Valentina Fernandez ’24, Neuroscience, 22X

Figure: Social networking has experienced tremendous growth in the past years, with over 4.26 billion registered users as of 2021.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Why does social media make us unhappy? The feeling of insecurity and anxiety after a period of scrolling through meaningless posts has become universal (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). On the other extreme, the feeling of euphoria and relief that overcome us when we receive likes on our most recent post has also become common. But why? How does social media have the power to be both so constructive and destructive, simultaneously? What are the underlying mechanisms of social media apps responsible for the sudden rush of joy, as well as the dip in self-esteem?

In 2005, only 5% of American adults used at least one social media platform; today that number has skyrocketed to 72%, or about 7 out of every 10 Americans (Pew Research Center, n.d.). Among the American population, young adults have the highest and most frequent usage of social media. About 95% of US teens have access to a smartphone, and 45% are online “almost constantly” (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). With such ubiquitous engagement with social media platforms, it has become increasingly necessary to evaluate the molecular underpinnings that allow social media to exert the effect it does on its users.

Many of the interactions that occur via social media platforms are a replication – and now extension – of those that used to happen in person. Social media strips real-world exchanges of their limits; people become reachable at all hours of the day, and at any location in the world. In this sense, social media platforms extend and perhaps enhance the social exchanges of in-person communication. Thus, the relationship between online and real-world sociality may be considered a “new playing field for the same game” (Firth et al., 2019). The specific mechanisms involved therefore parallel those felt in the real world. For example, the feeling of rejection that is experienced through social media activates the same regions of the brain that respond to real-world rejection. From a neurological perspective, this means that the brain circuitry implicated in reward is involved. This specifically includes hyperactivation of the striatum and ventral tegmental area (VTA), which are specific regions of the brain that have neuronal clusters dedicated to reward, motivation, and cognition. Studies have found that when social media users receive positive feedback, the excitatory synapses in these regions of the brain are activated. In particular, the dopamine receptors (which have affinity for the dopamine neurotransmitter) are activated and action potentials are subsequently propagated through neural networks (The Psychology of Social Media, n.d.). Dopamine is one of the key neurotransmitters involved in reward pathways, memory motivation, and movement.  Thus, the short-term dopamine-driven feedback loops lure users into coming back for more, feeding into a social media addiction.

Just like after a successful social interaction, dopamine is released after receiving positive feedback in social networks. Put briefly, these social media platforms leverage the same neural circuitry “used by slot machines and cocaine to keep us using their products,” states Harvard Medical School research technician Trevor Haynes in his piece “Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time” (Haynes, 2018). Over time, the abundant release of dopamine (for some, in quantities that are abnormally high) causes a deficit in the brain: users experience less pleasure when we are not using social media because our dopamine is pushed to levels below baseline (McNamara, 2021). Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatry professor, explains, “We go into a dopamine deficit state. That’s the way the brain restores homeostasis: if there’s a huge deviation upward, then there’s going to be a deviation downward. That’s essentially the comedown…that moment of wanting to stay online and click on one more video or connect with one more person” (McNamara, 2021). In the short-term, the dopamine deficit manifests as depression and anxiety do, mimicking the same symptoms and feelings. Over time, they may exert effects on the synaptic plasticity of the specific pathways involved. Synapses are the junctions between neurons that are responsible for communication; effects in their plasticity would specifically impact the excitability of the specific synapse, which dictates how active or inactive they are.

As social media use continues to rise, particularly among adolescents, it is of upmost importance to recognize the way these platforms exploit our brain psychology in a drug-like manner. In one interview, Dr. Lembke noted that “social media [has become] a way to drugify human connection” (McNamara, 2021). So next time you find yourself mindlessly scrolling, think twice.

References

Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (n.d.). Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018. 10.

Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., Alvarez‐Jimenez, M., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C. J., & Sarris, J. (2019). The “online brain”: How the Internet may be changing our cognition. World Psychiatry, 18(2), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20617

Haynes, T. (2018, May 1). Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time. Science in the News. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/

McNamara, B. (2021, November 10). The Science Behind Social Media’ Hold on Our Mental Health. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/the-science-behind-social-medias-hold-on-our-mental-health

Pew Research Center. (n.d.). Social Media Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/

The Psychology of Social Media. (n.d.). King University Online. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-of-social-media/