Facebook is draining our brain
How often do you see yourself, wandering toward your cell phone, brainlessly checking your Facebook feed? How often do you tell yourself you want the spend less time on social media?
The communication revolution is reshaping our lives and has drastically increased the amount of information we receive each day. Nowadays 86% of the Dutch people have Facebook and 91% of the teachers on high schools allow students to make use of their IPhone during class (GFK, 2016). These developments seem harmless. However, it has already been proven that the so-called generation Millennials (people born between 1980-2000) are more likely to suffer depression and social media has a role in this (GGZ, 2016).
We often seek the problem with ourselves: We should “just” check our e-mail, Facebook. Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat less often. But aren’t we too tough on ourselves? The answer is yes. The software we use is particularly designed to be addictive. Software developers use tools such as behavioural analytics to increase engagement and design software in such ways that it makes us click.
Why do software developers do this? The answer is simple: It is the value of information. Our page views, clicks, likes and all other information we expose when using applications have value and drive business models. Our attention is literally worth money.
Since our attention is worth money, the software developers want to distract you, lure you to their applications and once you are there, detain you. There is a growing group of former employees of Tec giants that are warning society for products they helped develop themselves (The guardian, 2017). The fear a “Smartphone dystopia” and claim that our minds van be hijacked.
Think of this moment you opened your laptop, to do something specific, to realise quite a while later that you did not at all do what you were planning to do? Instead Facebook sucked your attention and you are unconsciously checking out cat videos again. If this is not hijacking your brain, what is it then?
http://www.gfk.com/nl/insights/news/smartphone-gebruik-in-de-klas/
Overmatig gebruik social media verhoogt kans op depressie bij jongeren
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia
Thank you for your great blog post about how Facebook is draining our brain, Tim. I agree with you, Facebook is hijacking our brains. Facebook has a major influence in our choices. Every spare moment I have, I check my Facebook feed, even when it’s not my plan to do this. Two days ago I have read an article posted by De Correstpondent (2017) about how deleting Facebook will help you make your own choices (in stead of Facebook doing it for you). According to the writer, we should all delete Facebook, in order to claim back our attention. Check out this article: https://decorrespondent.nl/7483/wat-je-terugkrijgt-als-je-van-facebook-gaat/953614707738-139d18dd?utm_content=buffer1d5b8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the very topical post. I believe we all know the situations you describe.
However, another danger of social media has not yet been taken into account. This is the effect of social media on one’s mental health (Koenes, 2017). Instagram and/or Facebook causes people, especially teenagers, to experience feelings of missing out or fear. Or, as many of us might know it, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).
I believe this is besides distraction also one of the impacts of social media that we have to take into account.
Thanks for the post!
Wouter