To scroll or not to scroll: social media as a coping mechanism...
How often do we find ourselves mindlessly going through our feeds on social media- constantly switching between platforms and consuming unnecessary content? Contrary to what most people believe, this is not without reason. Switching between content within a matter of seconds causes our brain to release dopamine, bringing about a momentary sense of extreme joy and satisfaction. The availability of a wide variety of information sourced from all over the world on social media allows us to pick and choose what we expose ourselves to. In an attempt to stabilise and optimise our current moods, we tend to gravitate towards content that brightens our mood, instead of actively practicing mindfulness and finding alternative and healthier sources to enhance our moods. This works as a healthier, easier out.
A number of theoretical approaches concerned with behaviour speak about selective exposure to media and content. A proven concept worth mentioning is that of mood-dependent memory. Being a widely studied phenomenon in almost all fields of psychology and neuroscience, it states that events and content are more easily remembered when one is in the same mood as they were when the event occurred or when the information was consumed. Another relevant revolutionary theory is that of mood management, following the principle of mood optimisation. Ideally, the first step involved in managing one’s mood or state of mind is to recognise the cause of one’s feelings - say for example, a failed job interview being the reason for an individual’s frustration and anger. The next step requires resolving or restoring this cause - in the given case, to accept and redirect one’s frustration into healthier outlets. However, during instances in which the second step isn’t followed, individuals tend to regulate or stabilize their emotions through external sources such as social media. This selective choosing of content online to pull us out of our negative moods, or to prolong our positive moods, is the essence of the mood management theory. To simplify concepts, this theory divides mood management into three broad categories, the first one being that of excitatory potential. This is the potential of a consumed piece of media to affect the arousal state of an individual. A scenic picture of the sky on one’s feed will reduce their state of arousal and instill a sense of calmness, unlike a video of violence, which stimulates and increases the level of excitement and arousal. Apart from this, absorption potential and semantic affinity of media is an important part of this theory. The ability of content on social media to affect an individual’s mood, attention and cognitive ability is known as its absorption potential- a person in a positive mental state will subconsciously consume content that has low potential to alter his mood or attention. Lastly, the semantic affinity of media is the overlap between the individual’s current state and messages and content consumed. Content that strongly resembles and refers to the individual’s mood has a low chance of altering negative moods and prolonging positive moods, while content that bears little to no resemblance has a higher chance of doing so. With the understanding of this theory and its principles, it can be concluded that the selective consumption of content on social media and otherwise can significantly affect our moods, and thus, our behaviour and mental processes.
Although the consumption of content on social media can have a positive or even beneficial effect on our moods and behaviour to a certain extent, overconsumption has its own destructive effects. The ability of social media to greatly affect our moods can lead to it being used excessively as a method to cope- a quick way to distract ourselves from negative emotions. When an individual repeatedly uses social media as a way to optimize their moods, an unhealthy dependence is created. Other healthier stimuli and coping strategies gradually lose their ability to have an effect on this individual’s mood. Avoidance, a widely known coping mechanism in which one attempts to disengage from a stressor by avoiding dealing directly with it, is used widely when dealing with the virtual world. In today’s times of ever- increasing workload and time constraints, there is also a jump in the levels of stress experienced by people of all ages. Easy access to social media and its ever- changing and engaging content causes people to use it to avoid and distract themselves from other negative aspects of their lives. Being the most commonly used unhealthy coping strategy, over 40% of people cope with problems in their personal lives using avoidance to feel better. This hinders not only problem- solving skills, but also mental processes that are important for cognitive and emotional development. At times, when individuals are dealing with negative situations in any aspect of their lives, they feel the need to compensate by portraying their lives as ideal in the virtual world. Sometimes, this also includes attributing overly positive qualities to the content one consumes and publishes- a phenomenon known as idealization. The reason for this is that people are able to view themselves in a more positive light when they present themselves as socially desirable. Examples of idealization can be seen on social media everyday, and could be as insignificant as modifying pictures to fit societal standards of desirability. The third most significant coping mechanism that is seen in people with access to social media is displacement - the redirection of negative emotions from their source to more safer or acceptable outlets. Due to the anonymity and safety provided by the internet, people cope by redirecting their anger, frustration or irritation from their personal lives towards others on social media. Though displacement when used appropriately can provide us with a healthy source to regulate our emotions, it can be harmful and detrimental to a large number of people when used inappropriately. Unhealthy displacement in relation to social media usually presents itself as cyberbullying, a method in which individuals cope by redirecting their negative emotions onto other parties on social media - demeaning and degrading them. Hence, though social media provides us with the tools to optimize and cope with our moods in a positive way, it undoubtedly has the power to negatively affect our actions - harming not only ourselves, but the people we interact with.
In conclusion, a conscious effort to limit our exposure and dependence on social media is needed. This will allow us to lead an emotionally healthy and stable life- while allowing growth and space to cope using other less harmful sources. So, the next time we have an urge to browse through the endless timeline of carefully curated posts on our favourite social media apps, it is important to ask ourselves – Does this action negatively impact us? Is it a way to compensate for any shortcomings in our lives? If the answer for any of these questions leans towards a yes, it may be time to rethink our relationship with social media and the effects it has on us so that we - as individuals and as a society- can work towards a better and a safer community, both online and in the physical sense.
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