see the true impact of addictive social media algorithms’ on today’s youth, there isn’t a better perspective than that of a college student.

As a student, it’s hard not to notice all the phone screens in class or in hallways locked in a state of mindlessly scrolling through social media. College students are dependent on quick-hit style social media content at the most critical time in their careers, where every procrastinated test counts and every bad grade decides their job after graduation. When discussing this issue, it is time to focus on those who are most directly affected: Gen Z students.

When I have conversations with students regarding the habit of endless online scrolling, they often tell me that it is something they cannot help. In a survey conducted by Morning Consult, 53% of Gen Z adults reported they doomscroll, which is scrolling mindlessly through specifically negative content, regularly. The impact of this on our country’s future has the potential to be incredibly consequential as it trains the minds of youth to have very short attention spans.

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Short attention spans have a key consequence in higher education. I often see that if a class lasts longer than 60 minutes, the whole lecture hall seems more likely to be distracted. This kind of lack of focus in class can lead to a significant reduction in learning.

Here’s another story I have heard many times: A student set aside two to three hours to focus on studying for a midterm exam. They come across a concept they don’t understand and decide to attend office hours before the exam date. However, not remembering the TA’s office hours, they open a device to search up the syllabus.

Then, suddenly a news article or Facebook notification pops up. They click it and say, “One video couldn’t hurt!” Then they swipe to the next video and all of a sudden, the three hours pass. All that valuable studying time has been used up with mindless scrolling and now they feel dread and anxiety about the upcoming exam. This unpreparedness can lead to poorer scores and overall grades.

The alarming truth is that every day there are students full of potential who are being set on the wrong foot in life because of their inability to detach from their devices during critical times in their academic careers.

Modern social media algorithms have put fuel to the fire for procrastination habits. As drifting off task becomes easier, the reliance built on the constant gratification from mindless scrolling will further encourage distraction and unproductiveness among often particularly vulnerable people.

There are levels to the amount that people engage in this activity. The worst affected lose interest in their daily lives all together. These people give up on fighting the urge and simply drift off into mindlessly scrolling. These people live by the day, in limbo, with limited to no interest in departing from their social media platforms. Among Gen Z, these people are often referred to as “Chronically Online.” I have seen many people in this stage of addiction and it is tragic to witness how they cannot seem to help themselves.

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We must recognize the devastating impact this is having on our population and the potential impact for generations to come. We need to act now. We need to encourage lawmakers to schedule more hearings and act within committees to investigate these problems. 

Social media platforms need to establish stronger guard rails to ensure that vulnerable people do not misuse their online services. Social media executives need to be held to higher ethical standards and they need to be held accountable for negative impacts on Americans. 

Finally, Gen Z needs to make a stronger collective effort in encouraging others to spend less time online. Progress can be made, but the first step is acknowledging the challenge the vulnerable are facing.

Maxwell Fjeld is a student at the University of Minnesota studying business at the Carlson School of Management.

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