Sometimes Sharing is Not Caring, it is Addiction

The Pear Tree Project recorded their second Podcast, which aired November 5, 2024. Below are some of the highlights of the event …

“Let’s start off with a loaded question, is social media addictive? If yes, how so?” (Kristin, podcast host) …

Here are some of the most staggering stats on social media use and its compulsion:

• The average person spends three hours on social media every day.
• It’s estimated that 210 million people worldwide are addicted to social media.
• More than half of all drivers admit to checking social media behind the wheel.
• Overuse of social media in children and teens can literally rewire their brains.
• Roughly 42 percent of teens admit that social media keeps them from connecting with friends in person.
• Suicide rates among teens have increased in the age of social media.  
• Social media is more addictive than alcohol and cigarettes – research indicates people are more likely to give in to the urge to check social media compared to the desire for a cigarette or drink; this is largely due to the readily available and constant access to social platforms, triggering the brain’s reward system with notifications and engagement features.

What is the driving force behind this insatiable need to be connected 100% of the time?

• 40% of U.S. online users admit to feeling the addictive pull of the digital rabbit hole that is social media. A sizable proportion of users find the dopamine-fueled allure of social media difficult to resist.

Social media consistently advances and spreads, (like a contagion), around the world. The total number of social media users is expected to hit nearly 6 billion individuals by 2027, which would be over half of the world population.

These are not users tied to a single platform, either: The average user now spreads their digital footprint across a staggering six to seven platforms every month – highlighting the need for a multi-platform approach to social media marketing.

There is a symbiotic relationship between mental health and emotional well-being. It is impossible to address one without the other.

According to Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer for the American Psychological Association.

“Our brains were not built for this kind of social interaction. And social media is kind of hijacking the need for social interaction with something very artificial and insufficient. Social media is the empty calories of social interaction.”

The overuse of social media can be catastrophic and result in feelings of isolation, inadequacies, uncontrolled anxiety and extreme ideations. More and more older adults are reporting a feeling of disconnect from the younger generation due to more visual platforms such as Tik Tok and Snapchat. Physicality issues include – chronic neck & back pain, selfie accidents – including deaths, and even walking has become dangerous. We need to be more concerned with boundaries. We cannot allow social media to direct our time. Time is running out! Create a work, relaxation, downtime equilibrium for you and the ones you care about. Walk, write, sing, laugh, cry, smooch, and remember there is no need to post – instead, just experience it without measurement – this will establish balance. We need to comprehend the true purpose behind the creation of this medium and the companies behind it. This dates back to pre-millennium. Andrew Weinreich started Six Degrees during the late 1990s. At the time, the Internet wasn’t as widely available as it is today. Despite having millions of users, the platform lacked avenues for engagement. Six Degrees could not generate sufficient ROI to continue its operations because it did not have a revenue model. Since then, the social media app market sizehas grown exponentially in recent years and is estimated to be at $744 billion this year. This number is not expected to stay stagnant. Social media platforms will need to continuously evolve to meet the demands of this blistering rate of growth, which means marketers will need to adapt and evolve their strategies to keep up.