Millennials & Social Media: The Good, the Bad and the Compulsive - Essay Sample

Introduction

The cornerstone of modern communication is characterized by the increased use of social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The main reason why these sites have become so popular within the last decade is that they allow users to create their own sense of belonging and redefining their way of being. While the majority of peoples' use of social media is non-problematic, there is a growing trend among the millennials as more are becoming excessive or compulsive users. In the United States alone, over 45 percent of the people aged below 27 years meet the criteria for social addiction. Shockingly, the figure is expected to pass the 50 percent mark by the year 2020 (Alifa et al., 2019). Social media addiction is a behavioral change brought about by being overly concerned about social media.

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Social media affects the human brain in unprecedented ways. According to Andreassen et al. (2016), the usage of these sites ignites the same part of the brain that is ignited when we consume an addictive substance. Notably, using social media increases the concentration of dopamine in our brains which is the chemical responsible for regulating our feelings of pleasure and desire. The physical response is observable during social media use. For instance, when an individual gets a notification on their social media account, their brain receives a rush of dopamine, sending it along the reward pathways resulting in increased sensation. The sites are highly addictive because they provide these rewards to the brain immediately in the form of attention. Additionally, social media requires relatively minimal effort to get these rewards. Therefore, the brain rewires itself to get as many rewards as possible through likes, retweets, and mentions.

These sites have gain popularity as a tool for businesses to market their products to a mass audience. Companies have recognized the high number of potential customers they can reach through the use of social media. Kuss and Griffiths (2017) found that most of the strategies used by such companies are usually "masked" or blended into a picture to appear as if they are not directly marketing to people. Eliminating or avoiding social media advertisements could be a challenge because businesses are not using their typical marketing models. Instead, they are targeting the famous accounts and paying their owners to endorse their products. Additionally, such companies usually make use of information analytics to offer people customized marketing of products. With such a strategy, people will find themselves spending more time on such platforms scrolling over products being marketed in their timelines.

The 'like' button, found in all social media platforms, is such a simple feature but has reaped huge rewards. In most instances, when a person posts a picture or a comment, he or she will repeatedly open their social media to check whether there is any reaction to their post in the form of liking or commenting. Psychologists have described this phenomenon as a "craving for validation" (Alifa et al., 2019). Associated with the 'like' button is reciprocal liking. Most social media users tend to "returning favors' by liking the pictures and posts of people who liked their posts. The operators of these platforms have exploited this human condition by alerting the users when engagements occur in their social media accounts. These alerts encourage the receiving people to respond.

A study by Przybylski et al. (2013) suggested that increased usage and addition of social networking is partly because of an anxious feeling among users known as Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). This feeling is a form of social anxiety which is usually a result of a person not being in contact with the happenings of the internet world. FOMO results in the perception that by being offline, the user is missing on rewarding experiences being enjoyed by those who are active. Ryan and Deci's Self-determination Theory (2017), argues that people increase their use of social media to satisfy their basic psychological needs. As such, FOMO explains by being left out of the social media topics and events, a person may become anxious because certain psychological needs are not being satisfied. FOMO is a predictor of problematic social media use that is usually linked to social media addiction.

Conclusion

Social media addiction is a behavioral change brought about by being overly concerned about social media. It affects our brains the same way addictive substances do by increasing the flow dopamine, the hormone responsible for pleasure and desire. Other causes of addiction, as shown above, include stage marketing by businesses, the 'like' button, and fear of missing out. While many people can use these platforms daily without problems, the addicts are consumed by the need to be on their phones using and engaging their friends on social media. Excessive use of social media is problematic as it causes mental problems, depression, and lack of concentration among others. One of the best strategies for breaking social media addiction is setting boundaries to reduce screen time. With such measures, people will use the sites in ways that benefit them without causing any harm to their health and wellbeing.

References

Alifa, M. P., Aransih, M. P., Dita, D. A. A., & Edison, R. E. (2019). Like" and "Love" Responses as Addiction Factors on Social Media. In International Conference of Mental Health, Neuroscience, and Cyber-psychology (pp. 105-109). Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan. https://www.gci.or.id/assets/papers/icometh-ncp-2018-265.pdf

Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., & Pallesen, S. (2016). The relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large-scale cross-sectional study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30(2), 252. http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27290/7/27290_Kuss.pdf

Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social networking sites and addiction: Ten lessons learned. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(3), 311. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/3/311/pdf

Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1841-1848. http://www.academia.edu/download/44255710/Motivational_emotional_and_behavioral_co20160331-27397-tg2tl4.pdf

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications.