Health experts love to say that sitting is the new smoking. Given the number of diseases to which sitting is linked, and the number of people it apparently kills every year, sitting is one of the worst things we can do for health. But possibly as concerning is the thing that we often do while we’re sitting: Mindlessly scrolling through our social media feeds when we have a few spare minutes (or for some, hours). And as we probably know intuitively, and as the research is confirming, it’s not the best habit when it comes to our collective psychology.
"The fact that we replace meaningful social interaction with social media, impacts our well-being."
— Holly Shakya and Nicholas Christakis
SOCIAL MEDIA IS EVOLVING
The major platforms are constantly offering new tools and features to attract and retain their users. Facebook has a live-streaming feature. Instagram has Stories. Twitter has the President’s tweets. Well, maybe that last one isn’t part of the evolution. But it’s certainly one of the aspects of social media that keeps us all spending time on it. Most people tend to make social media a core part of their daily routine. In the morning, evening or breaks at work.
It’s understandable why social media has become such an integral factor in our day-to-day lives. It’s become the way that many of us seek news updates, find entertainment, and even communicate with each other. But does all of the “liking,” “following,” and “commenting” mean we are truly connecting with each other? Do we see each other?
SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT HARMLESS
Social media tools are designed to be addictive, so that you fragment your attention as much as possible throughout your waking hours. That’s how these tools are designed to use. We have a growing amount of research which tells us that if you spend large portions of your day in a state of fragmented attention, where you’re constantly breaking up your attention, to take a quick glance, to just check, “Let me quickly look at Instagram”, this can permenantly reduce your capacity for concentration. In other words, you could permanently reduce your capacity to do exactly the type of deep effort that we’re finding to be more and more necessary in an increasingly competitive economy. So, social media use is not harmless, it can actually have a significant negative impact on your ability to thrive in the economy as well as for your mental health.
DOPAMINE TRICKS US
We know, that engagement with social media and our cell phones releases a chemical called dopamine. That’s when you get a text – it feels good. So you know, when you’re feeling a little bit down or lonely, you may post a picture on Instagram or send out texts to ten friends: “Hi”, “hi”, “hi”, “hi”. All of this is because it feels good because you get a response. And why does it feel good? Dopamine. In a 2012 study, Harvard research scientists reported that talking about oneself through social media activates a pleasure sensation (dopamin) in the brain usually associated with food, money, and sex. It’s why we go back ten times to check the same picture we just posted, to check the likes and maybe even the comments.
Young people today’s biggest trauma is being unfriended. It doesn’t feel good, cause you don’t get any dopamine like when you got a follower. Dopamine is the exact same chemical that makes us feel good when we smoke, when we drink and when we gamle. In other words, it’s highly, highly addictive. We have age restrictions on smoking, gambling and alcohol, but we have no age restrictions on social media and cell phones. Which is the equivalent of open up the liquor cabinet and saying to our teenagers: “Hey, by the way, this adolescence thing – if it gets you..” That is basically what’s happening. We have an entire generation that has access to addictive, numbing dopamine through social media and cell phones as they’re going through the high stress of adolescents.
SOCIAL MEDIA IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE
Alcohol is not bad, too much alcohol is bad. Gambling is fun, too much gambling is dangerous. There’s nothing wrong with social media and cell phones. It’s the imbalance. If you’re sitting at dinner with your friends and you’re texting somebody who’s not there, that’s an addiction. If you’re sitting in a meeting with people you’re supposed to be listening to and you put your phone on the table (face up or face down, doesn’t matter), that sends a subconscious message that “You’re not that important to me right now”. And the fact that you can’t put it away, is because you are addicted. If you wake up and you check your phone before you say good morning to your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse, you have an addiction. And like all addiction in time, it will destroy relationships, it will cost time and it will cost money and will make your life worse.
SOCIAL MEDIA LEADS TO SOCIAL COMPARISON
There have been a number of studies examining the consequences of social comparison – something most of us have experience with. One moment you’re scrolling innocently through a friend’s feed, then next thing you know you’re 4 months deep looking at their tropical vacation photos, wondering why you haven’t gone anywhere in years and why it’s taking so long to get your life on track so that you can actually take that trip you’ve been talking about for nearly a decade now.
Social comparison can also rear its ugly head when we start to compare our bodies and appearance to others, tearing ourselves down in the process. A study out of the UK surveyed 1500 Facebook and Twitter users, finding that 62% of the group reported feeling inadequate and 60% reported feelings of jealousy from comparing themselves to other users.
Even though we all know people strive to create that “picture perfect” life on social media, only posting photos that they want others to see – we still judge ourselves against that standard.
Previous research has also revealed that social media could potentially increase internet addiction, lead us to have fewer in-person interactions with others and hinder face-to-face socialization skills.
THERE AIN’T NO APP FOR JOB SATISFACTION AND STRENGTHS OF RELATIONSHIPS
In the world with social media, you don’t have to learn the social coping mechanisms. These days, you can have everything you want, instantaneously. Everything you want can give you instant gratification. Everything except job satisfaction and strengths of relationships. There ain’t no app for that. These are slow, meandering, uncomfortable, messy processes.
What this young generation needs to learn is patience. That some things, that really, really, really matter, like love or job fulfillment, joy, love of life, self-confidence, a skill-set.. Any of these things, all of these things take time. The overall journey is arduous and long and difficult.
There should be no cell phones in conference rooms. None. Zero. Not even in the waiting room outside of the conference room. Cause the case is that when people are waiting these days, outside conference rooms or in the waiting room at the doctor’s, everyone’s sitting with their cell phones, looking down. How can relationships be formed that way? It’s the little things. Relationships are formed like “How’s your dad? I heard he’s in hospital?” “Oh, he’s really good, thanks for asking. He’s actually at home now.” “Oh, I’m really glad.” That’s how you form relationships! “Hey, did you get that report done?” “Oh, no, my god, I didn’t.” “I’ll help you out, no worries!” “Really?” That’s how trust forms.
"Social media is not a substitute for real world, face-to-face interactions with others."
— Holly Shakya and Nicholas Christakis
SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUR OVERALL WELL-BEING
Social connection is a healthy and necessary part of the human experience. A number of studies have examined the benefits of social ties, finding that people with strong social connection have lower levels of anxiety and depression, a stronger immune system, faster recovery times from illness and even an increased chance of longevity. And on the flip-side, studies have also shown that a lack of social connection is correlated with lower self-esteem, a lower sense of empathy for others, vulnerability to disease, higher blood pressure and an increased risk of depression.
With the average Facebook user spending nearly an hour on the site every day, and many of us checking social media apps almost immediately after we wake up every morning – it’s time we start assessing the influence social media is having in our lives. While it certainly has its merits and its allure, it may be hurting us in ways that we have yet to actively realize. But by becoming more aware of its impact, we can begin to take more proactive measures that allow us to be more in control of our health and our well-being.
