Maya, 15
Media Consumption: 7 hours and 48 minutes daily average
At what age did you first start using these devices
I shared an iPad with my sister starting age 5 and got my own iPhone when I was 9.
What are your most-used apps and which is your favorite?
Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are my favorite. I would say my most favorite is TikTok.
Why is that one your favorite?
The TikTok algorithm brings up videos that have to do with my interest without me even having to search anything. It is a way I have formed some of my favorite friendships. If I meet someone at a party and we make a TikTok together that basically makes us best friends.
Are there any negative parts of TikTok that comes to mind when you think about it?
People like to post videos that have to do with their music taste, clothes, hobbies, or opinions and sometimes this causes a divide among classmates, and cyberbullying is common with the app.
I see Instagram is your second most used app. What can you tell me about your use of it?
I mostly just follow celebrity figures, school friends, animal accounts, and a couple of weight-loss accounts to motivate me.
What do you and your friends usually use Instagram for?
I love the app because it allows me to know what my friends are up to. I mostly just post because if I don’t then people will get bored and unfollow me. I only have two posts right now though because I stared at them for so long that I started thinking I looked weird so I deleted them, and they barely got any likes anyway.
Can you tell me any reasons you have to believe that Instagram can be problematic?
People usually talk behind each other’s backs about their Instagram posts, and a couple of times other students have anonymously made accounts aimed toward posting unwanted pictures or things about other students in the class. Anytime I take a picture my friends force me to delete it, crop them out, or even photoshop them.
Do you ever buy the stuff you see on one of your social media accounts?
Not that much because I have to use my mom’s money to online shop so I can’t do it too much but my friends and I have a few times. Like there is a TikTok dancer named Charli D’Amelio who has a Dunkin Donuts signature drink named after her, and we have all gotten it and posted pictures of it even though I hated the taste of it.
Does social media impact your productivity?
I do spend a lot of time on my phone. I’m pretty addicted to it and I have put settings on TikTok and Instagram so it locks me out after I have used each of them for three hours to try to limit my time on it, but I always end up changing the settings to use the apps again until late at night.
Does the social media you use get monitored in any other way by one of your parents?
My mom used to slightly monitor my phone use when I was 12-13, just to make sure nothing dangerous was going on, but now that I’m in high school my mom does not take part in any kind of monitoring or control of how much I use technology.
Interviewed by: Melanie Aghayane, UCLA 4th Year Student