This brief introduction argues that the current, swirling debates over the ills of social media are largely a reflection of larger forces in our society. Social media is accused of creating political polarization, yet polarization long predates social media and pervades every aspect of our society. Social media is accused of a liberal bias and “wokeness”; but in fact, conservative commentators accuse every major institution of our society, including academia, the press, and corporate America, of the same sin. Social media is said to be causing psychological harm to young people, especially young women. But our society’s tendency to impose image-consciousness on girls and young women, and to sexualize girls at ever younger ages, pervades not just social but also mainstream media, the clothing industry, and our culture more generally. And as with polarization, this phenomenon long predates the advent of social media. In short, the supposed ills of social media are in fact the ills of our broader culture. It is just that the pervasiveness of social media makes it the primary mirror in which we see ourselves; and apparently, we do not much like what we see.