Title: The Social Media Drug of Choice: Facebook
Category: News & Opinion
Tags: facebook addiction
Teaser: Apparently, Facebook has the same effect on the brain as drugs do.
Article: Psst… wanna get high? Just go to your Facebook page. Your brain on Facebook, it seems, is not that much different from your brain on drugs, suggests research.
Your brain on Facebook
There’s something about social media — particularly Facebook — that excites the brain. And whatever it is, keeps us coming back for more. It could have something to do with the fact that our brains are built to minimize danger and maximize rewards suggest the Harvard Business Review. And in a modern society danger is generally kept at bay, which allows us to focus on rewarding activities …show more content…
The region became more active in response to praise received, compared to praise given to others, suggested Meshi. And that led the participants to spend more time on Facebook — looking for more reward.
In another study published in Psychological Reports, and reported in the Telegraph, undergraduates were asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing how addicted they were to Facebook.
Participants were shown a series of images, some related to Facebook, and asked to press a button when they appeared. Those who hit the button quickly when they saw Facebook images scored highly in the addiction tests. Some participants even responded to Facebook stimuli faster than they did to road signs.
Facebook draws us in as a way to feel connected, and then keeps us coming back for more, thanks to the “hit” of digital dopamine we get each time we are “liked.” But unlike addictive drugs, the addictive behavior caused by Facebook stems from low motivation to control the behavior, since Facebook is socially accepted. That’s good news, since it means that the behavior can be
Category: News & Opinion
Tags: facebook addiction
Teaser: Apparently, Facebook has the same effect on the brain as drugs do.
Article: Psst… wanna get high? Just go to your Facebook page. Your brain on Facebook, it seems, is not that much different from your brain on drugs, suggests research.
Your brain on Facebook
There’s something about social media — particularly Facebook — that excites the brain. And whatever it is, keeps us coming back for more. It could have something to do with the fact that our brains are built to minimize danger and maximize rewards suggest the Harvard Business Review. And in a modern society danger is generally kept at bay, which allows us to focus on rewarding activities …show more content…
The region became more active in response to praise received, compared to praise given to others, suggested Meshi. And that led the participants to spend more time on Facebook — looking for more reward.
In another study published in Psychological Reports, and reported in the Telegraph, undergraduates were asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing how addicted they were to Facebook.
Participants were shown a series of images, some related to Facebook, and asked to press a button when they appeared. Those who hit the button quickly when they saw Facebook images scored highly in the addiction tests. Some participants even responded to Facebook stimuli faster than they did to road signs.
Facebook draws us in as a way to feel connected, and then keeps us coming back for more, thanks to the “hit” of digital dopamine we get each time we are “liked.” But unlike addictive drugs, the addictive behavior caused by Facebook stems from low motivation to control the behavior, since Facebook is socially accepted. That’s good news, since it means that the behavior can be