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Stephanee Yager

Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1103

2 April 2015

An Internet Overdose: Is Social Media Changing our Brains?

Have you ever wondered just how much of an impact social media sites have on today’s

society? “If Facebook were a country, it would be the most populous nation on earth,”

(Stenovec). Home to over 1.39 billion active users, Facebook has been the primary database for

people to come together to like, share, and comment on one others’ pictures, posts, and statuses.

Social media websites have been developed for any person to share content such as pictures,

feelings, or posts. It allows for a connection between peers, family, work buddies, or classmates

without having to interact in person. Social media has created a new means for communication

and staying in touch. Social media use has hit an all-time high in this generation, but the question

becomes: is staying “logged in” beneficial for the development of current members of

Generation Y, the young generation of people who have been raised in this technological age?

And what does this mean for our future leaders and for the generations to come?

Social Media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have beneficial aspects

when it comes to staying connected with peers. The internet offers up opportunities to make new

friends, and improve social life. Because we are living in a technological world, social media

sites can provide an easy access to group activities in the classroom or at work. Many

colleges/schools have Twitter accounts to post announcements in order to spread information to

students in a fast and convenient way. But how does this constant internet interaction affect what

is going on in our brains?

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Members of Generation Y, or people who were born between the years 1980-2000, are

currently the most active internet users. According to the Pew Internet American Life Project,

93% of young people are online (DeAngelis). Many of these millennials’ brains are still

developing, and studies have been done to test whether social media and the internet can be

addictive (Cabral). Other researchers suggest constant use of social media sites can cause an

individual to feel isolated, narcissistic, and it may even have an effect on face-to-face

interactions. Narcissism is associated with an abnormality in the brain. “People with NPD have a

noted lack of ability to feel compassion or empathy, combined with a noted excess of self-

regard” (Phillips). A specific part of the cerebral cortex (the most outer layer of brain tissue)

called the left anterior insula, contains less gray matter in a person who has Narcissistic

Personality Disorder (Chow). In short, the part of the brain that deals with feeling empathy is

much thinner in those who have NPD, than an individual who does not. While staying connected

with peers and news through social media may be effective and efficient, there may be

consequences that tag along, such as a thinness in gray matter, resulting in NPD.

As I was scrolling down my Instagram feed, I came across a video a girl had posted

earlier that day. I clicked the play button and watched 39 photos of herself flash one after another

on my iPhone. It was as if she could not decide which picture she looked best in, so she complied

them all together in a video for her followers to watch, in hopes it would up her chances for

receiving as many likes as possible. Social media has become a tool of acceptance. Getting likes

and retweets on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram provides us with the satisfaction of

feeling popular or included. Using these platforms in the comfort of our homes makes us feel it is

okay to post tons of “selfies,” or pictures of ourselves without having to hear the judgement of

others. A research study conducted by a group at Harvard University in 2012 displayed that 40%

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of our time is devoted to “self-disclosure,” which provides us with same feeling of pleasure as

having sex or eating food (Feiler). As humans, we tend to feel isolated or left out of the loop

when we do not receive the attention we crave. Social media makes it easier for us to share our

personal lives with others, without feeling guilty about it. Research suggests that while during

face-to-face interaction humans communicate 30-40% of the conversation about themselves; on

social media websites that number jumps to 80%. When we talk about ourselves, dopamine is

released in our brain which provides a feeling of satisfaction (Moffit, and Brown). Dopamine,

the “feel good” chemical in our brain, is released when an individual carries out certain actions.

These actions are typically rewarding ones such as eating good food or engaging in sexual

behaviors. Because social media is such a convenient way to gain personal attention and cause

enjoyment through the release dopamine in our brain, it can easily lead to narcissistic tendencies.

The internet acts as a major influencer on Generation Y’s way of thinking. It is quite

amazing how quickly fads or trends can spread through social media. Each of these crazes start

out as a single post, and before you know it, everyone is “Planking” or doing the “ALS Ice

Bucket Challenge.” And while it’s great that awareness of a serious disease like ALS can be

easily spread through social media sites, so can strong opinions which leads to bullying. Media

has a major impact on how news is portrayed to people. It can skew a story in order to provide

favoritism to a specific side. If you are not on the bandwagon of what the majority of people

think, then you become the subject of oppression.

About 95% of teens who use social media report they have witnessed bullying online

(Hughes, and Logan). This type of influence strips away the individuality of young people in

today’s world. Janelle Hanchett, a blogger from California, confesses her obsessive need to

check what people were saying about her posts, which actually ended up affecting her content. “I

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find this difficult as a writer, because I’m often inclined to reach for these likes instead of being

authentic,” she says. Rather than expressing how we truly feel, we may fall under societal

pressures and post what other people will like in order to fit in or be accepted. This all ties back

into the narcissistic tendencies that I mentioned before. Self-image has become the ultimate

concern amongst individuals in this generation. If someone does not fit in with the crowd, they

become subjected to bullying online.

While the internet provides a wide range of ways to commit harassment and bulling, it

also allows for bystanders to witness the acts and make a comeback. A recent case which I found

very interesting and held a positive message was “The Dancing Man”. It all began with an

anonymous post which read, “Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped

when he saw us laughing,” followed by two pictures: a heavy-set man dancing, and the other

pictured the heavy-set man looking down shamefully, as he realized he became the laughing

stock of these malicious individuals. Because content on the internet travels faster than the speed

of light, it was not too long before Twitter user, Casandra Fairbanks tweeted, “Anyone know this

man or who posted this? There’s a huge group of ladies in LA who would like to do something

special”. Soon, the “Find Dancing Man” was the talk of twitter for weeks. Even famous

celebrities like Pharrell Williams and Ellie Goulding got in on the action. Casandra and her

group eventually found “Dancing Man” and were able to raise $30,000 to fund a huge dance

party for him. The party also benefitted an anti-bullying campaign. This is an example of how

social media can be used to combat certain situations and raise awareness for negative situations.

If we can shift the focus from “selfies” and stalking our ex-boyfriend/girlfriend’s Twitter page,

maybe more positive outcomes can occur from our excessive use of social media.

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We know substance addiction exist, but is it possible for us to become addicted to social

media? I know from personal experience as I am writing this essay, I have subconsciously picked

up my phone to check my notifications about a dozen times. Most people set a certain tone on

their phones for the different notifications they receive, which causes us to perform a type of

classical conditioning among ourselves: When we hear the specific “ding,” we immediately

know which platform, whether it be Facebook or Twitter, received a notification, and our

response is to check it at that very moment because it is right at our finger tips. About 5-10% of

people are unable to log off of the internet, which can technically be considered a psychological

addiction. Substance addiction and psychological addictions have close similarities: both affect

decision making, emotions, and attention (Moffit, and Brown). A research team at Elon

University conducted a study to test the possibility of behavioral addiction to social media. A

self-assessment survey was created and sent out to people to evaluate their social media use. The

survey incorporated 5 components of addiction: tolerance, salience, conflict, withdrawal, and

relapse. The following paragraphs explain what questions corresponded with what component.

Tolerance related to the following questions: “How often do you find that you spend

more time than intended on social media?” And “How often do you find yourself saying ‘Just a

few more minutes’ when using social media?” These questions are affiliated with the willingness

to accept the amount of time you spend on social media is higher than you imagined or hoped it

would be.

Salience relates to the following question: “How often do you check your social media

sites before something else that you need to do?” The salience aspect has to do with how

prominent social media use has become in your life. Do you put it before your school work? Or

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maybe even before making dinner? If so that may lead to some issues, which falls into the next

category: conflict.

A question composed for conflict was: “How often do you feel your productivity suffers

because of social media?” If valuable time is being compromised because of the constant need to

check Instagram, social media is conflicting with your life.

Withdrawal has to do with the following question: “How often do you typically feel

stressed out, disconnected or paranoid when you cannot access social media?” When an

individual expresses feelings of true frustration because they cannot connect to wifi in order to

check their Twitter notifications, it may be the withdrawal symptoms associated with social

media. This generation has a constant connection with social media which it hard for people to

part form the cyber world at any given time.

A final component, relapse proposes the following question: “How often do you try to cut

down the amount of time you spend online and fail?” Once an individual realizes there is a

problem with the amount of time spent on the internet, you can try and attack the problem head

on and limit your time. If this does not work, it is referred to as a relapse.

The survey results show 3 of the 5 components were the most supported (tolerance,

salience, and relapse) to show that addiction to social media is possible (Cabral).

So we know that feeling of addiction may occur while using social media over long

periods of time, but what part of the brain is physically changing? White matter within our brain

control the regions associated with decision making, emotions, and attention. Studies show that

in these areas, the white matter actually becomes impaired or degraded with more severe

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“addictions” (Moffit, and Brown). This could potentially be detrimental to the members of

Generation Y whose brains are still developing. Other studies show that social media could also

be rewiring our nervous systems. A very new and interesting “syndrome” has recently been

discovered because of vibrations from our phones. Phantom Vibration Syndrome is when your

brain perceives an itch on any part of your body as a vibration from a phone. This demonstrates

the evolution of our brains throughout history. Never has this “Phantom Vibration Syndrome”

ever been relevant until now because of our rise in technological advancements (Moffit, and

Brown).

It is amazing to think that the current generation of children will never know a world that

is not suffused with technology such as social media and the internet. Our future leaders may be

vastly different from those before because of the impact social media has on our ways of

thinking. Teenagers seem to think that what they put out on their Facebook profiles define who

they are inside, which in fact, is not true at all (Plye). Falling under societal pressure, they may

feel the need to put on a mask to hide who they really are and only post what pleases people.

Leaders need to be able to have original thought and realize that conforming to the majority’s

way of thinking may not always be the best way to go about things. Not only must we worry

about how this will affect the lives of the current generation, but generations before their time as

well. The elderly will be under rule of these leaders, and the choices they make. If social media

is posing a negative threat on the manner they run the government. Social media will have a

major impact on all generations to come.

Looking at social media as a whole, it has potential to do a lot of great in this world. Providing us

with information and connectivity at our fingertips becomes really efficient in today’s society.

The idea of being able to stay in touch with family and making new friends through social media

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is thriving more than ever. But it is very important to realize when constant usage becomes a

physiological problem, and should be addressed. Over all, balance between face-to-face

interaction and internet interaction is vital, but taking a break from constantly checking

Instagram to maintain a healthy mindset and prevent behavioral addictions could be far more

important.

Works Cited

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Cabral, Jaclyn. "Is Generation Y Addicted to Social Media?" The Elon Journal of

Undergraduate Research in Communications 2.1 (2011): 5-14. Elon.edu. Spring 2011.

Web. 9 Mar. 2015.

Chow, Denise. "Narcissists' Lack of Empathy Detected in Brain Scans."LiveScience. TechMedia

Network, 24 June 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.

DeAngelis, Tori. "Is Technology Ruining Our Kids?" 42.9 (2011): 62. American Psychological

Association. Oct. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Feiler, Bruce. "For the Love of Being ‘Liked’." New York Times 11 May 2014: ST2. The New

York Times. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Hughes, Donna R., and Cris C. Logan. "Cyberbullying Statistics." Internet Safety 101: Statistics.

Enough Is Enough, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.

Moffit, Mitchell, and Gregory Brown. "5 Crazy Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain

Right Now." YouTube. YouTube, 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Phillips, Greg. "Brain Abnormalities Found in Narcissists." The Ranch Drug Rehab Eating

Disorder Trauma Treatment Center Sex Addiction Nashville Tennessee TN. The Ranch

Inc, 18 July 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Plye, Samantha O. "The Impact of Social Media on the next Generation."Nashville Business

Journal. American City Business Journals, 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.

Stenovec, Timothy. "Facebook Is Now Bigger Than The Largest Country On Earth." The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.