Written by Mariam Karma | Edited by Olivia Cooper
Photo by Dalila Dalprat
Social media has been around for over 2 decades, with SixDegrees being the first well-known social media site created in 1997. My Space (2003), Facebook (2004), and Tik Tok (2016) succeeded it and other sites. The most commonly used social media platform is Facebook, with over 2 billion users from 2004-2019. Throughout these 2 decades, people used these sites to socialize with people over long distances, advocate for political and social movements, and access information [1]. However, social media may also have side effects on mental health, especially in children and adolescents aged 10-19 [2]. Two notable ways social media affects mental health are through instant gratification and dopamine-induced positive feedback loops.
Instant gratification is when individuals act on their urges to experience a “feel good” moment that is usually short-lived. In contrast, delayed gratification is when individuals accomplish tasks that result in long-term success and satisfaction. These two types of gratification describe an individual’s level of self-control—their ability to set and pursue goals. In 2018, an experiment measured college undergraduates’ self-control by giving them a cognitive test. Based on their answers, the experimenters would evaluate the subject’s level of self-control. Before the experiment began, participants were assessed and recognized as high self-esteem individuals or low self-esteem individuals. All participants were told to either use social media or study for a test before the experimenters gave them a cognitive test. The study found that low self-esteem individuals tended to have less self-control (i.e. become more impulsive) after studying. When encountering an obstacle, the study observed that low self-esteem individuals may have wanted to avoid the obstacle by pursuing other activities more easily accomplished, like using social media. In contrast, high self-esteem individuals seemed to have less self-control after using social media. The study addressed this observation, noting that they may not have seen the task of using social media as a challenge and thus approached the cognitive test with greater confidence and less wariness [3]. Not only does this study demonstrate how different people deal with instant gratification, it also provides us with valuable insight to how instant gratification affects our goals and motivations.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates thinking, mood, motivation, and other biological functions. Dopamine plays a critical role in the rewarding feeling experienced when using social media. Social media users experience a phenomenon called the “magical maybe,” describing the phenomenon in which users may or may not find a notification on their phone. If users do find a notification, it starts a positive feedback loop—meaning it triggers an increase in dopamine levels before decreasing again, resulting in a pleasurable feeling. The brain then craves more of that pleasurable feeling, which causes users to repeatedly check their phones. In contrast, users that check their phones and don’t see a notification experience a negative feedback loop. Dopamine levels decrease in the brain and no pleasurable feeling is experienced.The positive feedback loop experienced when using social media is almost similar to that experienced by drug addicts when they utilize their drug of choice [4].
Despite social media’s addictive effects, there are ways to mitigate its effects. Engage in activities that boost dopamine levels, but keep the body and mind healthy (i.e. exercising and eating healthy) [2] [5]. When using social media, follow people who spread knowledge and positive content to maintain a healthy mood. Disabling notifications and being mindful of social media use can also be beneficial—do you really need to at this moment?[5]
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