SOCIAL MEDIA MAKES
US FEEL WE CAN T
DISCONNECT IN CASE
WE MISS SOMETHING
Scrollingforpleasure?
Lastyear 79 percentofAustralianswere
onsocialmedia.FifteenmillionAussiesuse
Facebookeverymonth,makingitthemost
popularsocialmediaplatform,whilenine
milliontapintoInstagram.
Incredibly,overathirdofuschecksocialmedia
morethanfivetimesaday.Givenourincreasingly
busylives,wheredowefindthetime!Well,the
answer(andproblem)is...it’saddictive.
Researchersknowthatengagementwithsocial
mediaandmobilephonesreleasesachemicalcalled
dopamineinthebrain.It’sapleasurechemical.We
feelitseffectswhenweeatdeliciousfoodorhavesex.
It’swhyitfeelsgoodwhenyougetanalertfora‘like’
oramessage.We’rewiredtoanticipateandseekthis
‘reward’—andthat,inturn,cancauseissuesleading
tooveruseandaddictiontosocialmedia.
Designersofsocialmediaplatformsknowhumans
aredopaminefiends.So,everypartofthewaythat
weinteractwiththeirplatformsiscarefullythought
throughtofeedintothisdopamine-seekingloop,
fromtheplacementofthe‘like’buttontothetiming
ofalerts.Themorepleasurewegetfromsocialmedia,
themorewegobacktothepleasuresource.HELP! I CAN’T
STOP SCROLLING
Experts have pointed out that social media
platforms are very deliberately designed
to constantly load more content. As long as
we keep scrolling, there’s something there
for us to look at. Unlike a book, a magazine
or even a traditional website, there’s no
defi ned end point. This can make it much
more diffi cult to disengage with social
media. Half an hour can quickly disappear
as we mindlessly scroll through
Facebook or Instagram.20 healthyfoodguide.com.auhfg FEATURES