Does social media make us more antisocial?

You have probably heard the criticism of social media before. It is a waste of time, invasive and confusing. It can destroy your private life and so on. But can it actually make us antisocial? Is that true?

Alle i en vennegjeng står ute mot en vegg og ser på hver sin smarttelefon

Social interaction

Before we move on to answer the question, we need to define what is meant by social networks and interaction. Social interaction, both online and face-to-face, has a huge effect on cognitive ability, for example how we think, learn and recognize. Brain reactions when we are in groups or in a network show some interesting findings.

According to studies of images of the brain, there is more activity in the brain when people think about being part of a group. When we think about ourselves, our identity and are aware of which social groups we feel we belong to, the areas in the frontal lobe show high activity. This suggests that our social interactions form a large part of our identity. Humans need social contact.

On the other hand, too much social interaction is not good either. Being social is mentally demanding. Getting involved with another person demands a lot of work for the brain and is a mental effort. It explains the contradiction in that people need both social interaction and time alone. 

But are we able to take breaks when we should be constantly available?

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Tenåringsgjeng og sosiale medier
Tenåringsgjeng og sosiale medier

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