I made my Facebook profile around 2005. I frequently used it to publish pictures of my friends and me having fun. I periodically talked about my ramblings, the books I was reading, and the eateries I went to. I also started connecting with my friends on Facebook.
I also made my Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts a few years later. I used Instagram for posting quotes, LinkedIn to interact with coworkers, and Twitter to stay current on the news. I have established relationships and networks worldwide and have promoted my services thanks to social media. It has also helped me locate community, shop, learn about events, share my write-ups and learn new ideas.
However, I discovered that I frequently spend hours on social media, even waking up in the middle of the night to check Facebook and Instagram for messages and likes. Surprisingly, I was not alone. Around 60% of the global population uses social media, and users spend an average of about two and a half hours daily on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.
I was relieved to learn that I am not the only one engrossed in social media. But as I spent more time scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, I noticed that my time for reading a book or walking in the park was being disrupted. Until I came across some fascinating research suggesting that social media platforms are engineered to be addictive, I blamed myself for this tendency. My addiction to social media was not totally my fault.
It’s the Design
An article published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health argues that social media apps have design features that encourage prolonged app usage. In the 'classic' Silicon Valley app-business model, users give up their personal information rather than money to use a specific app. As a result, app developers are incentivised to develop online platforms that will keep users engaged for as long as is practical while enabling more data collection about each individual. Revenues usually improve as data volumes increase because the practice of showing a person tailored advertisements grows more precise.
Endless Scrolling
The endless scrolling or streaming feature is one method for extending usage time. Think of the 'pull-to-refresh' feature on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Dragging your finger downward on the screen causes it to refresh. You become immersed in the app while continuing to scroll down. You don't come to a natural stop when you can readily consider leaving or switching platforms. You also engage in continuous scrolling because you may find something fascinating. The element of surprise also keeps you coming to the app. The same effect occurs when watching a YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime video. The next movie or episode in your queue will begin playing automatically a few seconds after the previous one ends. As a result, viewers get increasingly captivated, making it difficult to shut the screen off.
Social Pressure
Putting social pressure on users to communicate fast and often is another method designers of social media apps use to increase data flow in an application. Take an example of a well-known messaging application WhatsApp. WhatsApp comes with the "double tick function" turned on by default. When you send a message to someone using WhatsApp, you will see two grey ticks indicating that the message was delivered successfully. The grey ticks turn blue if the recipient reads the message. Social pressure develops due to both sides being aware of these rules. Both parties anticipate a quick response if the message appears to have been read. In this way, social pressure encourages WhatsApp users to communicate more quickly. Although you can change the default settings, most users must be aware of their ability to change it.
Social Reward
The iconic 'thumbs up', a symbol of giving or receiving a "Like," is probably one of social media's most recognisable aspects of social reward mechanisms. You use 'Like' to provide positive social feedback to another person. But you are more likely to like a picture if more of your friends have already liked it. This is because viewing photographs with many likes (compared to few likes) was linked to increased cerebral activity in the areas of the brain involved in processing rewards, social cognition, imitation, and attention.
Dopamine Effect
An article published in the BBC Science Focus magazine claims many of these techniques use the dopamine system in the brain. Dopamine drives our habits. Our brain uses dopamine to keep track of things that are worthwhile to repeat. Dopamine is released when you do something that makes you feel good. However, our dopamine system can't differentiate between healthy behaviours like eating enough food and unhealthy ones like using drugs.
When dopamine is released in response to the unhealthy trigger, it can reinforce habits to the point where they become addictions. Research indicates that social media can stimulate the brain, similar to an unhealthy trigger like addiction. The shares, likes, updates, and comments on social platforms activate the brain's reward centre, resulting in a high similar to that you feel when gambling or using drugs, argues Nancy DeAngelis, Director of Behavioral Health, Jefferson Health - Abington. The high from social media becomes increasingly difficult for anyone to resist after the brain encounters these dopamine and pleasure surges, leading to patterns of addictive behaviour.
It's interesting to note that the platform creators purposefully incorporated physically addicting elements such as likes, follows, updates, and photos to increase users' time spent on the platform and change their behaviour and thinking, argues New York Times reporter Max Fisher.
Social media has become the cornerstone of communication and a crucial tool for establishing relationships. But recent studies have raised some questions. For example, a significant positive correlation between social media use and job burnout has been found. Daily use of social media significantly increases the risk of self-harm and depression for adolescents. The added sleep cycle disruptions explain part of the association with depressive symptoms.
After knowing what social media can do to my mental health, I have decided to reduce my time with it. Being a content creator, I cannot escape it altogether. But I can be intentional about how much time I spend on various social media platforms. So I am doing a few experiments. Watch for one of my future write-ups if you want to know what they are.
Use Social Media Excessively? Not Your Fault