impact of social media on mental health

It is no secret that social media is making everyone on edge.
Social comparison creates envy but also accountability: if this guy has managed to go to college, buy a house, get a car, get married, or become successful, then I must really be a failure.

Social Media is like a mirror. It reveals our true nature when faced with ugly truths.
As in Snow White, social media is the mirror through which we see reality along with our darkest fears.
"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the smartest of them all."
"Not you. You see, there is this awesome guy named David, he's a doctor making six figures."
Or we might try asking the mirror who is the prettiest of them all:
"You're not too bad, but you see Josh on instagram he has a six-pack and muscles like Hulk. He makes all boys and girls fall head over heels."
The moral of the story in Snow White is that envy ends up killing us and everyone around us.

Yet, mirrors force us to look at ourselves and be accountable for our lives, whether we have become a success or failures.
How are success and failure defined?
Success is what society views as being successful. It generally means having a decent job, a house, being in a relationship and going up on the social latter.
We might ask why does being is in a relationship so essential?
Society considers a person who has failed those marks as an outcast, a black sheep, someone who is either broken or that should be avoided at all costs.
Whether we like it or not, society has rules, and social media is here to lay the foundations for these rules and make sure they are followed.
To reject social media would be rejecting society and its rules altogether.

Traditionally, people would go to bars to socialize. Now, to join a social network, we can simply go to Instagram or Facebook. Part of social behavior is comparing ourselves and to find our own place in society.
Life is a social game, it means we are pushed by society to race to the top or at least avoid staying at the bottom.
Social comparisons, while having many downsides, are also essential for success.

Human beings are also social animals. They live in groups and cannot survive in isolation. Our ancestors would go hunting in groups to avoid being killed or prayed on by other animals.
It seems that we have a biological instinct to socialize and think in groups to stay safe. Our needs to create social media platforms have been passed down from our ancestors through genes.

It raises an important question: How do feelings like envy play a part in evolution? As I previously argued, envy drives to push ourselves further and become even better. As such, it plays a big role in evolution and natural selection. Envy also creates synergy as it forces society as a whole to become even better. Yes, life is hard, but deep down, we can only complain about one thing, and that is being human. Those who say social media is bad for our well-being, usually psychologists, miss the important biological factors that social media and envy play, and that I have just mentioned. Therefore, there is no point either in trying to live without it.

We hear lawyers say that social media kills while referring to teenagers who have committed suicide. They claim increased social media use leads to suicide, Zuckerberg claims otherwise...
I would argue that social media don't do such thing, only overusing it does. It is up to us to use self-control. Likewise, if I can't stop eating I can't blame the food industry, I actually have to take responsability for myself and control my own instincts and my urges to eat more (while there are people actually blaming the food industry for their own shortcomings).
Lawyers and law-makers might still argue that social media use is people's responsability, their use should still be regulated. In some countries, such as France, some fast-food chains like Burger King are not allowed to sell high calorie products with too much fat or simply with just too much calories. In the United States, you wouldn't have any problems finding a fast-food with all the calories you want or that you need.

In other words, in France law-makers have decided that it is up to that state to protect people against themselves.
If we were to ever regulate social media use in the United States, we would also need to regulate food using the same logic. Otherwise, you would be discriminating one business over another.

I personally don't like the light (legal-friendly) meals they have at Burger King or MacDonald's in France.
I like to be able to choose how much calorie or what I eat. Likewise, the government shouldn't interfere with my rights to use social media. It is understandable that in countries that are more socialist-oriented, the state tries to protect its citizens even if it takes away their rights. But in capitalist countries, the state shouldn't interfere with people's choice. If laws still have to be passed, they should be as forms of consent in which users acknowledge the dangers of the overuse of social media and for which companies like Meta deny any liability for any damage done on mental health and using its products. If other industries can use this legal loophole, so should social media companies.