Social media is rewiring our brains and it is designed to do so.
I’ve been studying social media marketing and I’m sure we all know that social media is designed to hold our attention. The longer we stay on the app, the more money they make. Simple enough. But how does it work?
Let’s think about how the brain works. I read a study comparing how we read when we read a physical paper book compared to how we read on a computer screen. The study showed that when we dive into a paper book, we read more deeply and thoroughly, whereas when we read an e-book, phone, tablet, or computer screen, we tend to scan for important details. Different parts of the brain ‘light up’ depending on what media we are using.
Another aspect of this is the dopamine hit we get when we come across the content we like. Or when someone likes or shares our post. It’s an instant reward and it’s highly addictive. The social media companies count on this, so they organize the app to keep you coming back again and again.
What Makes a Good Reel?
A ‘good’ Instagram reel is designed to catch your attention amidst thousands and thousands of other reels. It typically involves a visual hook and a text hook. The visual hook is usually something that is novel, shocking, a pattern interrupt. It could be the Gen Z shake where you see the movement of the camera as the speaker sets it down in front of them. It could be someone applying ChapStick, getting ready for bed, or moving on and off screen. The movement catches your attention long enough to stop the scroll, then the text hook takes over to keep that attention.
The text hook is usually a 7-to-9-word phrase or sentence that is written on a 5th grade level. It is often a negative phrase, makes a bold statement, something controversial – anything to suck you in long enough to keep your attention past 3 seconds. The longer the reel holds your attention, the more people it is shown to. How many times have you ever looked at a headline and thought, “That’s clickbait” and then clicked on it anyway? That’s a hook that works.
Over time, the brain begins to adjust to this. The more time you spend on social media, the shorter your attention span gets. And the more you crave that constant influx of dopamine. But there’s more to it.
Your FYP
Social media apps learn what content you like to watch. For example, if a new creator pops up in my Instagram feed and I watch one of their videos but don’t follow them, as I scroll through my feed there will be at least 2 more videos by the same creator. If you constantly watch cycling videos on YouTube, your FYP is going to show you more and more cycling creators.
That’s cool and all, but it is rewiring our brains to be very inward focused, even to the point of narcissism. The social media algorithm is giving us what we want all of the time and training us to expect to get what we want all of the time. Streaming apps mean we can watch whatever shows we want at any time. YouTube tailors every advertisement to our algorithm, so we only get ads for things we are likely to buy.
The Good Old Days 
Do you remember way back when we had to use a TV Guide to find out when our show was going to be on TV? And then you had to sit through commercials – commercials that might not even apply to you in any way, but they applied to most people that would be watching the show. No more arguing with your sibling about who gets to pick the show – you can each watch what you want on your own device.
Now there are no more shared experiences – it’s all individual.
People are going to tell me that’s old-fashioned, and we need to keep up with the fast-paced world we live in. And to a point, I don’t disagree.
However, all social media is designed to give us what we want – and to teach us that we should always have what we want. And because all we see is what we care about, we don’t see enough of what other people care about. Our worldview shrinks right along with our attention span.
We’re Spoon Fed Sound Bites
The other challenge with social media is that it spoon-feeds us entertainment and information. We consume little bites over and over again. (We don’t have time to get into how social media is an easy way to spread misinformation or create soundbites of things that are too complex to be shared that way).
But if we want to enact real change in the world, if we want to make this earth a better place to live, we need to realize that being spoonfed is what babies get when they’re hungry because they cannot feed themselves.
So not only have we lost our attention spans and our ability to care about other’s needs and interests, we’re also losing the skill of critical thinking. Without critical thinking, we can’t figure out for ourselves why we have so many people in such a wealthy country struggling with food insecurity. We can’t see the weaknesses in our health care system – we can only see the symptoms of high bills and not enough coverage. We’re just waiting for someone to feed us the answer.
What’s the Fix?
Real change asks more of us than scrolling does. It asks us to read past the headline, to trace a problem back to its causes, research, to listen to people we don’t already agree with, and to sit in the discomfort of ‘this is complicated.’
Algorithms are designed to remove that discomfort. They hand us pre-chewed takes so we don’t have to wrestle with anything. But a society that won’t wrestle can’t repair. If we want better healthcare, fewer hungry families, less abortions, and stronger communities, we have to relearn the grown-up skill of feeding ourselves information — books, long articles, primary sources, conversations with actual humans — not just waiting for the For You Page to tell us what to think.
I’m not trying to kill social media. It has its place. But if we don’t counter its effects, we will slide deeper into “me first” and “what about me?”
Do Your Research
So let’s push back: read long, slow, deep. Listen to people who see the world differently. Have real discussions, even when you disagree. People who think differently than you aren’t your enemies — they might be the people who help you build something better.
Don’t just accept the sound bites you find on Instagram – especially the hate-filled ones that disparage suffering. Take your time and do the real research to understand the actual problem so we can critically think about a better solution. You got this!