How social media affects the human brain.

Hello internet. This post is actually an assignment that my "professor" assigned me. So that means that this post is not my idea so that means that you don't have to read this if you don't want to and just wait a couple more days for the next post. So, off my research goes! [If you want to just look at the affects, skip the next three paragraphs]

Now, it's no secret that social media is dominating the communication methods of the younger generation (who am I to talk? I still relatively young).  Whether you're young or old, you're probably engaged in a social media site like Facebook or Twitter or other sites. These sites are now available almost everywhere; on tablets or phones or borrowed computers that we always forget to give back, your login page tends to be frequently accessed.

Studies show that over time, more and more teenagers will say that access to social media at work is more important than their work salary (how much they'll earn in work). Seriously?!

But, there finally is a reason why. It's because since humans love to boast about themselves and introduce themselves in a "awesome" way or talk about themselves to lots of other people, and that's what makes us addicted to social media sites. Users experience more euphoria (happiness) than over-the-phone interacting, eating, and "love-making". This is also why resisting social media is more harder than shopping/spending money, drinking, smoking, and sleeping (not the complete list).

Now to the actual facts.

Shortened attention spans; This is a real problem. Those who use social media are likely to have shorter attention spans. 25% of people forget names and details of friends and even relatives. 7% of people even forget their birthdays for a few minutes when they think about it. Most also forget pots and pans on the stove. In fact, in the UK last year, £1.6 million (~$2.4 million) of damage from forgotten pots on stoves.

Brain rewiring; So we know that our brain always adjusts and adapts to whatever we do. It doesn't just sit there; it's rewiring itself every day of our lives. A study done on 1000 people found out that they understood and comprehended a lot more when they read a text document than watching a video, since video and media are a major part of social media because video actually disrupts our concentration.

Hormone release; There is a hormone called "oxytocin" that stimulates trust and empathy. This hormone spikes when you log on, while this hormone is only supposed to be released when you have a face-to-face conversation. Too much release of this hormone can cause stress at different levels.

So yeah. Thanks for reading. Next blog post coming out in a couple days.