Social Media: An Agent of Affliction in Adolescents - Part 1
Social Media: An Agent of Affliction in Adolescents - Part 1
How social media’s specific design features play a role in cognitive and behavioral changes that occur in youth, yielding negative side effects including mental illness, suicide, and violence.
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PART 1/3
The emergence of smart phone technology brought about an unmatched level of utility and convenience to our society. Not only do you have the entirety of recorded human history at your fingertips, but you can also instantly communicate your new-found knowledge to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
One could understand how our society eagerly adopted this technology. The problem is, virtually no one predicted the implications of its mass adoption. More than a decade of research into its physiological effects now brings to light the addictive nature of social media.
Thankfully, our scientific advancements have vastly expanded our understanding of addiction. So much so, that we can pinpoint the specific regions of the brain that are involved, how the chemistry is altered within these regions, and the impact this divergence has on the executive functions.
This grave oversight is impossible to ignore now that the consequences are presenting not only in our adult population, but with increased intensity in our youth as well. We have a duty to provide for, and guide future generations, as they will one day fill that same role for the generations that follow them. We have been allowing for the exploitation of our children, at the expense of their health, and ultimately the health of our nation, for far too long.
Dopamine, endorphins, and addiction— a look at the three regions of the brain involved in the formation habitual behaviors
Video Source: https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/how-an-addicted-brain-works
Social media companies rely heavily on advertiser revenue as a business model. They harvest your personal data for it to be sold to advertisers, who then use said data to target you with personalized ads. Ads which reach into all your media applications, browsers, email accounts, and virtually all other programs that feature ads for revenue. Hence why you will see ads across multiple apps for things you may have shown interest in, or things related to something you google searched.
The unpredictable nature of these systems works in concert with the reward center of our brains to form routines and habits. Habitual checking of screens is the manifestation of the brain’s ability to control your behavior, leading you to repeatedly engage in these “pleasurable activities.”
Your brain contains multiple systems that make you feel good when you engage in these pleasurable activities. More importantly, these meticulously researched, and expertly crafted software target these systems.
Specifically, these three regions:
The Basal Ganglia, which is involved in the formation of habits and routines. It is more commonly referred to as the brain’s “reward Circuit.” Functionally, it makes you feel some form of pleasure from engaging in and completing healthy activities such as eating, socializing, and sex. This system can easily be turned against you, acting as a destructive force that perpetuates destructive behaviors. The substances force this reward circuit to over-activate, producing a euphoria inducing drug called endorphins, while dopamine is believed to reinforce behaviors overtime by driving us to repeat the behaviors. Not only does it become more difficult to stop the behaviors as they persist, but it also becomes more difficult to feel pleasure from anything besides the substance.
The Extended Amygdala, which plays a role in feelings of anxiety, unease, and irritability, is the second region of the brain that’s being targeted. These stressful feelings characterize withdrawal once the high from the substance fades. This is an additional layer of motivating forces that keeps you focused on maintaining the high, eventually spiraling into a cycle of substance abuse characterized by compulsively using the drug at all costs, to get temporary relief from the physical discomfort experienced during withdrawals.
The Prefrontal Cortex, which is the “executive function” region of the brain. It has a direct impact on your ability to think, plan, problem solve, make decisions, and exert self-control over impulses. What makes this portion of the brain more problematic in this context, is that it is the last part of the brain to mature, making teens exceptionally vulnerable.
Similarly to the theories of behavioral reinforcement that helped shape video lottery software, social media derives its addictive properties from the incorporation of variable reinforcement schedules
What are variable reinforcement schedules?
There are a few different types of variable reinforcement schedules. As a general summation of variable reinforcement schedules, they are used to arrange the availability of reinforcement following varying response ratios or intervals of time. Random reinforcement schedules are subtypes of variable reinforcement schedules that are used to arrange the availability of reinforcement at a constant probability across several responses or time.
Variable-ratio schedules are a key component of video lottery machines. These schedules create a steady, high-rate response. The frequency with which a behavior is reinforced can help determine how quickly a response is learned and how strong the response might be. There are three common characteristics of variable-ratio schedules.
Rewards are provided after an unpredictable number of responses: There is no predictability as to when a reward will be received.
It leads to a high, steady response rate: When the subject doesn’t know when the reward will be given, they will continue to respond each time in the hopes that it will be the one response that results in a reward.
Results in only a brief pause after reinforcement: After the reinforcement is received in a VRS, there is just a minor pause in response. This is like a variable-interval schedule, in which the post-reinforcement pause is also brief.
Essentially, when you pull the lever or press the button on a video lottery machine, the anticipation of a payout for that bet is the reward your brain is chasing. The machines are designed to entice you to continue playing through the variable nature of how it pays out wins. The intermittent and unpredictable characteristics are key components to a strong and “extinction” resistant conditioned response that keeps the subject addicted to gambling, where extinction is the conditioned response eventually ceasing.
In a similar manner, social media uses nearly identical behavioral reinforcement techniques to keep you reaching into your pocket repeatedly. You can’t help but look at your phone every couple minutes, maybe even multiple times a minute depending on how severe the addiction is. Think of how many social media apps some people are signed into 24 hours a day. You have Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and many other chat style apps that make use of the “push notifications” feature built into smart phones. Mind you, something as simple as your email app uses these features to keep your brain in attention, and your focus away from your immediate surroundings.
It’s easy to see how the level of addiction can get out of hand quite quickly.
It’s important for us to remind ourselves how important the early stages of adolescent brain development is. It’s critical that they are kept free from outside influences that would interfere with, and negatively impact this natural process. Even more crucial is the fact that they are much more susceptible to the negative side effects inherent to the abuse of this technology.
“Facebook, Twitter and other companies use methods similar to the gambling industry to keep users on their sites,” said Natasha Schüll, the author of Addiction by Design, which reported how slot machines and other systems are designed to lock users into a cycle of addiction. “In the online economy, revenue is a function of continuous consumer attention – which is measured in clicks and time spent.”
Whether it’s Snapchat streaks, Facebook photo-scrolling, or playing CandyCrush, Schüll explained, you get drawn into “ludic loops” or repeated cycles of uncertainty, anticipation and feedback — and the rewards are just enough to keep you going.
“If you disengage, you get peppered with little messages or bonus offers to get your attention and pull you back in,” said Schüll. “We have to start recognizing the costs of time spent on social media. It’s not just a game – it affects us financially, physically and emotionally.”
-The Guardian 2018
Known side effects of social media addiction in adolescents.
Have you ever heard your phone ringing, your notification tone go off, or your phone vibrating, yet upon checking your phone, you realize you haven’t received any incoming communications?
According to Professor Daniel Kruger, an expert in human behavior, from the University of Michigan, it’s a common phenomenon called, “phantom calls and notifications,” that is often overlooked and laughed off as simply a weird occurrence. However, it’s actually indicative of a habitual relationship between you and your phone, that is not so easy to breakout of.
This is a unique, but relatively benign side effect from excessive phone or social media use. There are much more serious health implications that present in people of all ages, including adolescents. In this NIH PUBLICATION, it’s made clear that these side effects may be long lasting.
Its effects can be described as a literal reconfiguration of your brain’s neurological structure by influencing the functionality of the neurotransmitters in these regions. Unsurprisingly, the list of potentially dangerous side effects from obsessive social media use is much more expansive:
”—potential correlation of problematic social media use with depression, obesity and unhealthy eating behavior, psychological problems, sleep disorder, addiction, anxiety, sex related problem, behavioral problem, body image, physical inactivity, online grooming, sight compromising, headache, and dental caries.”
This list is reminiscent of the side-effects disclaimers you see at the end of pharmaceutical drug commercials. Is it possible that the possible benefits outweigh the risks? With children, research is currently showing that anything in excess of 2-3 hours spent on social media can have severe negative effects on their mental health, including increased tendency toward suicidal ideation.
It’s becoming clear based on our understanding of the addictive nature of smart phone technology and social media apps that there is a need for parents to set their children on the right path early on. If you allow your child to have an unrestricted and unfiltered cell phone experience, they will be captured by the addiction-forming and mental illness-inducing features held within, which will predispose them to these side effects at an early age.
Is this really how we can ensure a prosperous future for the younger generations?
This actually plays into our culture and politics in a big way, which is what will be covered in the next two installments. As well as a deeper look into the rates at which adolescents are experiencing these side effects.
Helpguide has suggested that reducing social media usage to 30 minutes or less a day is effective at reducing depression and anxiety symptoms.
A 2018 University of Pennsylvania study found that reducing social media use to 30 minutes a day resulted in a significant reduction in levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, sleep problems, and FOMO. But you don’t need to cut back on your social media use that drastically to improve your mental health. The same study concluded that just being more mindful of your social media use can have beneficial results on your mood and focus.
While 30 minutes a day may not be a realistic target for many of us—let alone a full “social media detox”— we can still benefit from reducing the amount of time we spend on social media. For most of us, that means reducing how much we use our smartphones.
While the simple prospect of giving your child a smart phone can be intimidating and frustrating, it can also be a great way to ensure your child’s safety. Not to deter anyone from doing so, but it’s important that parents should stay up-to-date on the latest research. It helps to take advantage of all the different parental control features that most devices and apps have built in.
There have been many controversies involving companies like Youtube that have led to much more in-depth age restriction and age filtering features that make it easier than ever to keep your child out of the addiction cycle while still allowing them to enjoy the technology we do, as well as helping to facilitate different learning experiences they would not get any other way.
Not everything is always DOOM and GLOOM when used in moderation.
“My dear friend, clear your mind of cant [excessive thought]. You may talk as other people do: you may say to a man, "Sir, I am your most humble servant." You are not his most humble servant. You may say, "These are bad times; it is a melancholy thing to be reserved to such times." You don't mind the times ... You may talk in this manner; it is a mode of talking in Society; but don't think foolishly.”
― Samuel Johnson, The Life of Johnson, Vol 4
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