Social media has become increasingly prominent in our lives
over the years and now is something that is an automatic aspect of ourselves today.
With this concept in mind I think it is very important to discuss some of the ways
our brains have adapted to social media use. Using social media activates our
brains reward center, our brains love the gratification of getting a ‘like’. I feel
that this may be why so many people are addicted to their social media, as discussed
in the Ted-Ed video “5 Ways Social
Media is Changing Your Brain”, 5-10% of internet users say they simply cannot
control how much time they spend online. I feel that most people will initially
find this shocking but if I am being honest with myself, I think there are many
times that I have been doing homework and before I know it, I am scrolling my Instagram.
Another aspect I found shocking in this video was the ‘Phantom
Vibration Syndrome’. This idea is fairly descriptive in the title describing
when we believe that our phones have vibrated but they haven’t. This is not
what had surprised me, I was shocked to learn that our brains are in the early
phases of adapting to technology and our brains are rewiring our nervous system,
therefor sometimes when you have an itch your brain may perceive it as if that
sensation is a phone nearby. I found it extremely interesting to learn that our
brains are actually in the process of rewiring due to technology.
I believe that the increased screen time indeed would change some nueral changes naturally because it is such a natural pattern of our life. However it is something I think we have adapted to pretty well over time, the social norms have definetley changed but I think that humanity is surviving. Us humans do a fanstastic job of adapting to whatever situation that we find ourselves in, we have survived some pretty drastic odds physically at several points in our history on this planet. We will continue to learn about the negative and positive effects of screen time and use of technology and adapt accordingly. I believe that we have some of the most intelligent minds in the world like Elon Musk working to make sure technology works for us rather than against us. I like to think that we would not accept something that would rewire us negatively.
ReplyDeleteTo make claims like we are all highly addicted to technology is quite open ended and can mean so many different things. Technology isn’t completely frying us like it is claimed to be but it is changing the way we think for sure. But returning to my last point I really think we have already made these changes and made them quickly. However this is not to say that technology can’t have a negative impact on ones well being if misused. This is totally different mainly beccause it is a personal choice, most of us make the choice to use this responsibly. It is important that we educate people on making this choice because technololgy is not going anywhere.