Social media has quickly become intertwined into our society’s daily routine. Gone are the days when we would have face to face discussions, about everything and anything, in turn creating lifelong friendships. This current generation is much more willing to hide behind the computer trying to create connections through the veil of the Internet, specifically social networking sites. With millions of people from all over the world, connecting with each other through social media, it is no wonder why so many are drawn to social media. But as with anything we enjoy, too much of a good thing can become a hindrance in our lives, maybe even an addition. The psychological and biological factors behind social media use could help explain social media
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Mark Fabbri, director of the Psychology department in South University defines addiction as “a compulsion to consume something or engage in a set of behaviors to the point that it significantly interferes with a person’s life.” (Donley, Megan) Harvard University’ psychology department conducted a study on why individuals devote 30-40% of their speech just to inform others about their own experiences. The study shows that there is a direct correlation between social media addiction and how the use of social media stimulates the release of the feel good chemical, dopamine. (Mitchell, Jason) Dopamine is used by the body to rewire the brain in response to an unexpected reward, such as likes and comments on a Facebook post. When the brain takes in new information it causes the brain to update its self with this new information, the reward isn 't surprising anymore and the effects of the dopamine dissolve (King, Paul). This can cause people to start craving more and more social media usage to recreate the feeling of the dopamine release and in turn developing a social media …show more content…
But social media could just make your depression worse. Creating a negative cycle by spending long periods of time on social media, this is time that could have been spent boosting your emotional health. People that consume the most amount of content on social media report a decrease in face to face social bonding and an increase in loneliness. Additionally, depression can lead you to process information negatively and have skewed beliefs. Participating in social media while suffering from depression, can be an enabler of negative thoughts and validate faulty beliefs. Natascha M. Santos, a psychologist and professor at NYU states that “someone with depression might process photos, Tweets, and posts in a way that glamorizes the lives of others, which may or may not be what they seem. This negative bias can lead you to minimize the positives of your own relationships when held up in comparison to relationships presented to you through a set of photos and carefully crafted status updates” (Sohrabi, Farrokh, MD.)
Mark Fabbri, director of the Psychology department in South University defines addiction as “a compulsion to consume something or engage in a set of behaviors to the point that it significantly interferes with a person’s life.” (Donley, Megan) Harvard University’ psychology department conducted a study on why individuals devote 30-40% of their speech just to inform others about their own experiences. The study shows that there is a direct correlation between social media addiction and how the use of social media stimulates the release of the feel good chemical, dopamine. (Mitchell, Jason) Dopamine is used by the body to rewire the brain in response to an unexpected reward, such as likes and comments on a Facebook post. When the brain takes in new information it causes the brain to update its self with this new information, the reward isn 't surprising anymore and the effects of the dopamine dissolve (King, Paul). This can cause people to start craving more and more social media usage to recreate the feeling of the dopamine release and in turn developing a social media …show more content…
But social media could just make your depression worse. Creating a negative cycle by spending long periods of time on social media, this is time that could have been spent boosting your emotional health. People that consume the most amount of content on social media report a decrease in face to face social bonding and an increase in loneliness. Additionally, depression can lead you to process information negatively and have skewed beliefs. Participating in social media while suffering from depression, can be an enabler of negative thoughts and validate faulty beliefs. Natascha M. Santos, a psychologist and professor at NYU states that “someone with depression might process photos, Tweets, and posts in a way that glamorizes the lives of others, which may or may not be what they seem. This negative bias can lead you to minimize the positives of your own relationships when held up in comparison to relationships presented to you through a set of photos and carefully crafted status updates” (Sohrabi, Farrokh, MD.)