Social Media Approval Effects

Key Points:

• Dopamine is a neurotransmitter central to the brain's reward system, triggered by social validation on social media.

• Likes, comments, and notifications act as positive stimuli, leading to dopamine influxes.

• Platforms like Instagram manipulate notification algorithms to enhance dopamine responses by delivering likes in bursts.

• Habitual checking of phones for notifications is driven by dopamine-seeking behavior.

• The psychological effects of dopamine triggers on social media are comparable to those experienced in gambling and other addictive behaviors.