According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of adults and 81% of teens in the U.S. use social media. This puts a large amount of the population at an increased risk of feeling anxious, depressed, or ill over their social media use. To boost self-esteem and feel a sense of belonging in their social circles, people post content with the hope of receiving positive feedback and couple that content with the structure of potential future reward, and you get a recipe for constantly obsessively checking platforms. When reviewing others’ social activity, people tend to make comparisons and they are searching for validation on the internet that serves as a replacement for meaningful connection they might otherwise make in real life. A 2018 British study tied social media use to decreased, disrupted, and delayed sleep, which is associated with depression, memory loss, and poor academic performance. Social media use can affect users’ physical health even more directly. Researchers know the connection between the mind and the gut can turn anxiety and depression into nausea, headaches, muscle tension, and tremors.I think we need to take a step back and look at the role technology is playing in our society as a whole, in terms of people needing instant gratification, staying home and not interacting in the community by going out to stores or playing outside with friends, or movie theaters. A University of Texas review of research on parents’ use of mobile devices while interacting with their children found that mobile use contributed to distracted parenting, an increase of bids for attention when the parents were distracted, and conflicts with other caregivers.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PETITION IS TO DESIGNATE ONE DAY IN A YEAR AS "NO SOCIAL MEDIA DAY" WHEN ALL SOCIAL MEDIA/DATING APPS ARE SHUT DOWN FOR 24 HOURS