The interaction between social media and a child’s developing brain
Social media
Social media has become a ubiquitous part of modern life, especially for the younger generation. It offers a platform for communication, entertainment, information, and self-expression. However, it also poses some challenges and risks for the developing brain, which is still undergoing significant changes and maturation during adolescence and early adulthood.
The term social media refers to any online service or application that enables users to create, share, and consume content, such as text, images, videos, or audio. Social media as a concept did not really take off until Facebook in 2004. Since then social media became a global phenomenon. Facebook transformed the concept of social networking, by allowing users to create personal profiles, join groups, post status updates, like and comment on other users' posts, and upload photos and videos. Facebook also introduced the concept of "friends", which meant that users could connect with people they knew or met online, and see their updates on their news feed.
Since then, social media has diversified and expanded, with the emergence of other popular platforms, such as YouTube, Twitter or if you prefer, the newly renamed X platform, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and WhatsApp, Viber etc. Each platform has its own features and functions, but they all share the common purpose of facilitating social interaction and content creation. According to a 2019 report by the Pew Research Centre, 72% of U.S. adults use some type of social media, and 90% of those aged 18 to 29 do so. Moreover, the average time spent on social media per day by U.S. adults is 144 minutes, and by U.S. teens is 195 minutes. What is very clear across the world is that young people use social media more than adults. Increasingly businesses, young professionals, even students at universities are utilising these platforms to ensure that they are able to interconnect, network and be able to expand their circles.
As a tool and only seen from the point of view of a tool, social media is extraordinarily good in reaching anyone in the world. However, as a form of interaction it is severely impaired in being able to replace in real life, human interaction and communication.
Social media use and the effect on the brain:
Until the age of 25 years old our brain is still wiring itself and continues to develop. A developing brain is highly sensitive and adaptable to the environment and experiences it encounters. This means that social media can have both positive and negative effects on the brain, depending on how it is used and what kind of content is consumed. Some of the possible effects are:
· Positive effects:
· Social media can enhance cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, problem-solving, and creativity, by exposing the brain to diverse and stimulating information and challenges.
· Social media can foster social skills, such as communication, collaboration, empathy, and perspective-taking, by enabling the brain to interact with different people and cultures, and to learn from their feedback and opinions.
· Social media can support emotional well-being, such as happiness, self-esteem, and resilience, by providing the brain with opportunities for self-expression, social support, and positive reinforcement.
· Negative effects:
· Social media can impair cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, problem-solving, and creativity, by distracting the brain from other tasks, reducing the depth and quality of learning, and inducing information overload and cognitive fatigue.
· Social media can impair social skills, such as communication, collaboration, empathy, and perspective-taking, by isolating the brain from real-life interactions, reducing the quality and quantity of social cues, and increasing the risk of cyberbullying and social comparison.
· Social media can impair emotional well-being, such as happiness, self-esteem, and resilience, by exposing the brain to negative and harmful content, such as violence, hate speech, fake news, and unrealistic standards of beauty and success.
If you note from what I have written in both positives and negatives, each one can have the opposite impact. Meaning that our current research is inadequate and further research on this is currently taking place. Therefore opinions may vary, but I believe the large scientific consensus is already there that social media negatively impacts children’s mental health and development. However, what we clearly see from research is a very large uptick in anxiety and affective disorders affecting children and teenagers associated with the incerased use of social media. Though correlation doesn’t equate causation, in this case there may very well be a very strong correlation with it. Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, where social media replaced for many young people their face to face interactions with others, we have seen significant rises. What we also experienced as adults is that there was a very large need for human connection and perhaps for us we made do - with the tools available to us. But for children, that may have led to deficits that they are now trying to catch up on whilst also creating the perfect storm for the large uptick in disorders that we are seeing now, affecting all ages.
Social media can have both positive and negative effects, depending on who uses it and how. Everyone has a different brain, personality, preferences, and dislikes, because we are all unique as individuals. The problem is, that without fully developed cognitive and emotional abilities, which can take a long time, we can look for validation from external sources. We all do this to some extent, because it takes a long time for an individual to accept themselves. Self-actualisation is a personal journey that varies for each of us. Fulfilment never comes from outside; it comes from within. Therefore, growing up in a world and being exposed to an environment where the word friend has lost its meaning, can create a false impression of having or not having a support system. It also encourages a lack of empathy, because drama, revealed secrets, and broken promises get more attention and likes on social media.
I will also address the culture of bullying, which was already widespread when I was growing up. I don't think we have changed much as human beings since my day, but what has changed, is that people who bully, threaten, or want to hurt us, can follow us everywhere, every moment of every day in our phones. A bully before would bother you in school or somewhere else - but they would have to work hard to get to you in a place where you felt safe, like your own house. They would have to ring your bell, be let in by your parents, and be allowed to bother you in front of your family. Something that is hardly possible. Similarly a bully cannot any longer see the real world harm they may be inflicting and empathy levels that may have otherwise prevented further incidents, are simply not there as everything done behind a screen. In summary bullying is now worse than before, not because we have all turned into bullies, but because the medium of our communication is not direct face to face interaction.
The social media environment suffers from two fundamental flaws when it is exposed to a young brain:
1) Children learn by watching others: They develop their sense of identity by following the examples of their parents and their friends. Choosing online interactions over face to face ones is a challenge that many parents now face. And it is not easy to avoid, because we all have busy lives, and we all need some time and space for our own enjoyment, satisfaction, and our own curiosity or to deal with our own concerns. It’s hard then to put the device aside and spend time with our children, doing things that enrich them, improve their lives, and also teach them who their parents/carers are as individuals, so they can judge and form their own independence later on. Therefore, if mummy or daddy needs satisfaction or uses emails, social media all day for work or friends or family or any other reason – a child will seek to do the same. Even if you are there for them – they will go down paths that you would not have wanted for them. That is why it is very important that you do the work beforehand. Build strong and healthy bonds with your child before the world of social media also becomes their world. Because then you can face the whole world together with your young one. Without them feeling that they cannot come to you for help. I want to add here, that indifference to the world of social media by the part of a parent, or perhaps the lack of knowledge, will also not protect your child from it. Knowledge is power, and personal experience, coupled with knowledge is even more powerful.
2) Algorithms: Every platform is designed to capture attention. This means that the best aspects of our nature, will always lose. We are curious beings, we are more likely to spend time watching something that makes us feel uneasy or has drama than something that is ordinary life – most of which is routine and repetitive tasks that we all do, to maintain stability, balance and survival. Those things are dull. However, those things are the things that we need to learn to do. The algorithms will promote non-dull things, new things, memes and trends – whether they are good or bad does not matter. Social media is free, but to be free, it sells you. Which means it will exploit your fears, worries, preferences, and hobbies to keep your attention not on the content that you watch necessarily, but to keep you hooked to the ad filled world that creates revenue. This is unlikely to change any time soon – as we are all getting more and more addicted to these platforms.
In summary:
To keep your children safe from social media harms, teach them, prepare them and spend time with them early to build trust, so they can come to you when things go wrong. These things are important for young people and parents:
Limiting how much and how often social media is used, and doing other things, like exercise, hobbies, and face-to-face interactions.
Using social media for communication, collaboration, and learning, and not instead of real-life relationships, experiences, and achievements.
Getting help and support from trusted adults, peers, or professionals, if social media use leads to or worsens any mental, social, or emotional problems, such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, or low self-esteem.
Parents should always remember that human beings are tactile, interactive creatures that require real face to face interaction and human contact. Nothing else can replace that. That doesn’t necessarily mean that reducing screen-time that has been the focus of a lot of media attention, is the main thing that they should opt to do. Socialising in real life is the end goal, whether that is in front of a tv - gaming and competing with your child, or whether it is outside in nature, interacting with family and friends.
