The social media dopamine trap.
So this is how it works. You went for a trip, or you went out with friends. You took some pictures, some of which you took in order to remember the good times and some others just to show off to the world that you have done something cool. You come back home, relax and in a while you will be back to where you were before. Often alone, frustrated, sometimes more irritable than usual. Because wherever you go, what ever you do, you have to wake up tomorrow morning and get back to the same old life. There’s no escape from that.
Then you take out your lifeline. Your pocket buddy. You go to Instagram or Facebook or Whatsapp or whatever means to connect to the virtual world. You take those pictures. You start editing. Some familiar tweaks and your usual mountain/beach/sunrise/sunset/macro/party pics will look fantastic. Then you come up with some quotes those go with that. Or you search for some cool quotes. You find some popular hashtags to add. You tag all of your friends/pages and post.
Then you wait . . . .
There comes the magic sound. Dingggg!!!!
You got a new notification. Someone liked your photo. Someone else left some comments. You got that dopamine surge. The same high a substance dependent person gets when they use drugs. The same brain circuits. The same neuro transmitters.
Once the dopamine kicks in, you feel better. You feel connected. All of a sudden your life is interesting. Attention is the ultimate currency. Those likes, shares and comments tend to fill the void. You find yourself immersed in that alternate reality. It’s nice. It’s all rainbows and unicorns. You want to go there again.
What a wonderful world . . !
Disclaimer – I’m not suggesting I’m immune to this or it’s wrong. This is merely an observation/intellectual masturbation. 😂
Check out this documentary if you haven’t already.
