The Social Media Debate
Do we control social media, or does it control us?
Whether you use it to connect with friends, build new relationships, give an insight into your life or see into the lives of others, by now, social media probably forms part of your daily routine in one way or another. The days before social media seem like a distant memory. Go-to platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have changed the face of social interactions as we know them. The big question is: are we helpless to the addictive nature of social media, or is it a case of simply regulating our usage in order to minimise negative effects?
At first glance it might seem that addiction is a pretty strong word to use when talking about the effects of social media. I definitely used to roll my eyes whenever my mum would say ‘you spend too much time on that phone!’ — my usage of social platforms is entirely my decision and within my power to change, right? However, science suggests that there’s a little more to it than that. Social media interaction with others releases dopamine in the brain: that is, the same chemical that is released when we drink alcohol, smoke, gamble, and other forms of recreation. Like any of these substances, social media has the potential to become addictive.
There’s also potential for it to become an unhealthy coping mechanism. I know I’ve definitely had a bad day (or few) and buried my head in platforms designed to distract me, like TikTok or Instagram. It seems that people nowadays have lower self-esteem and struggle to form meaningful, real-life relationships. This means that when we find ourselves in positions of hardship, we are more likely to turn to the instant gratification and distraction provided to us through social media rather than relying on our friends or peers for support. In many cases, endless scrolling can be a welcome distraction from the stresses of everyday life — but at what point does it become concerning? Research has shown that unhealthy usage of social media can lead to anxiety or depression, increased isolation and loneliness, less regard for ‘real life’ relationships and low self-esteem. For a generation that already faces difficulties with relationships and self-perception, it seems that in many cases social media is further fuelling the fire.
Social media’s influence doesn’t stop at our interactions with each other — it affects the way we interact with the world around us. Having created a platform through which anyone with internet access can create and share content, it’s easy to get lost in the noise. With constant streams of regular news updates, it can become somewhat difficult to sift through the information in search of the truth: something we’ve seen with the rise of ‘fake news’.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The media we’re consuming is no longer dominated by a limited number of outlets; instead we’re able to rely on traditional outlets while enhancing our knowledge and enjoyment of media through creators that aren’t limited by the constraints of professionalism. If it weren’t for this evolution of social journalism, you wouldn’t be reading this blog post right now (and I wouldn’t have written it). We wouldn’t be able to check our Twitter feeds, or BBC News app for concise bites of information that keep us updated until we have the time to read through news articles in depth.
Social media’s influence and potential to become harmful is undeniable. However, it is possible to regulate the relationship that you have with your smartphone and, perhaps, ordinary people contributing their ideas and information form of blogging, microblogging and social networking isn’t always a bad thing. Can social media be addictive? For sure. Will we ever shake our habit? I guess time will tell!
