C-Force: Red Flags Go Up on Our Social Media Obsession

The impact the internet and social media have on modern society is clear, troubling and seemingly ever-increasing. The influence that it may have on our brains is now a central topic of investigation.

I try to keep up with the discussion about this online threat and wrote about it in the past. Back in September of last year, for example, I wrote about how in modern life we're essentially living in a room filled with distractions, all the time fueled by the constant temptation of phones, social media and the internet. According to Time magazine's Jamie Ducharme, Gloria Mark, author and professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, says "screens present a unique minefield of distractibility, with their constant flow of notifications and information. ... Human brains want novelty, excitement, and social connection, and devices play into those desires. Checking a notification flashing across your screen can provide a small hit of dopamine, creating a sense of reward that keeps you coming back for more." Our brain gets used to these constant diversions and soon engages in them out of habit.

Adds David Levin in a new study from Brandeis University, "If the global pandemic has taught us anything about living online, it's that endless scrolling on Facebook or Instagram rarely leaves us feeling better than before we started. ... Adults who spend extensive amounts of time on social media also may experience a decline in overall wellbeing."

But for Forbes senior contributor John Brandon, who has been covering social media for the publication since 2019, the pivotal question is, is social media changing how we think?

"You would think there would be compelling scientific studies on the topic that convinces us to throttle our usage, but the research doesn't seem to be impacting us much," he writes in a March report. "We seem to scroll right through the data as well. I can only assume the reason has to do with these nascent apps or a stubborn resistance to facts."

Brandon pegs our social media obsession as beginning in 2014. It was at this time that "smartphones started to lure us in with far better camera quality and much faster cellular data speeds," he writes. "Phones have been stuck to our hands for only about the last 10 years along with the rise of social media." During that time, there have been "a few studies that might convince us to think about our usage."

Brandon reports that "JAMA Pediatrics found that scrolling social media for three hours per day could lead to mental health issues. A more recent study, also by JAMA, found that social media can create a sensitivity in the brain to rewards and punishments. Meaning, we are more prone to crave micro-rewards or check for likes and comments than in the past. ... Sadly, I don't think we were paying attention to those warning signs."

Not only have the apps kept consuming us, but Brandon also believes we are becoming "doomscrolling thinkers." According to a separate Forbes report, "Research reveals that doomscrolling is more than just a casual browse through social media." It is "a compulsive behavior driven by an insatiable appetite for negative information. In a world inundated with alarming headlines and distressing updates, it's easy to fall into the trap of endless scrolling, seeking out the next piece of bad news." It is yet another aspect of social media and the web that wastes precious time on, as Brandon puts it, "mindless pursuits."

"Not many things in life can engage us so quickly and so thoroughly as our phones," he adds, "without having to put any effort into the activity. ... We're stuck in a vicious cycle. We're dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety, so we choose the easiest and most effective way to lessen our anxiety. Meanwhile, because we're not engaging in meaningful activities, we experience more stress -- and need more and more relief. It's a downward spiral, and social media apps have greased the rails."

It is not like we don't recognize the dangers that lurk in all this. In a much-discussed recent op-ed in The New York Times, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy encourages Congress and families to help reduce children's and teens' social media access. His solution: requiring "platforms to carry a surgeon general's warning label -- one akin to those found on cigarettes and alcohol," writes Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramirez.

As NBC News reports, "In 1965, after the previous year's landmark report from Surgeon General Luther L. Terry that linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer and heart disease, Congress mandated unprecedented warning labels on packs of cigarettes, the first of which stated, 'Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health.'"

Murthy acknowledges the limitations of the action he is calling for. "To be clear, a warning label would not, on its own, make social media safe for young people," he writes. But, according to NBC News, he added that "steps can be taken by Congress, social media companies, parents and others to mitigate the risks, ensure a safer experience online and protect children from possible harm.

"The American Psychological Association says teenagers spend nearly five hours every day on top platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram," NBC News reports. "In a 2019 study, the association found the proportion of young adults with suicidal thoughts or other suicide-related outcomes increased 47% from 2008 to 2017, when social media use among that age group soared."

"Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours," Murthy writes.

Let us not forget to add that adults are susceptible to social media overuse as well.

"It doesn't have to be this way," writes Murthy. "These harms are not a failure of willpower and parenting; they are the consequence of unleashing powerful technology without adequate safety measures, transparency or accountability."

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Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.