emember the beginnings of social media? A time when no one cared about how many likes they made and didn’t care how their content looked.
Influencers were certainly not on Instagram and we used to be less superficial. Not to mention that mental health problems were less of a common topic of discussion.
And if you are wondering why is social media bad, well…
Social media negative effects are shown by recent studies, as it has increased depression and anxiety tremendously. Almost 70% of adults and 81% of teens use social media daily and it’s no surprise that I find myself in these percentages as well. I think it’s safe to say that we are addicted to social media and the dopaminergic response our brain has to it. But how did we get here?
We need to face the fact that social media negative effects are triggered by digital platforms, including Instagram, which creates an instant gratification system that gets our dopamine to spike way above the baseline. And this dopamine spike makes our brain want to pursue the use of social media channels in the endless search for nothing that can quickly become an addiction.
Let me explain how social media and mental health can lead to addiction very briefly - dopamine is a neurotransmitter that stands as the base of the brain's reward system and is also responsible for us feeling satisfied and motivated to pursue a certain action. When he has a dopamine spike in our brain we feel good. Normally that would come with a certain degree of effort, like completing a task. Now here comes a problem.
The dopamine system gets triggered by the first interesting social media post that we find, making us feel good and raising the secretion of dopamine. We neither made any effort to get that spike nor will we get a spike that big with any following posts unless we have a longer break from the phone. But we’ll continue scrolling in the endless subconscious pursuit to get the same brain impulse that we got previously.
Another answer to the question Why is social media bad? Well, to a certain degree, our brain processes it like it would process a gambling addiction.
We refresh the feed the same way we would do to a slot machine, waiting to see if we got a prize or an interesting post next. We receive notifications and immediately check our screen to see what it is.
Have you ever thought you received a notification, but when you checked your phone you saw that it was nothing? Well, this phantom call or notification is caused by our brain cravings, making us pick up the phone under the false expectation of reward, validation, or however you want to call it on a case-to-case basis. The idea is that this is not happening by mistake.
There are entire departments that are specialized in making us addicted to Instagram. I am not saying these are bad people. All I’m saying is that their job is to think, find, and design features and mechanisms that tackle our reward and motivation brain system. Look at the short video reels, which become a whole trend on Instagram. Being easy to consume, to share, and able to quickly go viral, this content format gets people in a sort of trance, scrolling for hours even though their inner dialogue says it's time to stop.
But we also can get this dopamine response when we post something and receive instant gratification or validation from others through likes, reactions, and coms. I think we can highlight an idea - Instant gratification creates psychological cravings.
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Likes and reactions, keep us hooked and creates a sense of validation and reward.
Being addicted to social media it’s not the only bad outcome that comes from gratifications. Instagram also creates fake and unrealistic expectations about what their life should be like. Instant gratification is dictating our social media presence, making us dependent on the opinion of our followers to validate our way of being. Not only does this affect our self-esteem when we don’t get the response we want from people online, but it also dictates what we find important in life - or at least makes us pose as that.
It creates a bubble that is only valid in the online world, making us believe that it also applies to the real world. And in today's fast-paced world, we have become accustomed to instant gratification.
We no longer want to wait for days to receive a package when we can get it delivered on the same day.
Another outcome of social media and mental health is that we have also become used to receiving immediate responses to our text messages and can become anxious when we don't get a reply. The need for instant validation is also evident in our use of social media, where we seek likes and comments from our friends and family to feel validated and acknowledged. In no time we can become a star but also lose the hype around us just as fast.
And, to be honest, at some point in our social media presence, the majority of us were interested in how many likes, comments, or shares our posts had. This disrupted the way we see and perceive our bodies, careers, relationships, and life. Eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, or body dysmorphia and a false impression of the purpose of life can be triggered by abusing this instant gratification system. And, the worst part is the young generation is the most affected.
But one thing is for certain - realizing the bubble we are in is the first and most important thing. Whatever we do afterward, whether is taking regular breaks from social media or just adapting our online presence to a healthier and personal point of view, it all starts with acknowledging the problem.
By
Eva Robinson
•
December 17, 2024 9:10 PM
