The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Looking to explore the impact of social media
More than 2 billion people own smart phones and they’re checking them, on average, about 150 times per day.
Mantras like “Do it for the likes” or “Do it for the gram” are common amongst youth familiar with social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. But experts say the 15-year-old fad that promised to create a sense of belonging and worldwide connection has had unprecedented effects, not only on youth, but also on adults.
“Social media at its core is a way for an individual to broadcast their message to a lot of people,” said Max Stossel, head of education at the Center for Human Technology. “It has started to really deeply influence every aspect of our lives in a way that maybe means it’s time to rethink how good is this really for us and how do we want to live with it?”
Like, a new documentary coming to Norwalk on March 26 at SoNo Regent Movie Theater, at 64 North Main St., explores the impact of social media. The filmmaker argues technology is a tool, it’s here to stay, and understanding its effects on the brain can help people learn to self-regulate and navigate it more safely. A panel of school counselors and mental health experts attending the upcoming screening will answer questions after the film starting at 7 p.m.
“I think when social media first started we were super excited about its promise to connect people in the broader world. It was a great way for kids to connect with their grandparents or their aunts and uncles who might live in another city,” said Colby Zintl, vice president of external affairs at Common Sense Media, who appears in the film. “The way that it has gone off the rails is that social media and all these consumer tech platforms have an ad-driven model which basically means that (people are) rewarded for going on more frequently. They’ve built in these sort of digital manipulations that are tricking kids into going online more frequently than they normally would.”
Stossel, who formerly designed notifications for a small start-up, was told by investors that if he could hold the consumer’s attention for two minutes or longer the company was valuable. He quickly learned setting video on the auto play feature tailored to the viewer’s interests would help him meet that goal. The problem, experts said, is that some people find themselves sucked into a dark hole of viewing content, as hours pass before they resurface again.
The opportunity cost for teens is another risk, with experts asking what are youths not doing when they’re engaged in social media for hours.
“They’re not socializing in the real world. They’re often not developing the social skills that are really important for navigating relationships they’ll need in school, work and life,” said Daniel Villiers, founder of the Anxiety Institute, a Greenwich-based organization that treats teens and young adults with anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive behaviors and trauma. “The more tech usage and social media usage you’re engaged in the less physical activity you’re engaged in, the poorer sleep that you have.”
A big thing Villiers sees in his work is teens experiencing physiological and psychological withdrawal symptoms after their parents separate them from their cellphones.
“I work with a lot of kids who literally cannot sit still unless they’re on their phone,” he said. “And it looks much like an addiction. They’re squirming in their seat, they’re wanting to go home or to borrow someone else’s phone. They’ll do whatever they can to get their fix. When it starts to look like that, when you can’t be away from it for an hour or two ... then it’s definitely a problem.”
Although researchers argue teens who use social media are at higher risk for depression, anxiety and lower self-esteem — and those who have more balance with the platforms are more likely to have healthier positive self-image — there’s no definitive suggesting social media causes mental illness.
“It’s not like there’s a clear cause of the anxiety epidemic. But research does say that there does show a correlation,” Villiers said. “They are finding that adolescents with an anxiety disorder spend more time on their phone than adolescents who don’t have an anxiety disorder. So, while that’s not a direct causal correlation, it’s a powerful correlation.”
Although the movie paints a bleak picture of social media and its effects, film director Andreen said the answer is not to take away cell phones from kids. The message is people have the power to take back the reigns and regain control. “It’s just an awareness thing. We’re not here to scare anyone,” she said. “We’re just here to say look what’s going on. You’re in charge.”
Her next movie, The Bully Factor, is about cyber bullying, bystanders and the neuroscience behind the phenomenon.