Are Teens Taking Social Media Too Far?

I was watching YouTube last night doing my nightly rounds of going through my subscription box when I saw a video that intrigued me. It was a commentary/reaction video by Ryan Trahan that talked about a Dr. Phil episode that aired in mid-February. The episode featured a teen girl, Ava Loise, who was nominated by her friends to be on the show.


Ava just graduated high school, and her only goal is to become Instagram famous. At the start of the show she had 40k followers and she's now up to almost 80k. Ava has lost the majority of her friends for this mindset she has taken on. It's almost unbelievable the way she acts and talks to others in the way that it seems like a character, but many people have interviewed and talked with her and it just seems that her personality is just as it seems.

Ava claimed she spends $20,000 monthly on her appearance including hair, makeup, accessories, clothes, etc. Ava told Dr. Phil, "I'm funny, I'm hot and I have money." She kept referring to herself as a "skinny legend" and that she would rather "die hot than die ugly." 

Ava is an example of a teenager who takes social media to new extremes, and it has become toxic for her in her life. A lot of people who post on social media get psychological benefits from posting on social media. When you get a like on a picture, it releases dopamine into your brain creating a happy feeling, for some people that feeling is stronger than others which is where the addiction starts.

For Ava this addiction has become a part of her everyday life no matter how extreme, and it has ruined her life in a negative way. Check out the video below of the Dr. Phil interview below.