“I Don’t Want to Live in This Day and Age Anymore” — Woman Says Social Media Has Ruined Society

Was life before social media better? We're talking about the pre-Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook days. One woman on TikTok seems to think so.

TikTok creator Taylor Stewart (@heyitstaystew) recently took to the platform to explain how she thinks social media has been the downfall of our society and why she yearns for the past.

Taylor starts the video by talking about her Roman Empire, or rather something she is overly obsessed with and thinks about daily.

"You know what I think about all the time. I guess you call it my Roman Empire? How social media has single-handedly ruined society and just like the whole concept of what life was like before social media. My heart yearns for it," she says in her video.

Born in the late '90s, Taylor explains that she didn't grow up with social media except for MSN, which let's be real, doesn't hold a candle to today's platforms. But now that Taylor is older, she realizes how grateful she is to have experienced a part of life where having and being on social media wasn't the norm.

"When you’re a kid you don’t appreciate things as much. So now that I’m an adult in my 20s living in this day and age of just everyone being glued to their phone and everyone on social media, I’m like going crazy."

Taylor explains that she feels like there is a “correlation between the rise of unhappiness and misery in today’s day and age and social media."

She breaks down her theory, claiming that “social media gives us the illusion of endless options with everything."

From seeing happy couples on Instagram to witnessing friends making major career strides or someone flaunting their luxurious home and impressive wardrobe, "we’re constantly being fed what we don’t have."

That said, people are consuming all this and thinking that if they had that fancy job or car, etc., they too would he happier. "No one is appreciating what they have and thinking they are lucky anymore," Taylor says.

Taylor further explains that she thinks that she would be happier if she spent her whole life in the '80s and '90s. And even if she wiped her phone clean of social media apps right now, it still wouldn't change much since the rest of the world is still deeply infatuated.

“I don’t want to live in this day and age anymore. It is ridiculous," Taylor says as she ends her video.

In the comments section, users overwhelmingly agreed with Taylor's perspective.

"My mom always says humans are not meant to see what everyone else is doing constantly," wrote one commenter.

Another user claimed that digital communication has become so prevalent that real face-to-face conversations have suffered. "Even conversations lack depth nowadays. The excitement I feel when I have a stimulating conversation with anyone is crazy, and I sit back and realize," she wrote.

One user piggybacked on that claim, writing, "This is so true. I often contribute to a conversation and get no response; it's bizarre because I always try to respond to others' remarks."

"I've often thought that we're missing out on our own lives because we're busy watching others on social media," read another comment.

And one user claimed they unfollowed celebrities and influencers on Instagram because "Seeing all their updates is not real life."