This Is What Your Brain Looks Like On Social Media

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It’s two o’clock in the morning. You’ve got an important meeting at work in just a few hours. But, instead of sleeping, you’re on your smartphone watching videos of puppies playing with newborn babies. The main culprit in this all-too-common scenario? Social media. Admit it—you’ve been there before. Sure, you might have some growing up or prioritizing to do, but that’s not the half of it. 

According to recent research, there’s a reason for this kind of illogical activity when people start using social media. Ya see, everyone is driven by an infinite set of social, environmental, biological and technological phenomena. Because of this, human decision-making is often fueled by a combination of the need for social identity and dopamine cravings. The result? Late nights, distracted employees and the inability to fully disconnect from social media’s digital realm.

The Human Brain and Social Media

Regardless of whether it’s a selfie with a local celebrity or Instagram post of a successful homemade meal, the common thread linking any and all social media activity is the same: brain candy. In 2010, researchers discovered that upwards of 80 percent of social media posts were directly related to immediate experiences.

Two years later in 2012, a pair of Harvard graduates decided to take things a step further to see exactly how self-disclosure and social media affect the brain. Their findings revealed that when people share their personal opinions and experiences to a widespread audience, the brain is immediately awarded with a shot of dopamine—the very same stuff that’s produced during sex, exercise or the consumption of a delicious meal.

Social Media as an Addiction

But wait—there’s more. In order to settle the debate as to whether Facebook can really be considered an addiction or not, a group of students and faculty at California State University, Fullerton conducted an interesting experiment. 

Headed by Ofir Turel, a psychologist at the aforementioned school, the study asked that 20 undergraduate students fill out a questionnaire that gauged the most common addiction-type symptoms related to Facebook use: anxiety, withdrawal and conflict over site content and engagement.

Participants were shown a combination of Facebook logos and traffic signs. Along with each flashed image was a brief, response-driven instruction to either press or not press a button. Using resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor each person’s brain during the activity, it was concluded that, more often than not, Facebook cues were substantially more powerful triggers in people’s brains than traffic signs. 

As crazy as it sounds, this means that if you’re sharing the road with a motorist who’s addicted to some form of social media, he or she is more likely to quickly respond to a push notification than a sudden red light at a four-way intersection. Needless to say, Facebook—or any form of social media for that matter—can very much become an addiction.

Is Social Media Marketing Unethical?

As previously mentioned, the persuasive power of social media comes from a number of psychological, social and cultural factors. The best social media marketers are very aware of this and use strategic hooks to not only gain, but keep a user’s attention. Logging into Facebook is seen as stress-relieving action. Scrolling through a Twitter feed is instant entertainment for the bored. Finally, you guessed it—likes, retweets and comments keep the lonely coming back for more.

So, with all of this in mind, should social media marketing be viewed as the modern-day Joe Camel? Not in the slightest. The biggest point of differentiation comes from the fact that social media marketing—when done correctly, mind you—isn’t about pushing products. Instead, it seeks to build relationships with potential customers. 

And while said relationships certainly have the potential to lead to an unhealthy level of involvement, that’s the case with any kind of relationship—be it on Facebook, eHarmony or in person. More than anything, a social media marketer’s responsibility is to help people achieve personal satisfaction by providing them with helpful content. By so doing, both the user and brand stand to benefit.

Listen, there’s nothing innately wrong with hopping on Facebook every now and again to read up on the latest that BuzzFeed has to offer. To be honest, your societal status probably won’t even be called into question if you take the occasional Snapchat selfie in public—shocking, really. That said, to keep your brain happy and healthy, it’s never a bad idea to take a break from social media from time to time.

 

Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier comms publications.

 

When Push Notifications Abound: Taking a Break From Social Media

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Social media is great. Seriously, I love the pastime. It’s funny, because when I first got started with social media, I never really thought that it would become anything more than a way for me to stay connected with distant friends and family members. Years later, I’m seeing that the medium is so much more.

My Personal Experience

In fact, at least in my case, it’s become a healthy part of my career. While a tremendous blessing, the all-encompassing, ever-present nature of social media can be hard to deal with if you’re as obsessive-compulsive as I am. 

It used to be that I only lived for the thrill of work-related email. Yup, that’s an actual thing. Crazy, huh? If you wanted anything from me, all you had to do was shoot me an email and I’d literally respond within five minutes. 

When social media came along, the high of push notifications was almost more than I could bear. It became a type of heroin, believe it or not. However, as time went on, I soon recognized that this had to change. 

Listen, I’m not trying to turn this post into an addiction recovery bit or compare social media cravings to a dependence on illegal drugs or prescription medications, but a social media strategist’s happiness can take a severe hit when there’s no real disconnect between work and home life. I get that on call social interaction is of the utmost importance, but there’s a clear line that shouldn’t be crossed.

Identifying a Problem

How do you know when said line has been crossed? Well, there are a number of indications. For starters, if you simply can’t get your mind off of a client’s social presence—regardless of platform, for that matter—it might be time to figuratively press pause. Oftentimes, this is made manifest by the continual checking of a smartphone.

Additionally, if you’ve found that social media has started to distract you from other responsibilities—be they professional or personal—consider giving things a rest. Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to completely do away with any and all social media practices. In fact, rarely is this a necessary or realistic answer.

Pinpointing Solutions

For some, in fact, such an act might cause a job to be unnecessarily placed in jeopardy. Whatever the situation, there are a number of responses to help solve the dilemma:

  1. Reevaluate Audience Interaction - Not every social channel works for any given industry. Take a step back and look at where your current social strategy directs its various efforts. Odds are, if some time has passed since your last social audit occurred, there are some networks being used that see very little user engagement. Basically, if an audience isn’t there, there’s no sense in wasting energy. Cut the cord and move on.
  2. Schedule Social Posts - More than likely, you’re already doing this one through Hootsuite, Sprout Social or any other social-scheduling program. That stated, if in need of a break, schedule out a month’s worth of top-tier posts. That way, you can relax while social is still somewhat being addressed.
  3. Cease to Participate - When this method is put into practice, there’s no liking, sharing, following or favoriting. Sure, this requires some real determination, but it can be super effective when done properly.
  4. Temporarily Deactivate an Account - Not everyone is tough enough to just quit things cold turkey. Sound like you? Instead of throwing in the towel, temporarily deactivate your account. Usually, within a month’s time, it can be fully restored.
  5. Permanently Delete an Account - This isn’t as drastic as it sounds, but it really should be seen only as a final solution. Unless you’re absolutely certain this is what you want, opt for something slightly less final.

Undeniably, social media has become an increasingly important part of digital PR. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to have to get involved. But, if social media becomes one of those “too much of a good thing” sort of issues, look to cut back. Once things are back under control and your sanity has been regained, you’ll dive back into social and be more effective than ever before.

So, now that my words have been shared, what do you think? How much social is too much social? What are some of the tell-tale signs of a person who can’t get his or her social involvement under control? More importantly, how can an out-of-control social habit be overcome? As always, please publish your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.