Social Media and the Brain

Like most millennials and younger generations, we feel more than just a simple desire to be on social media. We need it. Some will even claim they are addicted to it. But are they truly addicted to social media? My answer: kind of.

We, as humans, are attracted to the neurotransmitter dopamine as it releases feelings of pleasure. While you can’t be chemically addicted to dopamine, “many believe it trains your brain to avoid unpleasant experiences and seek out pleasurable ones.”

Humans often seek those happy feelings digitally in a world and society that has become increasingly devoid of face-to-face interactions. Every comment, like, notification, and tag fills up our dopamine tank. The more we experience it, the more we want it. 

The Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” interviews former executives from Google, Facebook, and other social technology companies. They affirm the deliberate links between social media interaction, dopamine, and feeling addicted to the social channels. They describe the consequences of such manipulation.

There are times I wish Elon Musk would buy all of the social media platforms, only to shut them down immediately. We survived without social media before and could still advertise to consumers for decades without it effectively. I’m confident we could do it again. Until that unlikely daydream comes into fruition, it is our duty, as marketers, to remain ethical and consider the neurology and mental wellbeing of our consumers as we communicate our messages.