'Estimates put average global daily screentime usage at 7 hours'. This statistic proves the people are using theire elctronic devices at a higher rate than ever before. In turn, people are accessing social media for longer. Due to this change in lifestyle, the rates of teenage depression increased by over 60% from 2011 to 2018. This change probably happened because of technology companies (e.g Reddit, Twitter and Meta) not removing harmful content from their platforms: teenagers have viewed that content and have got harmed. A 2016 research paper found that excessive amounts of social media led to higher levels of anxiety and heath issues.

'10% of players [of video games] developed pathological tendencies related to video games'. This demonstrates that one in every ten gamers are detrimentally affected by the games in later life: according to scientific research conducted, they 'displayed higher levels of depression, aggression, shyness and anxiety by early adulthood.' Once again, a form of online entertainment - which does have several positives - is found guilty of adversely influencing innocent teenagers. 

However, people are beginning to take action against the colossal tech companies of the modern era - 'Google, Meta and Apple face class action suits alleging they profit from illegal gambling apps'. These lawsuits accuse the giants of the technology industry of not removing harmful and explicit content from their platform.

Social Media is designed to be addictive, but scientific research suggests that social media can lead to more than just an addiction. Studies insinuate that some content on online platforms are harmful - especially for adolescents who are quite vulnerable online.