Changes of the Brain in People that Use Social Media

People who find they can’t control how much time they spend on the internet were found to have impairment in the same areas of the brain as people with substance addiction problems. Specifically, this impacts parts of the brain that control decision making, emotions, and attention. Furthermore, it is an easy way to feel good: social media is simple to use and interactions on it release hormones in our bodies that make us feel happy. The hormone dopamine is released into the body when active on social media, perhaps because 80% of information we post using it is about ourselves while in face to face conversation, our talk is 30% and 40% about ourselves. Frighteningly, this can physically rewire the brain, leaving us greatly desiring the stimulations that social media gives us.[1]

The constant multi-tasking of heavy social media users transferred into a lessened ability to commit things to memory and a lessened ability to filter out unimportant information, leading to decreased performance on tests.[1]

Social media is also changing the nervous systems of those who overuse it. Phantom Vibration Syndrome is a phenomenon where an individual feels and itch and automatically assumes it is a notification coming from their cellphone or other device.[1]

Understanding Why Use of Social Media is so Prevalent

Novelty is attractive and the designers for social sites are constantly trying to make the designs look new and keep pouring out fresh content to keep us stimulated. On sites like Facebook and Instagram, making a ‘connection’ follows a “variable schedule reinforcement” model, meaning it is sometimes rewarded and sometimes not. This paradigm means a person participating in it is very likely to keep using it because the outcome is unpredictable. Using notifications, social media sites keep us more likely to be constantly checking them.[2]

One study found that if we see something on a social media site that conveys a certain emotion, we’re more likely to use that same emotion in our own posts.

Something called negative automaintenance is what happens to the brain a few weeks after one first creates an account for a social media website.3 If sometimes there is no reward for logging into the site, use of it for extended periods of time will decline, as the amount of friendships and follows you’re receiving will decline once you exhaust the resource of people you know well. This marks the beginning of use for short periods throughout the day begins. Studies have shown that University students who use Facebook more actively than their peers have lower grades. [2]

Some types of social media sites capitalize on the idea that they are more valuable if many people that are connected. This could be why Facebook was initially only available to members of certain universities: they had a population that had a grounds for being connected. The basic principle of conformity and the fear of missing out became huge factors contributing to why social media use is so prevalent in developed societies. It is difficult to avoid such ever-present, normative influence. 2

Another reason why we continue to use social media is because it increases our low-level social capital- that is, the relationships between user and someone they don’t know very well. These relationships provide you with news and information you might be glad you could see, such as a post about a job opening, etc. Social media can be used to strengthen weak ties between individuals, in a way that doesn’t require you to physically put yourself out there: you can show someone you care about them and what they do (paying attention to them) without ever really knowing them. Selfies are a corporeal form of social capital. They allow (specifically young) people to present themselves, and provide a basis on which they can compare themselves to one another. There is long-standing research that you are perceived as attractive if your friends are. This explains why individuals sometimes interact with certain people just to elevate their own social status.2

On social media sites like 4chan where users are anonymous, there is still a social structure, essentially formed around the ‘in-joke’. If you participate in the site, you’ll get to know the vocabulary specific to it, and the inside jokes within it, creating a feeling of familiarity between you and anonymous users simply because you are like minded.[2]

Social media sites, like diaries or meditation, now serves a purpose for us in that they give us a platform to refine and manage who we are. It was found that teenagers and young adults spend a lot of time editing their profiles. It has been said by philosophers for centuries that who we are is not a concrete object but a soft mould that evolves and changes with time and new experiences. Social media is an accessible way to convey these changes to others.[2]

Social media might also be alluring for teenagers because it provides them with a virtual space which their parents have limited control over, whereas physical spaces are still controlled by other people in their life. With location services available on some social media websites, an option for comparison to others is showing them that we get out: we like to prove to our peers and friends this.

It was found that females are more likely to change their profile photo and to emphasize friendships in it. Also, females are more likely than males to become compulsive texters.[4]

Snapchat is an example of a site which appeals to young users simply because the posts you create do not last. In a world where the concept of permanence can be scary to young users, this is very attractive. Humans have yet to get used to communication via text which can be described as ‘hyper personal’: having a date, timestamp, sometimes being able to show edits or that it has been edited, the ability to proofread and spellcheck what you say is novel and exciting to us and keeps us wanting more. [2]

Self Esteem

Social media sites have played a very large role in the decreasing of teenage self esteem. Whenever we go online, we are bombarded with pictures of people who are socially deemed ‘perfect’, mainly by means of physical appearance, or shown a glimpse of someone else’s life that looks much more glamorous and enticing than our own.[9] A study from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom has shown results that indicated that about half of the survey's 298 participants, all of whom identified themselves as social media users, say that their use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter makes their lives worse. In particular, participants “noted that their self-esteem suffered when they compare their own accomplishments to those of their online friends”.[10] It can be seen, that the more time people spend on social medias, the more depressed they become by comparing themselves to others.[9] A large reason as to why people use social media in the first place is to get attention from others, and when a person does not get as many likes or is noticed as much as one of their friends or acquaintances, their self esteem decreases, as they think they are not appreciated as much as their other peers.[9]

“Standard advice for helping kids build healthy self esteem is to get them involved in something that they are interested in”.[11] Whether it be playing sports or playing musical instruments, anything that a teen finds interesting, will give them confidence as they keep increasing the skills associated with the activity.[11 ]“When kids learn to feel good about what they can do instead of how they look and what they own, they're happier and better prepared for success in real life”.[11]

The Value of Face to Face Interaction

Face to face interaction is one of the most important social aspects of human life. It is our nature to want to talk and connect with others, it boosts our self confidence, releases stress, and above all, helps reduce the likeliness of a mental illness. However, talking to someone face to face is slowly becoming an unused practice as technology usage increases. Many teenagers get anxious while talking to their peers or teachers and communicate through a screen rather than talking. This is leading to teenagers missing out on some extremely critical social skills.[11] Technology “puts everybody in a nonverbal disabled context, where body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions are rendered invisible”.[11]  One of the values of face to face interactions is that you can “gauge how interested someone is in what you are talking about by reading their body language”.[12] By focusing so much on social medias and technology, we tend to forget, or not pick up on these important cues, which can lead to an even larger gap between us.

Another important factor about face to face interactions is in regard to problem solving. When there are problems that are need to be faced, whether they be big or small, it takes courage to be honest about your feelings and then hear what the other person has to say.[11] It is also easier to keep your guard up, and not fully take into mind what you are saying and the impact of your words on the other person(s) in the situation.[11]