Facebook and other social media platforms have an impact on society, politics, and the media. But does social media use also affect our bodies?
Table of contents
Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are already used by one-third of the world's population. More than half of people communicate with each other more often online than in real life. Of course, this has an impact on our society, politics, and the media. But does it also have an effect on our bodies and our brains? Here we present five astonishing facts about how social media use can already change the brain.
1. Social media is as addictive as drugs
It's truly astonishing: 5-10 percent of internet and social media users can no longer control how much time they spend online. Why? Because the internet can be just as addictive as drugs .
According to the results of a study from the University of Chicago, the desire for social networks is greater than the desire for nicotine or alcohol. The 205 participants studied would neglect many everyday activities to log in. Only the need for sleep and sex was greater, according to the researchers.
While online addiction is a psychological dependence, not a physical one like drugs, the brain is altered in a very similar way. Especially in the parts of the brain that control emotional processing, attention span, and decision-making, the amount of white matter is clearly reduced! And just like with drugs, the dosage of social media use must be continually increased to achieve the same reward effect. [1]
2. The brain is less able to withstand interruptions and distractions
Forget the old saying that social media users are better at multitasking! Studies have shown that they're actually worse at it, because frequent social media use tends to atrophy multitasking skills. [2]
The brain is less able to filter out distractions and unimportant things , and it also has a harder time remembering things. Incidentally, multitasking isn't good for the brain at all, as we've already described in another blog post.
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3. Social media use changes the nervous system
Phantom vibration syndrome (also called vibranxiety or cell phone syndrome ) is a particularly peculiar consequence of heavy social media use. Those affected imagine they hear the vibrating alarm or the phone ringing, even though no one is calling.
In an American study of heavy social media users, 98 percent of respondents claimed this happened to them at least once a week. The scientists explain this by saying that the body perceives itching of the skin as vibrations. Crazy, but if that's true, then a technology has apparently altered neural circuitry for the first time . [3]
4. Social media rewards us for narcissistic behavior
While we use social media, the release of dopamine, the so-called happiness hormone, increases in our brains. Brain imaging studies have shown that social media users are particularly rewarded by their brains when they express their own thoughts, much more so than when they listen to others. [4]
This is not surprising, but the scientists also found that in a real-life conversation between two people, 30 to 40 percent of the content revolves around their own views, while in online social media communication, 80 percent of the content is purely self-referential.
5. Social media is a love killer
You've probably heard this before, but heavy social media use often leads to relationship problems. One study found that 21 percent of participants had already started an affair through a social media platform. [5]
6. Conclusion
So we see that social media not only has an enormous influence on our social lives, on political and societal processes, but even affects our bodies. However, we shouldn't demonize them for that reason—that hasn't worked with other technological inventions, such as the railway and computers. However, we should be aware of the dangers and act accordingly.
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7. Sources
[1] https://news.uchicago.edu/story/study-finds-lure-entertainment-work-hard-people-resist
[2] https://www.forschung-und-lehre.de/forschung/die-konzentration-leidet-1858/
[ 3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3677878/
[4] https://www.dw.com/de/medienforscher-appel-narzissmus-und-social-media-in-selbstverst%C3%A4rkender-spirale/a-46365234
[5] https://www.zeitjung.de/studie-edarling-partner-liebe-online-social-media/ https://www.zeitjung.de/studie-edarling-partner-liebe-online-social-media/
