Every day, people of all different age groups sign on to TikTok or Instagram, thinking they’re going on for maybe five to ten minutes, but then spend hours on end just scrolling through videos and posts. Whether they’re watching funny or scary videos, ads or family picture albums, many people get captivated with their screens watching these short clips on a daily basis. 

Over the last seven years, the popular app TikTok has gained over 3 billion downloads and about 1.1 billion people watch every single day. Instagram has over 1.3 billion users. Some other companies like Facebook and YouTube have over 2 billion active accounts. Many apps like these have way over 1 billion downloads as well. 

Social media becoming part of a person’s everyday life is normal now that almost everyone has some type of device at home and in their pockets. It’s easy for someone to click the download button on an app their friends were talking about that day. What’s interesting about these apps is how algorithms tailor your videos to your interests. Once you start liking videos featuring certain companies, for example, you’ll see those companies pop up again and again on your feed. At any time, you can change what you see on the screen in a few seconds, switching up this algorithm. 

Having such easy access social media has its ups and downs, especially for teenagers. Most kids these days tend to go along with the trends, since they all have social media, either that being a good or bad thing is undecided. 

Social media has made a enormous impact on many people’s lives and will continue to do so in the future.