The Brain Affected By Social Media

The Brain Affected by Social Media
The ideal concept of social media is to build relationships with others even when they aren’t present. 1.96 billion people in our world use social media, and its expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2018. People around the world use it in many different forms, whether it is to talk to friends, do homework, or catch up with the daily news. Social media surrounds us. Social media helps us do all these things, but recent studies have shown it also has consequences which can broadly affect the brain.
The brain is made up of three main parts, the cerebrum, cerebellum, and the brain stem. The cerebrum uses information around us to tell us how to react to actions. The cerebellum, controls our balance and actions. The brain stem controls basic functions such as eating, talking, and walking. The nucleus accumbens, located in the cerebrum, is part of the brain’s reward circuitry and becomes activated when we look at social media.

Researchers from UCLA scanned teenage brains when they were looking at social media.

32 teens were shown 148 photos for twelve minutes.The teens posted 40 of these 148 photos on social media as likes. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers found that the brain’s reward circuitry was being activated when the teens liked the images with many comments. The nucleus accumbens, which is part of the brain’s reward circuitry, is also activated when we get chocolate, win money, get attention, or become awarded. That section of the brain is also activated when we see pictures, comments, and likes on social media. The nucleus accumbens releases dopamine, a chemical that has been shown to be released when we want more of

something.
This study showed teenagers commented on photos with more views or likes and had more dopamine release. When we use social media too much and are exposed to more dopamine than necessary, we become drawn in ups and downs of emotions which can never end. It lowers our self control and boosts our urge to check our phones. We become addicted to always wanting to look at our phone. Seeing all the comments on our phones and seeing one person with more views than ourselves, lowers our self esteem. We can become depressed and less satisfied with ourselves over time. This low self esteem interferes with our personal interactions and can make us feel sad. Around 1 million suicides are caused each year worldwide because people don’t feel pleased with themselves. 30,000 suicides alone are caused in the United States by people who are depressed.
Although there are negatives about social media, there are also positive things about it. Social media helps us keep friendships and interactions with others. It helps us be connected with peers and our communities. Furthermore, it is a useful tool to help get knowledge and insights on what is happening in the news and current events.
All in all, social media can have long term detrimental effects but also can have healthy effects according to researchers at UCLA. Using social media a few times a week is ok. It is healthy for you to be social and progress in friendships. Using too much of it, however, can lead one to a form of addiction relying on what others do or say about your posts.