Attention in the Age of Social Media

Post by Elisa Guma

The advent of the internet

The Internet is the most widespread and rapidly adopted technology in the history of humankind. With the advent of broadband Wi-Fi and smartphone technologies, we have constant access to the internet. This has rapidly changed the way we work, search for and access information, consume media and entertainment, and engage socially. Indeed, we currently live in a media-saturated world, using it not only for entertainment purposes such as listening to music or watching movies but also for communicating with peers. Connecting with family and friends across the globe can help people feel more connected in times of isolation, such as in the current global pandemic. However, access to this endless stream of communication and connection may be changing the way we think and absorb information and may also impact our mental health.

Attention and the brain

Attention is the behavioural and cognitive process by which we selectively concentrate on a discrete aspect of information while ignoring other information. Focusing our attention recruits brain regions such as the prefrontal and visual cortices, thalamic and midbrain nuclei. It can alternatively be thought of as an allocation of limited cognitive processing resources to a particular topic or task. The ability to achieve selective and sustained attention, free from distractions, is critical to our ability to complete tasks, learn new information, and engage socially with others. Once attention is engaged, we remain focused until some external environmental or internal state change occurs that triggers a shift. The constant flow of information and notifications the internet brings may interfere with our ability to maintain sustained concentration on other tasks. Social media is designed to be highly engaging in an attempt to keep us browsing for as long as possible. Furthermore, content that fails to gain our attention is quickly drowned out in a sea of incoming information, while information that does capture our attention is amplified or proliferated.

How does social media impact our attention?

One of the first studies investigating the effect of social media on attention found that heavy social media use may increase people’s susceptibility to distraction from irrelevant stimuli. Neuroimaging studies have shown that those who engage in heavy media multitasking perform poorer in distracted attention tasks while exhibiting greater activity in prefrontal regions during those tasks. These findings suggest that these individuals may require higher cognitive effort to maintain concentration when faced with distractor stimuli. Similarly, heavy internet usage and multitasking have been associated with decreased grey matter volume in brain regions involved in decision-making. Comorbidities between internet use disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders have also been reported, suggesting that there may be strong links between excessive media usage and disorders of inattention.

Although research in this area is growing, the findings are still mixed. Some studies have confirmed these negative effects on attention, whereas others report that increased media multitasking may even be linked to increased performance in some aspects of cognition. It is possible that the internet allows for “cognitive off-loading” of certain cognitively demanding tasks, such as semantic memory retrieval, which may free up our cognitive resources for use in other tasks. It is difficult to disentangle whether heavy social media use leads to higher distractibility, or whether pre-existing differences in neural activity make some individuals more susceptible to distraction. What we do know, is that social media and technology offer easy-to-reach distractions, which may interfere with our ability to focus.

Social media use and mental health

Engaging with social media apps taps into more than just our brain’s attention network. It requires social reward processing, emotion-based processing, regulation, and thinking about the thoughts and feelings of others. Numerous studies have reported that positive attention on social media in the form of likes on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook may cause our brains to release dopamine and activate reward circuits in the brain. Furthermore, reduced grey matter volume in regions involved in emotional regulation and social cognition, such as the amygdala and ventral striatum have also been associated with excessive social media use. Given the tight link between social media use and the brain’s reward system, there is potential for abuse or dependence.

Heavy social media use may also have important implications for psychological well-being. While social media use may provide an opportunity for social integration with similar interest groups, access to support groups, and motivation for a healthy lifestyle, it may also have more toxic effects on users’ mental health. Increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness have all been reported following social media use.

Why are adolescents more susceptible?

Adolescence is a developmental stage in which the brain is undergoing extensive structural and functional remodeling. Impulse and cognitive control, as well as social reward and emotional processing, are not yet developed. This can lead adolescents to engage in more reward-seeking or risk-taking behaviours, and be more susceptible to distracting highly engaging social media content. As discussed above though, it is unclear whether social media use may influence our long-term ability to sustain attention, or whether it is merely a source of temporary distraction. Of greater importance for this age group may be the effects of social media on mental health. Adolescence is a sensitive developmental window in which neuropsychiatric disorders are most likely to emerge. Parental influence decreases, while the influence of peers and the need for peer acceptance increases. Managing social media use may be one helpful way to avoid overuse and some potential negative outcomes. Setting boundaries with social media use, such as reducing time spent on social networks, and establishing some no-phone zones in the home, or no-phone times (e.g. before bed) can be an effective way to prevent overuse. Gaining a better understanding of how adolescents process media content and peers’ feedback will be of critical importance for understanding how best to avoid negative impacts on mental health. 

What’s the takeaway?

With social media becoming a more and more prominent part of our everyday lives, there are many risks to be aware of, including social media overuse. Furthermore, heavy social media use may have an impact on how our brain functions. Although the extent to which social media use impacts our cognition and attention is still unclear, it certainly provides an additional source of distraction. Of greater concern, however, are the effects it may have on our mental health, particularly in more vulnerable age groups, such as adolescents. More research will be needed to better understand the impact that social media has in our lives, and how we can navigate its use in the future. 

References

Crone EA, Konijn EA. Media use and brain development during adolescence. Nature Communications (2018) 9(588). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03126-x

Frith JA, Torous J, Frith J. Exploring the impact of internet use on memory and attention processes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2020). 17 (9481); doi:10.3390/ijerph17249481

Baumgartner SE, van der Schuur WE, Lemmens JS, & Poel F.  The Relationship Between Media Multitasking and Attention Problems in Adolescents: Results of Two Longitudinal Studies. Human Communication Research (2017). 44 (1), 3-30. https://academic.oup.com/hcr/article-abstract/44/1/3/4760433

Ra CK, Cho J, Stone MD, De La Cedra J, Goldenson NI, Moroney E, Tung I, Lee SS, Leventhal AM. Association of Digital Media Use With Subsequent Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Adolescents. JAMA (2018). 320(3):255-263. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.8931

Cohen R.A. (2014) Neural Mechanisms of Attention. In: The Neuropsychology of Attention. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-72639-7_10