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Generation Z is the loneliest generation, and social media is to blame | Opinion

As part of the Inquirer's series of student-written op-eds, Cam A. Johnson writes about Generation Z's addiction to social media.

Cam A. Johnson is a junior English education major at the University of Delaware, where she is minoring in disability studies and journalism. She is a senior reporter at The Review, the student run newspaper for the University of Delaware
Cam A. Johnson is a junior English education major at the University of Delaware, where she is minoring in disability studies and journalism. She is a senior reporter at The Review, the student run newspaper for the University of DelawareRead moreCourtesy Cam Johnson
    by Cam A. Johnson, For the Inquirer
    Published 

As summer turns to fall each year, the Philadelphia region welcomes thousands of new students to the area, which boasts Ivy League universities, community colleges, state schools and private institutions. According to the National Center for Education Statistics and the Census Bureau, the Greater Philadelphia area is home to 100 colleges and universities with half a million students.

With the recent start of the new semester, the Inquirer tapped students at local universities to hear what’s on their minds.

  1. FROM TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Alesia Bani argues that Pa. needs inclusive, mandated sex education to counter the culture of street harassment recently taken on by Gritty posters and other reactive measures.

  2. FROM TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Morgan Rollins explains how a career-ending injury sidelined her from soccer — and helped her find a passion for helping other people facing major loss.

  3. FROM DREXEL UNIVERSITY: Armon Owlia says recent lawsuit threatening to reclaim the Phanatic presents a good opportunity to retire the mascot.

Are you a student at a local campus with opinions to share with the Inquirer? Email commentary pieces on newsworthy issues to oped@inquirer.com for consideration.

As a woman born in 1999, I am part of the group of young people called Generation Z. Generation Z comprises individuals born between 1995 and 2010. They are often referred to as “digital natives,” people who from their earliest origins have been exposed to the internet.

But have these digital advances and mobile technologies benefited my Gen Z peers and me? Or are we hampered by them?

Gen Z grew up on cell phones, so our idea of socialization comes through on a screen. We tweet and snap and post photos instead of the personal one-on-one interactions that our parents and grandparents did to make friends.

The media have poked fun at this and I can’t refute the stereotypes: My Gen Z peers and I are addicted to our phones, tablets, or social media accounts. We tune in to digital devices and tune out from interpersonal experiences.

I experience this on a daily basis, even while attending one of the biggest party schools in the country. While having dinner with friends, I notice they all glance at their phones or send Snapchat videos of what’s going on around them instead of talking to the person right in front of them.

These digital interactions can sometimes result in a false sense of intimacy. A 2018 report in the Wall Street Journal called Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, the loneliest generation. But from my own experience, I believe Gen Z suffers just as profound loneliness, and our lifelong exposure to the internet, especially social media, is to blame.

According to the Foundation for Art & Healing, in a 2017 survey of nearly 48,000 college students, 64% said they had felt very lonely during the last 12 months, while only 19% reported never feeling lonely.

So how can Gen Zers break out of this pattern and turn the tide on the loneliness? It starts with breaking our ties to social media.

When out with friends, we can insist on the other people being present. My friends and I have mutually agreed during dinners to put our phones in the center of the table and who ever touches it first has to cover the whole bill.

Some other ideas from my fellow college students: Knock on the doors of your fellow dorm residents and say hello, host a movie or music night in your dorm or sorority house, reach out to the international students on your campus.

I hope that one day my generation can put down the cell phones and make lasting connections with one another. No one should be lonely in a world with so many people.

Cam A. Johnson is a junior English education major at the University of Delaware, where she is minoring in disability studies and journalism. She is a senior reporter at the Review, the student-run newspaper for the University of Delaware.