Ohm social media,
Social media has completely altered the society we live in. With constant new viral videos, personal updates, it seems like if one isn’t on social media, they fall out of the loop so fast! For example, the “Damn Daniel” video that has led to so many opinions, but it has become a part of an everyday conversation, and even a new catch phase. We know to some extent what social media is doing to our day to day lives, but what about our minds?
Here are 5 ways social media is changing our brains right at this very moment:
How much time?
Social media has let to this form of addiction that is affecting similar regions of the brain that tangible drugs affect, some people aren’t able to physically log off of their social media, or it becomes such a repetitive process that people log on into side unintentionally. Think about it, how many times did you try to go on “Ted.ucsd.edu” and ended up going on “Facebook.com”? The letters aren’t even similar but your daily routine and mentality quickly think of Facebook of tritoned. This is because social media affects the emotional, decision making and attention part of your brain, just like drugs do. This is because they provide immediate rewards with minimal effort.
How many?
Multi-tasking, the next affected aspect in your brain! Some people think that people who use social media are better at multi-tasking, but when compared in study, people less exposed to social media turned out to be better at multi-taking. Think about it, how many times did you get lost in the middle of a conversation because you got a new comment or update? Increasing online multi-tasking reduces your brains ability to filter out interferences, which can even make it harder for your brain to commit information into memory!
What… did that even happen?
Who knew that social media could produce its own psychological phenomenon? This new phenomenon is called, “Phantom Vibration Syndrome.” Have you ever thought that your phone was ringing or that you were getting a new notification but in reality, nothing was happening nor moving? That is Phantom Vibration Syndrome. Around 90 percent of people experience this at least once within 2 weeks! It has gotten to such a huge point, that an itch can seem like a vibration of our phones to us! Technology has re-wired our nervous system in a way that has never happened before!
Does this feel better?
Social media has also triggered the “feel good hormones”, dopamine! Because of social media, scientist has noticed that dopamine becomes more active now when people talk about their own views as opposed to others views! 30-40 parents of face to face conversations involve us talking about ourselves while 80 percent of social media conversations involve ourselves. So this isn’t so much of a narcissistic aspect, but also, an issue that has arose because of social media! The same part of your brain that is stimulated by orgasms, love and so on, are stimulated by your social media use. That’s right; orgasms and love are activated in the same region that’s activated when you receive a like on a picture. This means we are getting rewarded for talking about ourselves, I mean that’s not always a bad thing, confidence is great! But this much talking about ourselves, reduces the ability to take enjoyment in other people’s lives!
What is love?
Get this, people actually like each other better when they meet online and then get to know each other in person! Maybe tinder actually does something nice! Orr maybe it’s actually other social media websites! This can be because it’s anonymous or people are clearer about their future goals, therefore have a common ground faster! The amount of successful partnerships has increased if the couples meat online! Maybe that is larger due to the fact that our society is being based around online dating, or maybe it’s nice to state what you expect beforehand!
Social media has impacted society a lot, but at the same time, does this mean we need to stop using it, or just moderating or accepting? Personally, I would suggest using social media less, especially when out with friends, I mean have you ever seen a group of friends that look like their eyes are glued to the phone and are completely ignoring each other? It shouldn’t be that way! But hat also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep up with social media and follow people…. Like me! (Cough neginnamagucci cough). But really, social media has altered our nervous system and brain chemistry which only illustrates the impact of a societal change! So be careful!