In the context of why people are so deeply in tune with their online personas, and why for they have such an intuitive interest in both making themselves more appealing whilst still also taking in how they perceive others, one of the forefront discussions at the head of this is the actual, chemical reason. The actual firing of synapses and ingrained behavior that permeates throughout the receptors in one’s head, constantly telling them to continue scrolling.
The scroll itself, in the context of both social and psychological frame, is purely of interest one has in both their own and other’s societies and cultural environments. Swiping your thumb up is, although not obvious, directly distributes a reward, with that being the dopamine surge after chuckling slightly at that funny video, or the half-interest in whatever breaking news story has just hit the internet.
Despite this system being not just applicable to that of short-form content such as TikTok, TikTok itself relishes and serves as the grand example as to what it can be. A win-win situation, with the app getting traffic, and its users getting to have their interests piqued for however many fractions of a second, they decide to stay on each post.
However, this system is deeply ingrained in that of humanity’s relationship with social media. Short-form content, in and of itself, does provide an escape, and although correlation does not equate to causation, there are multiple signs and behaviors, as well as other forms of consequence that the doom-scroll can bring.
Social media addiction that can hold correlation with other conditions such as that of depression. Without being able to get access to the outside world, speaking from personal experience, it feels empty. Dark.
Even being without internet after a power outage, the cold hum of the electricity absent, rooms dark, can make you feel as separated from the world as possible. Despite the internet as we know it in its sophistication having only existed for less than 30 years, people have become to grow so deeply alongside it that there is a personal connection now.
I also understand this, through how Generation Z was the first generation to have the internet as we know it today from birth, constantly developing that bond. As such, who am I to say anything on it, having used it for all my life? What right do I have to ponder and wonder about what would happen if the internet were to go away, seeing as to how I, myself, would not have to worry?
This thought process correlates with the mindsets of those with social media addiction, specifically in the negative facets of self-compassion. This can include all the aspects from the opposite end of the self-compassion and actualization spectrum such as self-judgment and isolation, once again playing into the idea of wanting to both connect yourself with others, whilst paradoxically isolating yourself.
Knowing that you have your own niche to carve is one of the feelings in the world that people seem to always want to chase after. Platforms such as TikTok offer that niche at a price.
This price, being the very real possibility of self-isolation from the outside world, can be costly. In the frame of how mass media works and affects people, this is a cycle which spurs people to continue to hide themselves, crowding into that small, dark hole.
Societal expectations and an inherent desire to want to conform and congregate to what is often “popular,” along with being both a source of discomfort for people who feel as though they cannot “fit in,” also serves to perpetuate the negative affects and habits that lead to social media addiction. In a study from the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, it was determined that individuals with depression had more interest, presence, and overall screen time on social media.
This can then be compounded upon by an app such as TikTok. With so much activity and traffic being sent from one side to the next, this wish to conform can be experienced multiplicatively.
Who could see what you post now? Who could see your profile at any time? How could you make yourself out to be as interesting and as interested as possible, to stave off this fear of being shunned, ousted and alone?
In an interview, Harvard Business Review writer Kelsey Hansen details how, although the early days of Facebook were comforting, having been able to grow into your own digital niche, eventually, she had to deactivate her account ahead of exam season. The ideas around the shame of partaking in such a thing as this are still somewhat of a taboo to discuss.
After all, despite the outspokenness of those who have suffered and speak for those who have suffered from how social media, and specifically short-form content, can affect them so negatively, the message feels as though it is still not getting through. This shame causes people to, rather than cut it out of their lives, continue using it, as they would feel disconnected without it.
This is even more applicable due to how little these companies and platforms have changed their approach, as well. As detailed by psychologist Nicholas Kardaras, one of the most effective methods used to keep people balled-and-chained to the mindless scroll is how the actual sites keep almost the exact same format for years or decades.
People constantly seek out places that they can carve their mark out in, it being human nature. Short-form content can lend itself to this goal, but the actual inner-workings of psychology that cause people to fall into the same old ways are ones that can be felt by anyone who has used social media.
