• April 18, 2023
• Social Media
• 3183196105195625

The United States government is considering a national ban of TikTok, a social media application used by over 150 million Americans. Although the primary reason for the ban is privacy concerns, it presents an opportunity to consider other potential risks.

It is well known social media apps can negatively impact mental health outcomes, a fact even acknowledged by Facebook’s leaked internal research. The impact social media use may have on our cognitive abilities, however, is less well known. As an attention researcher, I study all the different processes our brains use to focus and maintain attention. Attention isn’t a single mechanism, but rather the result of a number of different mechanisms across various areas of the brain. One of these mechanisms is executive functioning, defined as our ability to focus on the task at hand and filter distractions. However, not all tasks are created equal: it’s easier to focus when the object of our attention is engaging and entertaining. In order to keep you entertained, social media companies are constantly tracking the content you engage with. This not only means the content you “like,” but also how long you spend on each piece of content. By doing this, the app methodically presents you with related content, to keep you on its platform as long as possible. The way social media apps present content is crucial, as many apps now use an endless scroll feature in which users simply swipe upwards to view the next piece of content. Having a continuous stream of content is meant to absorb users into what researchers refer to as a “flow state.” We experience flow states when we are so deeply engaged in an activity that we lose our sense of time. Flow states can be highly advantageous in a work setting, as they help us stay focused and increase efficiency in completing relevant tasks. However, social media apps try to elicit flow states to make it more difficult to leave their platform. To put it briefly, companies are constantly tracking our attention and leveraging this data to keep us hooked. With a majority of social media users logging in at least once a day, and one-third of teenagers using these apps “almost constantly,” it raises the question of whether social media is hurting our attention abilities. The cost of task-switching Throughout the day, many individuals multitask by alternating between work-related activities and using social media platforms. According to a study conducted on middle and high school students, teenagers spend, on average, less than six minutes on a task before switching to social media or texting. While some forms of multitasking are harmless, like walking and chewing gum at the same time, it is not possible to effectively multitask on activities that share cognitive mechanisms. Instead, we engage in “task-switching,” which involves alternating between two related activities. Think of trying to read while simultaneously engaging in conversation: it’s not possible without disengaging from one of these activities, since they both involve language processing. Social media and most forms of work fall into this category. One of the problems with task switching lies in “switch costs,” a term used to describe the negative effect that re-engaging with a task has on your cognition. This means every time you open social media while studying for school or working at your job, you will be slower and more error prone for a period of time when getting back to work. Not surprisingly, people who typically engage with multiple forms of media at once show general decreases in sustained attention, or the ability to maintain focus. It is much better to block off time for work: 20 continuous minutes of work is significantly better than four five-minute blocks separated by brief social media breaks.

Source: Daily Times