Neuroscience and Social Media

Social media is a web-based technology that transforms how people communicate by enhancing interactive conversations. As a generation we have been heavily influenced by various social media platforms and this could be harming our wellbeing. I have always had an interest in 'social media addiction', being a slave to it myself, and this interest was triggered when social media 'starlet' Essena O'neill quit social media leaving her half a million followers behind. If you are not familiar with her story I will quickly summarise it for you: Essena quit all social media after claiming that her self confidence was fuelled by internet 'likes' and that she had developed body dysmorphia due to her online presence that she wanted to upkeep. This made me think whether I too subconsciously linked my self worth with the amount of likes I had on social media and to test this I gave all social media up for a week. I started to think more about this and wondered what the neuroscience behind social media addiction was and, after a little research, this is what I have found.

Apparently, social media use triggers the amygdala and the striatum; both parts of the brain responsible for the reward system. This explains why we feel a rush of pleasure when a photo or status we post gets liked by someone else. Whilst the amygdala is an integrative region for behaviour, emotions and motivation, the station is a critical part of the forebrain. Recent brain imaging research shows that social media and new forms of technology affect the brain's frontal cortex (which controls executive functioning) in the same way that cocaine does. The rush of getting likes is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels in our brain. This is why many neuroscientists call screens "electronic cocaine" and "digital heroin".

In addition to this, neuroscientists can investigate the difference between online and offline social environments and use this to look at brain structure and function in light of these differences. It has been found that during real life conversations, people spend 30% of conversations sharing information about themselves. However, online, where we have limitless opportunity to share information, self-disclosure comprises 80% of online posts. Is social media turning our world into one of egocentrism and vanity? Maybe this is why the hashtag 'selfie' has been used almost twice as many times as the hashtag 'family' on instagram. Furthermore, social distance provided by certain platforms violate politeness norms that we would abide by in face to face interactions. This is the main reason that cyberbullying has become such a problem. 

A social media user’s broadcasts can be analyzed to measure his or her emotional state. Also, by examining changes in a user’s broadcasts after exposure to friends’ broadcasts, social media can be used to measure social conformity. How people scroll through social media newsfeeds and click on content can provide insights into users’ curiosity, and their digital footprint on social media may offer clues to their personality traits. Plainly put, social media can help us learn a lot about each other and about social interactions.

I'm not here to say that social media is bad, if anything it is giving us and insight to how we interact with one another online and offline. But next time you feel the high after your Instagram photo breaks the 11 likes barrier, think about how your brain is reacting inside as you feed it the digital heroin. 

- Helena

(if you found this subject interesting, I would highly recommend reading this article on the psychology behind social media addiction http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/social-media-likes-impact-teens-brains-and-behavior.html )