It is a rush that the youth craves.
Social media is the being made manifested in the lives of the generation today. A like, a retweet and a comment redefining the identity of every individual, something so impactful that it once started out as a necessity, now becoming a norm, a staple.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created a study about the relationship of the young people and social media usage, with a total of 11,000 children as respondents to track the significant difference in the brain chemistry. Concluding in their research that there is a surge of the chemical dopamine released in the brain, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in feeling temporary pleasure. Whenever we use social media, we reward ourselves into feeling good, and this cumulates into loss of sleep and focus, choosing swiping down one’s feed rather than doing something productive.
And I wholly agree with how they synthesized the findings. There is an inherent pleasure that comes with watching videos in YouTube or leaving likes on someone’s photo in Instagram, and it is the type of short-term happiness that we seek because, what else is there to be glad about? But it sometimes sacrifices connection with family, social interaction seems to be a tad difficult than just chatting online and it is harder to function without a cell phone in hand.
Trevor Haynes, a writer from Harvard University, reinforces the concept that particular stimulus, in this case, Social Media, results in feel-good rewards. “Every notification, whether it’s a text message, a “like” on Instagram, or a Facebook notification, has the potential to be a positive social stimulus and dopamine influx.” Social Media on the youth has become a priority because of the surge of pleasure, a desire of social validation, optimizing the need for appraisal that young people become habitual users. The moment the brain receives a “reward”, it translates itself to positive reinforcement and it is hard to get rid off.
The algorithm and advertisement-specific strategy of Social Media is what makes us stay longer on the phone or in front of our laptops. We usually keep to ourselves because of this, the instinctive seeking out of happy hormones is much better than stressing ourselves out. The consequences merely at the back of our minds. Continuous abuse and usage of Social Media translates into disconnection with parent-child relationships, too focused on their own devices and screens to be able to develop a healthy relation. Then engagement in social media affecting the emotional state of users, unable to withdraw oneself when there is restriction in surfing online or when scanning social media websites.
All we could do is definitely reevaluate the weight of social media in our lives, taking an in-depth look at how we see ourselves and how we could question our habits. It is true that social media is not going away, in fact, I personally do not see it happening ever, but to control our lifestyle is completely up to us. Discipline is something inherent to us and we are not above it. Wise usage of social media and learning to take the time off the screen is not as hard as we make it to be. Mind over matter is what I truly think of it. Of course, I know it does not work out for everyone, but we could at least try.
Resources:
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/
https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/
https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/social-media-addiction/
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