“Without gossip, there would be no society”

-Robin Dunbar

When was the last time you checked your social media app? About 1.4 billion people use social networking sites. Each month people collectively spend around three hundred billion minutes or the equivalent of six hundred thousand years on Facebook. Various social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+, and LinkedIn to name a few, work in different ways. Users of these sites don’t just passively consume information. They are connecting by creating, commenting, sharing, discussing, and modifying.

Why are we so addicted to these various forms of social media?

In the article, The Ancient Foundations of Social Media, the writer Robin Dunbar states that our instincts to be social is primal and has been around since the dawn of time. Another interesting point is that humans try to maintain their positions and stay “on top” by sharing and gossiping. Gaining respect by demonstrating expertise, trustworthiness, and suitability as an ally. The writer says that we are ultimately built to form networks with others and exchange information with them.

Another interesting point the article, Ancient Foundations of Social Media makes is how social media can span across space and time and can include people who are not physically present. This made me think of people in our lives who may have passed on. How beautiful is it to be able to have a tiny little piece of them by viewing “memories,” pictures, and social exchanges that you had? To be able to always have a piece of them frozen in time, just the way you remember them.

The majority of Facebook users have between 120 and 130 “friends.” Dunbar’s research found that most people have 5 intimate real world friends and another 10 close friends. Dunbar compares our chats and social media interactions to grooming in the primal sense. Grooming was a comforting physical activity and while that no longer exists within a group, taking the time to chat with someone can strengthen a social bond, thus demonstrating that bond to others.

Society has always had the desire for group communication, but how are kids these days connecting with each other? I am worried that we are sending the wrong message regarding group communications and that our young children are looking to social media for acceptance and “likes.” If we want to be a society who uses group communication, we have to be responsible when it comes to our young consumers.

In the YouTube video, How social media is affecting teens, a group of teenagers in Los Angeles were asked what is important to them?  What are their priorities?  It used to be wanting to be a part of the crowd; part of the community.  Now…it’s FAME.  Sophie, a ten year old is interested in making films and getting “likes.”  Six-graders in Canada were equally into their likes and comments.  Particularly disturbing are the ones they look for as acceptance like, “you look really pretty” says one sixth-grader.  The girls go on to say that they like it when people like their picture.  They too seem to be impressed by fame.  Kids start using social media at a very young age and are exposed to television shows like American Idol which places value on whether you are perceived as “likable.”  The narrator says that television shows that used to teach values and sense of community and they looked at the values that shows are teaching and fame is now number 1 and it used to be number 15 or 16.  They found that these shows may bring fame but they may also bring heartbreak and bullying.  The area of the brain that children learn empathy is affected because children don’t make time for just thinking and daydreaming. They are constantly bombarded with social media. And because children aren’t doing that and allowing that center of the brain that promotes empathy to develop, this could lead to bullying and helping to allow bullying to continue. 

“If no daydreaming leads to no empathy, we could be developing a generation that cares less about other people.” 

At the same time, in the YouTube video Why you’re addicted to your smartphone (Marketplace) they point out that phones are taking over our lives as he leads people connected to their phones are not watching where they are going on a crowded street.  We are constantly engaged to click on your Twitter feed or check your social media.  They tracked a family using an app called Moment which tracks the family’s social media usage.  What they found was disturbing.  They say that they aren’t the only ones tracking that family; that there is an entire industry that is dedicated to tracking our phones.  They then try to make us use them more!  They speak with Ramsay Brown, the Founder and COO of Dopamine Labs who does this for a living by using Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience to track your usage, loyalty, and revenue!  They use this to help apps become more addictive and persuasive.  Ramsay says the secret lies in giving our brains pleasure.  He says, “we really are living in this new era where we are not just designing software, we are designing minds.”  Okay, this statement I find HIGHLY disturbing!  Constantly trying to get our attention using variable rewards – you are never sure what you are going to get and that is what keeps us on the hook. (Facebook)  Our smart time use has shot up an hour per day!  In the video, the mother Tanya mentioned that she scrolls Facebook as she is watching a movie and may not even remember anything about it or how long she has been on her phone.  I could identify with that to a degree.  I have caught myself doing that a lot.  Her son, Jackson was the most disturbing in that he spent most of his day on his tablet.  They said that Jackson has been “wired up” for half of his life and he is only eight!  Jackson has over 1,000 followers on Music.ly and he also seems to value fame and “likes.”  He says, “he feels really happy when he goes on the app and he wants to be followed by more people.” My first instinct is to bash the parents, but overall I just think it is sad to watch.  A family that is all together and that spends more time on their devices than interacting with each other. The two biggest creators of this technology didn’t even let their own kids have access to their devices.  The video asks, what did they see coming?  I think they foresaw that this could potentially become addicting and that they saw the dangers and possible downfalls.  They didn’t want their own kids addicted to technology. The host/narrator speaks with Lisa Pont, a social worker that says that research is starting to reveal that technology has an impact on memory, concentration, and mental health. Also mood, anxiety and depression, sleep, and overall well-being.  She says that young children like Jackson are unable to regulate and practice self- control and will need parental guidance to control their usage.  Lisa also states, “You are not dealing with a fully developed brain who has impulse control or the ability to foresee consequences.”

How did we get here and what does this increase in social media addiction mean for the future of our children?  How do we take a step back from all of this to create a balance so that our future children are able to fully develop their brains and not rely so heavily on technology?

Works Cited:

Dunbar. The Ancient Foundations of Social Media: Why Humans are Wired for Sharing

YouTube, Are Teens Addicted to Technology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QWoP6jJG3k

YouTube, Why you’re addicted to your cell phone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFJUYS6wY7U