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How Do We Allow Social Media to Shape Human Thought and Behaviour

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How Do We Allow Social Media to Shape Human Thought and Behaviour

Today, technological advancement is at its zenith. Social media is one of the

technological facets that are positively and negatively transforming people's lives. Sites such

as Facebook and Instagram have created a massive impact on communication styles,

influencing the everyday lives of human beings. The platforms bring together people with

shared interests and ideas, which has expanded globalization since people from various parts

of the world can interact, socialize, and collaborate in multiple matters. Environmental

factors like the internet and technology influence and ultimately shape human behaviour and

thought extensively. Individuals have allowed social media to shape how they think and

behave by embracing everyday use of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter,

which bring new ideas, opinions and perspectives into their minds.  

How Social media infiltrates the human mind 

People have made social media platforms avenues for validation and seeking self-

approval. As a result, their self-confidence and efficacy are anchored on the views of online

friends. Neurologists suggest that social media can affect various brain functions differently

(Schmälzle et al., 2017). Social media activities contain a variety of stimuli which instigate

varying reactions, and as a result, the effect of social media on human thoughts varies

depending on the context. When users acquire positive attention in social media, their ventral

tegmental area (VTA) produces dopamine receptors, heightening happiness, belonging, and

social cognition (Greenberg et al., 2021). This way, the users tend to relieve stress, and the

reward system in their bodies allows the individuals to lead fulfilling lives. On the other

hand, adverse reactions from social media users may lead to social exclusion and rejection.

Such outcomes happen especially when people are body shamed or even bullied by strangers

on social media. 
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Today, people spent a significant chunk of their time on social media, which makes it

easy for platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to influence their minds. 10% of the

population in the United States has social media addiction (Hawi & Samaha, 2017). Since

social media is immensely connected to the human brain's reward system, they can trigger

addictive behaviour, making users compromise other productive activities and instead stay

online on social media. Consequently, many people, especially the young, use social media

excessively, negatively impacting their lives. 

Further, social media has become a validation tool where people post their

achievements. Such validation affects the functioning of the brain's decision-making and

emotional processing parts. According to Bayer et al. (2020), adolescents who felt excluded

in online chats and groups had the emotional processing part of their brain respond

noticeably. As a result, such adolescents would posit low self-esteem and lack of confidence

in various social circles. Consequently, such teenagers cannot express themselves adequately

or publicly share opinions.

Parents have permitted their children to access social media platforms, yet they do not

supervise them. The motivations for posting on social media are also attributed to brain

function. Other users commenting and liking their posts bring physical, mental, and financial

security. In the long run, such children acquire certain opinions and perspectives based on

comments by other social media users.  

How people are allowing Social media to impact their human behaviour 

Today, most people prefer socializing online instead of face-to-face interactions. As a

result, this influences individuals' behaviour massively by making them adopt different

personalities based on the online groups and the peers they interact with daily. In a way,

social networking sites unnecessarily pressure people to fit into certain social circles. In the

process, people embrace certain behaviours to meet the demands of society. For instance,
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Social media users have become antisocial, affecting their psychological, social and

emotional well-being (O'Reilly et al., 2018). Antisocial behaviour also compromises one's

self-esteem and may lead to depression. 

Due to the ease of posting anonymously, social media users have nurtured vices such

as cyberbullying. Cyber abuse is increasingly becoming a menace across the world. People

hide behind the keyboard and spew hate on others which might lead to depression in the

victims. 

Social media platforms have also become tools for entertainment as more people

embrace video gaming. Most social media platforms have gaming options, and when users

engage in such games, it increases violent tendencies as users attempt to project the games in

real life. Instead of embracing physical activities as entertainment and refresher, people have

allowed such games as their preferred lifestyle. 

Social media platforms have also become platforms for negative influence and

rumours, increasing social incitement and violence. People have become intolerant and can

inflict harm on others on social media via anonymous accounts. Due to the presence of social

media, it has become evident that negative influences and bad news are inevitable. It is,

therefore, clear that aggressive behaviour is becoming a norm where some individuals are

insensitive to others' well-being. 

Whether fake news exists 

Social media users can easily present misinformation to seek attention from other

users. As such, social media is an unreal world where users can create illusions about

themselves and their environment (Naseri, 2022). Individuals tend to create perceptions to

validate their fake identities and worldview. This means that a user can go to the extent of

using Photoshop to post a photo that creates a specific impression. If other users are not keen,
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they will view this person differently. This reveals that the concept of fake news exists in real

life.  

To some extent, social media will make people think everyone else leads a perfect life

due to the presentation of false identities. As a result of such illusions, users try to promote

misleading details about themselves, which constitutes fake news. Validation has become

transactional due to social media presence as people seek approval from the online

community. As people become more accustomed to social media, it is evident that fake news

will continue to influence people's daily lives. 

Despite the myriad negative influence that social media platforms pose, it is clear that

it has made many people broad-minded. Today, individuals can interact freely with each

other irrespective of their places of origin. Social media has enhanced tolerance and cultural

diversity. As a result, online users can embrace each other's differences, and such

multicultural knowledge continues to shape people's behaviour today.

As social media continues to become more pervasive across different demographics, it

is essential to note that fake news is becoming increasingly common. The infinite stream of

false information reveals that people are adopting behaviours and habits instigated through

social media platforms. It is, therefore, imperative for community members to regulate the

influence of social media on their lives since technology will continue to advance in future.

Instead of creating loopholes that would allow social media to control human beings, people

should regulate the new technology. 

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References

Bayer, J. B., Lewis Jr, N. A., & Stahl, J. L. (2020). Who comes to mind? Dynamic

construction of social networks. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(3),

279-285.

Greenberg, D. M., Decety, J., & Gordon, I. (2021). The social neuroscience of music:

Understanding the social brain through human song. American Psychologist, 76(7),

1172.

Hawi, N. S., & Samaha, M. (2017). The relations among social media addiction, self-esteem,

and life satisfaction in university students. Social Science Computer Review, 35(5),

576-586.

Naseri, S. (2022). A Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of Children and Parents with

Technology: What Are Real and Unreal Worlds? (Doctoral dissertation, University of

Saskatchewan).

O’reilly, M., Dogra, N., Whiteman, N., Hughes, J., Eruyar, S., & Reilly, P. (2018). Is social

media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of

adolescents. Clinical child psychology and psychiatry, 23(4), 601-613.

Schmälzle, R., Brook O’Donnell, M., Garcia, J. O., Cascio, C. N., Bayer, J., Bassett, D. S., ...

& Falk, E. B. (2017). Brain connectivity dynamics during social interaction reflect

social network structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(20),

5153-5158.