Sitting on my cold dorm room floor the Sunday before spring semester began — still in my pajamas — I finally had to face procrastinating work, especially submitting a pitch for the Utah College Media Collaborative.

I needed to come up with an idea that explored Generation Z’s relationship with mental health and technology. Instead, I opened TikTok. As I scrolled, I kept seeing memes about Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man arrested for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson just weeks before.

Then it occurred to me that as the editor-in-chief of Sun News Daily, I decided to pitch a story about Gen Z’s dark humor online.

Being part of Gen Z forced me to confront my own view on this brand of humor and my relationship with technology. As I reflected on my social media use, I realized I had grown to depend on it to distract myself from feelings of anxiety.

My first introduction to technology was the computer lab at my small-town elementary school. I can’t remember a time during my school years without having access to a phone or computer. Even as early as first grade, I was constantly interacting with media through the internet.

Then, in junior high, I caught the social media bug. The first social media platform I had was Pinterest, if you even consider that social media. Next was Snapchat, then Instagram, and eventually, TikTok.

I grew up with social media, something previous generations haven’t experienced. Millennials had Myspace and Facebook, but that was when social media was new and upcoming — it still had its luster. It hadn’t hit the point of toxicity that it holds now, and it wasn’t something that had a chokehold on young adults.

Sure, Social media has positives, but it’s a double-edged sword. You have to take the good with the bad — and studies show there’s a whole lot of bad. While I love all of the funny TikToks I have saved, social media has done more harm than good for me.

Our story for the Utah College Media Collaborative unfolds Gen Z humor and delves into the mental health challenges this generation is currently facing.

For some, dark humor online is a way to cope with mental health challenges. It can be an escape from reality that offers a level of relief. Yet, I cannot ignore all the downsides of social media. I don’t blame social media for my mental health challenges, but it certainly hasn’t helped.

I’m in a constant state of comparing myself to others and feeling I’m never good enough. I can’t be the best editor-in-chief because I’m always looking at other news organizations’ incredible work. Or, I can’t possibly be attractive enough for someone to date because there are all these beautiful women out there, far more pretty than I am.

The feelings of anxiety I have are always made worse by scrolling through social media. I’m spammed with political issues or news of illnesses and natural disasters I have no control over. It’s not healthy for me to see a spam of these things because, even if they are true, I start to obsess over them, throwing me into an anxiety-driven spiral.

While it’s nice we have our funny little videos on social media, there’s a bigger picture here and a bigger problem — a large portion of Gen Z is suffering from mental health challenges, and technology has only made it worse.

Yes, Gen Z’s online humor is fun, and I also get a good laugh from scrolling on TikTok, but I have to start distancing myself from social media.

While the collaboration started as a project for Sun News to participate in, it quickly turned into a moment of self-reflection. I realized I rely too much on social media to help “cure” my worries when that’s not how worries are cured. Social media has been a quick-fix distraction that leaves me with more feelings of anxiety than I had without it.

My lesson is this: I can’t rely on social media to ease my mind. I cannot rely on something that is materialistic. All these funny videos we have are just videos. They aren’t life-changing, and they won’t provide a long-lasting coping mechanism.

So, I urge my fellow Gen Zers to take a step back and examine how you use social media in your own lives. Is it really helping with your worries, or just distracting you for a little while?