The

Social
Media
Predicament
Daniel Garcia
 Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................1
The History of Social Media...........................................2
Social Media Backround Info.........................................3
Social Media is Addictive, but why?..............................4
Social Media is Addictive, but why?(Continued)........5
Positive Impacts...............................................................6
Negative Impacts.............................................................7
Personal Changes............................................................8
Personal Changes (Continued).....................................9

1
 The History of
Social Media
How Was It Created?
Social media was initially invented by a serial
entrepreneur Andrew Weinreich. He invented
the social media platform Six Degrees in 1997.
A few years later in 2003 Myspace was created
with about 1 million users signed up, and then
in 2005 Facebook was created (Facebook).

Initial Intentions?
Social media was created in order to help
users connect digitally with friends, peers,
family members, and like-minded individuals
they might never have met in person (Dollar-
hide).

2
 Social Media
Backround Info

Evolution

After one decade of being in existence social

media began to evolve in a drastic way add-
ing private messaging, the ability to broadcast
messages and content to the public, and lastly
the capability to interact with communities and
individuals across the globe (The Era of Antiso-
cial).

Leading Companies?

The top 3 social media applications used in

2019 were Facebook, Instagram, and Messen-
ger. Facebook being the most popular social
media as 2.8 Billion monthly active people ac-
cess Facebook-owned products including Ins-
tagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger (Facebook
Revenue).
3
 Social Media Is
Addictive, But Why?
Feel Good Chemical
Former vice president of user growth at Facebook, Chamath Paliha
pitiya said in an interview, that these media outlets activate the brain’s
reward center by releasing dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter.
This transmitter is what is responsible for our feeling of pleasure that
a lot of people reference as a “feel good chemical”. Due to these trans-
mitters it makes social media an additcing network that makes
individuals feel good, thus creating behaviors that can become in-
stilled into our daily routines (McLean Hospital).

Social Creatures

Humans are naturally social creatures, it is what has allowed us to

thrive and survive since we have been in existence, and because of this
we tend to seek out social experiences, such as communicating and in-
teracting with others. When one gets positive recognition by our peers
and family members, it activates reward pathways. Smartphones have
provided us with essentially an unlimited amount of social stimuli
which have the potential to be positive, creating a dopamine influx
that can be an addictive feeling one would likely try again.

Stress Reliever

While it is well known that human beings are social animals, it is also
a common conception that being productive is necessary and good for
our mental health.

4
The American Anxiety and Depression Association of America found
in their research that half of the people that have anxiety disorders feel
symptoms of these while thinking or working on their work
responsibilities. Thus, it would be obvious that it can begin to take an
effect on our daily lives by becoming a vicious cycle of being addicted
to the media networks in order to satisfy our social needs, later be-
coming addicted to the satisfaction, which then can result in failing to
succeed in one’s goals and tasks outside of social media.

survey for how addicting 50 users beileve

social media is.

This pie chart represents how many peoeple beileve social

media is addicting from ages 15 through 45. What we found
out from sending this poll is that 85% of people beileve it is
addictive.

5
 Positive Impacts
Staying Connected
Overall with these media outlets having the ability to message, video
chat, and view current events happening in any other part of the
world, it is such an amazing invention and creates many positive
effects (Can Relationships). The ability to connect with others is a
big benefit to using social media, as it can satisfy many individuals’
need for social interaction. These networks tend to do this by help-
ing young people form communities, keep in touch with friends
who do not live nearby, and it can provide a place to get social
support. It can also expand and strengthen their in-person networks
and interactions.

Long Term Health

Scientists are investigating the biological and behavioral factors that
account for the health benefits of using social media for connecting
with others. They found that social media relieves harmful levels of
stress, which can adversely affect many body functions such as coro-
nary arteries, insulin regulation, and the immune system. Amongst
their research also found that caring behaviors release stress-reduc-
ing hormones. Researchers also identified that this is all encourag-
ing news as caring involvement is the easiest health strategy
accessible to everybody (The Health Benefits of Strong Relation-
ships).

6
 Negative Impacts
Decline in Productivity

As social media can be a stress reilever and be greatly beneficial for

relaxing, it can also be detrimental to productivity in a persons life
such as taking away from responsibilities that need to be prioritised
(Winnick).

FoMo
Social media can include an issue that is very common amongst
multiple different social media platforms, which is a term called
FoMO. This is an acronym that stands for Fear of Missing Out.
FoMO is anxiety that an event is happening elsewhere and you are
not taking part, which is typically aroused by posts on social media.
Social media posts trigger this stressful form of anxiety because we
are social creatures and feel negatively when we miss out on events
we consider to be a positive social experience. These posts are often
curated to paint the picture of said positive social experiences,
provoking feelings of FoMO (Gordon).

7
 Personal Changes
How to Limit Oneself
One way is to limit oneself. An effective way to do this is to use apps
that help limit your time on social media. Another method is keep-
ing the network sites out of sight and turning off notifications. By
doing this you can spend less time browsing dopamine filled content
and instead use your time to accomplish goals outside of phone
usage which can be beneficial for productivity overall. Another way
people find success in limiting their social media time is by setting
personal goals for your day and remember to reference that before
you open your social media application. Having goals can really be
powerful once you analyze the reasons why they are better to follow
(The Importance, Benefits, and Value of Goal Setting).

How to reduce feelings of FoMo

According to a WSU undergraduate student Barry, suggested that it
may be good to reduce social media use or cut it off altogether for
a period of time as it can better mental stability. Researchers also
suggest that those who want to reduce any feeling of FoMO should
try addressing their negative self-perceptions by practicing better
self compassion by viewing setbacks as opportunities for growth. By
taking these steps it can be a great way for reducing feelings of lone-
liness and shifting one’s focus away from other people’s lives

8
Change of Mind
Consumers need to change their mindset. There are a few ways we
can do this. First, we need to understand these applications are not
just places to view fun videos and photos, they are businesses using
strategies to make profit. Secondly, social media companies do not
care about what effects are coming from using their applications.
Lastly, it is up to us to use it with responsibility for the sake of our
time and mental health.

9
This Magazine was created with the
intention of helping spread exposure on
social media and all of its impacts. There
is information on the origins of social
media and its evolution, and how its im-
pacts reflect on us everyday. Along side the
information there is also methods on how
you can better use your social media in an
efficient way that will better your usage for
the better!

Front art was created by Animas

High School student, Annika Nelson.