The topic that I chose for my Op-Ed piece / Opinion Essay are the affects that Social media has on the world. From my research I’ve found that the mental health of youth of today is drastically worse than of elder generations and ties back to social media use. There is a term coined “snapchat dysmorphia” due to filters altering your face pushing you towards the desire of conforming to unrealistic beauty standards and plastic surgery. Psychology is used so deeply in tech and programming but often people don’t realize it. I would like to argue against social media and how it outweighs the positive attributes it has helped create.

I’ve found three specific issues that I would like to focus on. The first being the addicting nature of social media and how it is affecting the psychology and mental health of people today? How social media can spread misinformation and what big tech is currently doing about it today? And why and how are free apps free exactly?