Smartphone, Social media, and Decision-Making

Our society has progressively become reliant on technology. Whether it's our phones, computers, or any other devices; Our phones provide readily access to shopping, communication, the internet, and information. We all know that we must sign up for an account and click on the "terms and conditions" agreement. Digital companies such as Facebook and emails services obligate users to check the "terms and conditions" to utilize the website or service. The "terms and conditions" agreement can be considerably long, leaving the user overwhelmed, thus just checking the box. This simple click leads users vulnerable to data collection. This data collection is called behavioral economics. In the data collected, digital companies can discern whether users are feeling lonely, and how to increase engagement, and what one dislikes or likes.  It is easy to disregard this claim, but these digital companies use the neural circuitry susceptible to addiction. This neural circuitry is used in casinos and activated by cocaine.

   Our brain has neurotransmitters; neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit one message from one neuron to another. Dopamine neurotransmitter strengthens behaviors, such as sex, eating, social interactions, and sleep. In "Dopamine, Smartphones & You...." Haynes explains four dopamine pathways, and each pathway is connected to cognitive and motor processes. The Mesocortical pathway is responsible for cognition, memory, attention, emotional behavior, and learning. While mesolimbic is responsible for the pleasure aspect, also responsible for addiction, seeking behaviors, and perception. And the Nigrostriatal pathway engages with movement and sensory stimuli. In addiction, these three pathways have been proven to be dysfunctional.

 

  In “Excessive Social Media..." explains making an unfavorable decision is linked to drug addictions. A study conducted by Michigan state demonstrated that social media and impaired decision-making have a connection.  Individuals with substance abuse disorders are unsuccessful in learning from their mistakes, which can lead to adverse consequences.  Meshi et al. tested the correlation between social media use and poor decision-making. Meshi et al. had 71 participants answer a series of questions concerning Facebook and the need for use; after, the participants had to do an "Iowa Gambling test," which measures decision-making. The participants needed to distinguish outcome patterns that led to selecting the best possible deck. At the end of the gambling test, participants that use social media choose the bad decks, and those who use social media less demonstrated to do better.  This test was also conducted on people with substance abuse and showed the same results. Both participants in the social media use and participants with substance abuse demonstrated a deficit in decision-making. 

 

References: 

Haynes, Trevor Haynes. “Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A Battle for Your Time.” Edited by Rebecca Clements, Science in the News, 27 Feb. 2019, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/. 

Excessive social media use linked to poor decision-making. Excessive Social Media Use Linked to Poor Decision Making. (2019, January 10). Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.aau.edu/research-scholarship/featured-research-topics/excessive-social-media-use-linked-poor-decision.

Meshi, Dar, Diana I. Tamir, and Hauke R. Heekeren. "The emerging neuroscience of social media." Trends in cognitive sciences 19.12 (2015): 771-782