What Really Should be Thrown “In” and “Out” in 2025?

With the new year comes new goals and trends that overtake social media. Anything from a simple list to extreme challenges can flood the algorithm. Social media has had a powerful impact on society for years now, and many things that cycle through can be harmful and damaging to people's self esteem and health. A trend that is overtaking social media platforms like TikTok is, “the Ins and Outs of 2025.” People are listing things they are leaving behind in 2024 and things they are making space for in 2025. Although it's just simple stuff like, “waking up early,” and,  “no negativity,” influencers and users of social media should really be focusing on leaving unhealthy and pressuring trends behind. 

When a third of adults in the U.S use TikTok and six in ten teenagers are on it as well, the platform has a huge audience, and with that comes a huge impact on lives. Young people are extremely susceptible to pressure, and often experience push from peers and social media to participate in activities they don’t necessarily want to. There can be a lot of force for teenagers to “fit in,” and without a good circle of people around them, they can fall into harmful patterns or addictions. Social media is a huge part of that and can be a source of endless videos featuring dangerous pastimes. 

Vaping and underage drinking is often glamorized online, and can pressure young adults and teenagers to partake in them. It can create an incredibly unhealthy environment and start people down a path of addiction. Studies show that 98% of social media videos depict vaping as a positive thing or something to be admired. Moreover, excessive drinking is also portrayed as something “fun” when really it's just dangerous. It is definitely something that should be “out” in the new year. 

Not every part of social media is harmful, and not every trend is harmful, but it's important to keep in mind that it has a powerful influence on the world and good or bad, whatever trends are circulating, some amount of people are bound to follow suit. So, all in all, the biggest, “in,” of 2025 should be healthy decisions and helpful trends and the biggest “out” should be damaging trends that impact people's lives negatively.