Inner Freedom Fighters

Article Written by Cofounders of youth-led nonprofit initiative: Adelaide Latimer and Rock Ljungdahl

The Science Behind Scrolling 

How many times have you told yourself, “I'll only scroll for 10 minutes” and then suddenly an hour goes by? What started as a quick scroll session turned into a doom scroll extravaganza. Then an hour turns into two hours and then two hours turn into four. The numbers keep adding, but why? There is real science behind scrolling that big cooperations like Instagram and TikTok are utilizing to keep your attention hooked. The real question is why and what can we do to avoid doomscrolling?  

Social media is a blessing; it has connected people in ways no one has ever seen before. You can chat with friends, send funny videos, play games, and post photos and videos for others to see online. This has generationally changed our society in such a positive way. Unfortunately, social media is also a curse. It has changed how people spend their time, how people think, and how people relate. Generations like Generation Z and Generation Alpha have grown up on technology. As someone in Generation Z, technology is all we know. If the first thing you do when you wake up is grab your phone to check any social media platform, I am sorry, but you are a victim of the social media epidemic and it is not too late to change your ways.  

According to Dr. Jud Brewer, a professor at Brown University, he states that there are “three forces from scrolling that hijack the brain” (Brewer). He claims that these three forces are  

1. Intermittent reinforcement (The Slot Machine Effect) 

2.Negativity bias 

 3. Anxiety as the hidden trigger. 

The scrolling addiction is driven by infinite loops and dopamine triggers which pleases our brain. Each reel you watch, each TikTok you perceive; your brain releases small amounts of dopamine which signals anticipation to your brain. Think of gambling, a ton of people are addicted to gambling, but why? Many people are addicted to gambling because of anticipation. Gamblers often ask themselves, “will I win?” not knowing what is coming next. This is known as the Slot Machine Effect. There is a chance the gambler will win, and yet there is a chance the gambler will lose. The gambler has no idea what is coming next, just like you when you scroll. Your brain wonders what reel or TikTok will come next. Will it be funny? Will it be sad? Will it be motivational? Who knows, keep scrolling to find out. Anticipation is a variable of why you scroll. The variable is reinforced repeatedly without you even realizing what is going on.  

When people scroll, there are no stopping cues. Unfortunately, scrolling does not have an endpoint which is why many people scroll for hours. There is no signal to our brain that naturally says” it is time to get off social media for today.” So, the brain does not receive a signal to quit. This is why many people are on social media for hours and hours at a time. 

Scrolling eventually harms people long term without them even realizing it. Our attention spans eventually become fragmented. Many people who suffer from Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will experience worsened symptoms like inattention, impulsivity, and executive dysfunction.

Scrolling not only harms people long term with their attention spans but also harms them long term with their nervous system. Scrolling slowly leaves a strain onto the nervous system due to prolonged sitting and disassociating little by little. This makes people’s bodies feel tired and overstimulated. Have you ever scrolled all day long and yet by the end of the day you feel very fatigued? This is why scrolling programs your brain and your physical state of your body to make you feel tired when you should not.  

  Big cooperations like Instagram, TikTok, etc., have a scientific way to make you scroll for hours on end. People’s attention gives these billionaires tons of money. There is a huge controversy on whether billionaires deserve the money they get and what they do with it. This article is not a political article at all, but when people scroll, people are giving money to these billionaires without them realizing it. 

These big cooperations hire a multitude of psychologists and scientists to perform experiments on people to see what hooks someone's attention and what does not. After reaching their conclusion, psychologists use the answer they found and put it on social media platforms. One of the most effective conclusions is an algorithm, to get viewers to see what they want to see. 

These billionaires have designed their social media platforms to be addictive, so you are on their platforms all day long, so they get money. They do this by using psychology tricks to get peoples' brains hooked. The psychology tricks are infinite scrolling, variable rewards, and personalized feeds. The infinite scroll tactic lets new content load in forever, so people can keep watching. The variable reward is the psychological trick of billionaires' use, which is the Slot Machine Effect.  

These billionaires also use personalized feeds by studying a person's watch time on each genre of a video. If a person has the most watch time on funny cat reels, then the platform will study this person's interests which are funny cat reels and fill their feed with tons of funny cat reels to keep them hooked. This is known as an algorithm. The algorithm is a ton of short videos coded into what a specific person enjoys, so it is hard to look away. This keeps a person hooked on social media for hours at a time, giving money to big guys, which are the billionaires.  

On most social media platforms there is a pull to refresh feature where people can pull down to refresh their feed. If someone does not like their feed, no problem, refresh and get a new one. Sounds cool, right? It is not; this helps people be hooked on social media for hours. They can see new videos and new updates which keep them hooked on the app for hours. The longer someone is hooked on the social media platform, the longer the brain will be harmed, and the more money the billionaire will make off someone.  

Everyone loves dopamine spikes; they make a person feel happy and fulfilled. Social media is just one giant dopamine spike, literally. Except when a person scrolls, dopamine spikes happen randomly. The random timing keeps the dopamine flowing in the brain, which makes it hard to stop scrolling.  

Dopamine spikes may sound great, constantly feeling happy, but it is horrible for the brain. One minute a person is happy and the next moment the person crashes, leaving them feeling depressed. Dopamine spikes lead to a sub-baseline crash and a loss of motivation.  

After a high spike of dopamine, the dopamine levels drop lower than where they were before. The drop of dopamine makes a person feel tired and depressed. Over time, your brain reduces the amount of dopamine receptors it has. Unfortunately, eventually small tasks that were fun before like talking to friends, reading, and working all seem boring because those activities do not have overloads of dopamine like scrolling does.  

Slowly, the brain starts to “crave” scrolling and its dopamine release. The frequent spikes of dopamine from scrolling, train the brain to crave for the reward which is scrolling. People then lose control turning scrolling once into a never-ending cycle of scrolling, which is a compulsive habit. Over time, people start to neglect daily activities and responsibilities that need to be met because people are chasing for that “high” that scrolling gives them. 

Many people with mental health issues often come to scroll as a distraction from life. That dopamine hit may feel like it is stimulating the brain, but in reality, it is overstimulating it. That small bit of happiness a person who is struggling is striving for will dose themselves in that happiness. Only to join the never-ending cycle of scrolling. These people who struggle with mental health issues feel happy for such a short amount of time but then crash and feel more depressed than before. That is an issue itself. 

According to Eleanor Pringle, who is a senior reporter, she claims that Generation Z is the most depressed generation. She states that 30% of Generation Z feels isolated. 59% of Generation Z in the work force claims that they are happy in it, which are the lowest numbers to ever be recorded. Senior reporter, Eleanor Pringle also claims that the reason why Generation Z is so depressed is because of how they grew up. Generation Z grew up with the Coronavirus Pandemic and growing up with social media. These two factors negatively affected how present-day young adults and teenagers have social interactions and self-esteem. Many of these young women and men struggle to have a conversation in real life due to being so isolated. In addition, many of these young women and men struggle with their self-esteem, thinking horribly of themselves due to constant usage of social media.  

Many discussions are sparked against the Generation Alpha. Many people on social media emphasize how many of these young children “skipped their childhood” giving them the “iPad kid” label. Unfortunately, Generation Alpha is overloaded with screen usage even worse than Generation Z. Many of these children experience overstimulation and mental health issues at such a young age. Many children see their friends scrolling and want to join in too to fit in. It is called the Bandwagon effect. They join in just because others are doing so. Screens are replacing traditional play and are affecting younger children’s brains as well.  

The brain is not flawed or sick for wanting to scroll; it is actually quite normal. Understanding the science behind scrolling is not meant to make people fear social media and scrolling as a whole. While scrolling is too normalized, it is important to understand the problems that come with it. Understanding the science behind scrolling helps people grasp knowledge of its effects.  

The brain is the most important organ of the body. Every second a person spends scrolling is a second that is wasted from doing an activity good for the brain like socializing, creating, learning, and resting.  

People should not eliminate technology; it is a valuable resource for research and connecting with peers. People just need to ensure how they are using technology. It is important to fulfill your brain with needs rather than brain rotting wants, like scrolling.  

People need to know and understand the risks of scrolling and why it is not as innocent as it may be perceived. It does not matter the age. If someone is older, an adult, a young adult, a teenager, or even a child it does not matter, they need to know the risks of scrolling, especially if they are active on social media. It is never too late to stop scrolling. Inner Freedom Fighters. 

-Adelaide Latimer and Rock Ljungdahl

Check out our main website: innerfreedomfighters.com

Check out our instagram: @Inner.Freedom.Fighters

Email us today: @innerfreedomfightersiff@gmail.com

Thank you for reading!