Social Media: making it work for you

I am old enough to not recall when I first encountered social media. In the beginning, it was wonderful to reconnect with old friends.

But today, social media is associated with doom scrolling.

It has quietly become one of the biggest drains on the modern mind. When you scroll endlessly through an infinite stream of novelty, your brain is doing something very primitive.

It is hunting.

Each swipe is a small gamble, a search for something surprising or rewarding. When you do find it, your brain releases a tiny burst of dopamine.

That reward reinforces the behaviour, pushing you to keep going. Soon you are no longer choosing to scroll. You are reacting to a loop your brain has built for you.

Doom scrolling takes this one step further. Negative information is more salient to the human mind because paying attention to danger once improved your chances of survival.

Your brain therefore latches on to bad news, controversy and fear. In those moments, your amygdala, the region that processes threats, lights up. Cortisol rises.

Your body shifts into a mild stress response even though you are sitting safely on your couch. Over time this cycle erodes your ability to focus.

It rewires attention by training your mind to expect constant stimulation. Silence begins to feel uncomfortable. Stillness feels boring. You may have mentioned it to a friend when you said, children nowadays have such short attention spans.

So what can you do?

Start by realizing the moment you reach for your phone. That pause, however brief, gives you back a measure of control. Replace the reflex with an intention.

When you do this repeatedly your mind begins to reset. Dopamine stops spiking so often. Cortisol settles. Your attention gradually returns to you.

Here is what I did. I deleted the platforms that were not serving me. Surprisingly, I chose twitter, and kept looking for information that added value to my life.

The algorithm responded and over time started to feed me useful information. I am making social media work for me instead of against me.

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain