Why Social Media Is Frying Your Brain

People are weird, don't you think?

If you're living in the younger generations (Around Gen Z), you can probably observe a very common phenomenon in streets, buses, trains, classrooms, corridors in high schools and in universities, even at your workplace... the unsociability that stems from SOCIAL media. Funny, no?

Let me tell you a story. We're looking at young Patrick one morning who prepares to go to university, because he's got Economics and Mathematics on the schedule today. Patrick wakes ups, eats his breakfast, brushes his teeth, get dressed, and leave out to school.

Patrick walks in the street and see a few of his university friends... they say hi but immediately his friends start scrolling on social media, or whilst they're talking together, they keep checking their phones and sending messages to others.

When Patrick gets on the bus to university, do you know what happens? Once more, he asks if he can sit next to someone because there's no seats left, and when he does, he realizes that no-one seems to speak to each other. The only one speaking in the bus are two girls in the back and an old lady with the bus driver. The rest are on their phones. The person next to him act like he doesn't exist. They try to protect each other from any social interaction by acting like they're alone, even tho they're not.

Patrick goes in the university hallways after getting out of the bus, and he sees... people with smartphones. Entire groups of people looking at phones even tho they're next to each other. No presence. No social connection. They "speak" on social media and make "connections" on it, but in real-life, they still continue staring at their phones. They found another outlet of communication that is unhealthy.

In classes, some people don't even care about their future and act like fucking losers by playing games on their phones or even putting on earbuds to listen to degenerate rap music.

And this is where the magic happens: Patrick realizes that people of his generation waste too much time on social media. But unfortunately for him, Patrick is like any other kid, and what he does, is pulling out his phone, when he feels awkward, unconfident, or simply out of his comfort zone. When he doesn't feel "secure" in his new environment, he simply pulls out his phone. A cute girl speaks to him? Patrick pulls out his phone and look at the weather app... and then check his battery... and then check the compass app... he goes from app to app with no sense just because it's his natural defense system: hide behind a screen when you're uncomfortable.

This is the dangers of social media, and sadly, it's what I personally see in real life in my work environments. People spend their days on their phones. Fortunately, conscience about the danger of social media is arising, and more and more people get onto self-improvement or simply stop using their phones so much.

But, I still needed to make this article because I don't think I ever addressed this subject before and I think it's quite important.

Social media works for a lot of people as a comfort zone. You don't need friends when you've got "infinite friends" on social media. You don't need genuine social connections when you already have "social connections" on social media. It's a way to hide from being hurt in life, because some of us, and even all of us at one point or another, are scared to go out and live in the "real world" because we're scared it's too dangerous.

But we need to put ourselves in a position where we don't need social media anymore. Do you know what happens to your brain when you spend time on social media, and you feel "good"? This is a dopamine spike, dopamine being the hormone of pleasure. When you get too much dopamine with big spikes of dopamine due to addictive substances that are ultra stimulating such as social media, your brain starts to fry. It thinks slower. It's less sharp. It's stupider. It's less present. So you take bad habits, and you're unconsciously and consciously being conditioned to be a loser.

You start having troubles socially, because you don't feel confident, since your whole life is the internet. In real life you're no-one.

And so, what happens ultimately? You end up being a piece of crap. By having so much pleasure all the time, your brain starts to have no pleasure in everyday life, and you become depressed, which pushes you to "hide" even more in video games and junk food and alcohol and social media, because it's easier for you to feel safe online than unconfident and unsafe in real life.

Basically, social media can be used to immerse yourself into a world of instant gratification, which is not a bad thing from time to time (watching a movie or eating junk food once in a while is alright, if it's an EXCEPTION), but which can truly become dangerous if you spend your days and all your energy on it.

And most people, such as the ones in Patrick's university looking at their phones in the hallways instead of making genuine social connections, are wasting their precious life on social media. Always prioritize real life over phone usage. Use your phone as a tool, not as a second life.

The problem ultimately with this system of being addicted to social media is that you end up having no connections, and people feel more and more separated, lonely, and depressed. We like to be with others, we're naturally made for that.

Think about our origins, the cavemen. We always needed to be in tribes, because the lions and the gorillas and the mammoths were greater and stronger than us. The average lion is 7 times stronger than the average human. They are faster, their jaw is stronger, they are more muscular, they are more agile, and they can jump better and higher than humans. So we needed, as a biological need to survive, to UNITE, in order to combat the dangers of the world.

But if we all separate ourselves from other people, we end up closing on ourselves, and we can't evolve properly. Everyone has his or her own wisdom, if they are wise, and we can learn from them. We can learn from the experiences of others. We can even learn from shitty people, because it gives us an example not to follow. In other words, we can LEARN how to live properly through other people, not only through them, but it's a tool that is very useful and powerful.

So, when we're not in a "tribe", when we're not speaking to people, we feel excluded, like most young people nowadays. Did you know that 33% of the world population is lonely? 1/5, so one out of five people in the US feels lonely.

ONE OUT OF FIVE! That's enormous! So let's start speaking to each other, let's find good people, let's build our lives. Let's also stay on social media and have a good time and speak with people online as to make more contact and be truly social, but let's also take a step back from it when we're on the hallways, on the bus or in the gym. Let's not close ourselves to others and the world.

I think that's a good and wise message to pursue. So here is an actionable step I want you to get out of this article:

If you're not a complete loser, I want you to erase one social media app of your choice today. Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat.

For example, the only social media I have is Snapchat. And I'm more social than the majority of people. Why is that? Well, I realized you don't need "entertainment" social media accounts, such as TikTok's or Instagram. What you need is truly "social" social media accounts, on "social" social media platforms, such as WhatsApp or Snapchat, that are mainly made for messaging.

Especially if you're young, speaking over Snapchat or WhatsApp can prove to be easier because most people of our age has got these apps and are using them regularly. The best would be to speak over the basic Message app but it's also good to be connected on other social media's, as they can offer easier way to speak with people.

And, I'm not saying you can't have Instagram or Facebook. I'm just saying these are often used to get instant gratification from stupid things that make time pass and that make you forget about your life problems, but if your life is truly great, you shouldn't need to always "entertain yourself". So go from the concept that you'll simply "entertain yourself" through real human interactions and love, and by learning. Yes, reading a good book is way funnier to me than scrolling on Instagram.

So, be careful of social media. Try to only keep "messaging-based" social media and not "entertainment" ones. Reduce usage day by day. Use your phone limiters apps to limit the amount of time you can be on those apps. Erase your accounts. Make progress.

Conclusion

To conclude, I wanted to thank you for reading this article. As always, take care of yourself, and keep improving.

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