New Study Reveals Social Media's Impact On Brain Development In Kids

A study from North Carolina has found that social media use could be impacting brain development in children and young teens. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A study from North Carolina has found that social media could be impacting the brain development in children and teens. The studies are compelling. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins joins me not to talk more about it. Farron, as you know, lawsuits are now being brought. This, the school, school district in Washington State brought a lawsuit against the tech companies for this very thing. And here's what's important about that. That's showing and, and I, we've been asked to do the same thing, full disclosure. The, the, the reason that's important is because the science is so compelling right now. This isn't guesswork. This is objective findings on MRIs, PET scans, those types of things. Pick it up.
Yeah. That, that is what is really interesting about this particular study out of North Carolina, is it's not just, oh, we're surveying these children finding, they did brain scans while showing these children things from social media and, and the evidence is just overwhelming. What they see is that these children who are checking social media, some of them report checking it at least once per hour. They're becoming what they call hyper sensitive.
Mm-hmm.
To real world feedback.
Yeah.
Which means they're stuck in these confirmation loops online where I need the dopamine.
Yeah.
Of getting an extra like, of, of getting an extra view.
You, you hit it on the head. They're actually seeing dopamine uptakes. And what it's about is it's, and it's one thing, in other words, if you have something as objective as an MRI, when you can see biological changes taking place in the brain connected to a particular event, it's pretty compelling stuff. The same way with PET scans. And what they're finding is that we, we're creating an entire generation that's so dependent on acceptance by their peers. They have to have acceptance. Some of these folks that spend their entire day commenting, they'll watch something and they'll comment. And if you start, and so, and this is another thing they're seeing with kids, that the tendency to have to go on and comment about everything because they want to go back and see what the reaction to those comments were. It, it's almost like a reward system, a reinforcement that I'm okay. What I'm saying is good. People like me. People accept me. This is really scary stuff.
It, it's, to me, the, when I read this study, what I looked at it as, as the same as a drug addiction. You know, you have these young individuals who, like the study says they cannot handle real world feedback anymore. They can't handle criticism, they can't handle any of the daily social pressures. So what they do is they turn to this thing. They go to social media, they get that dopamine, and it makes everything better just like a drug addict, you know.
Mm-hmm.
I can't handle the stress of my job. I gotta have a drink. And you have that drink and your brain releases the dopamine. You get the reward. And that is what we're seeing. It, it, it's a generation of addicts.
Yeah.
Is what have been created here.
Yeah. Sometimes our staff has fun around here. We'll get somebody that'll comment on a, may, make a comment. Well, they're looking to see who agrees with me. When you go back there and really jolt them and really hammer them, they disappear. Typically, they'll unsubscribe, they'll go somewhere else, which is fine. I mean, great. Goodbye. But the point being is there's something about that. They want to put the comment up there and they wanna say, are you with me or are you against me? And you'll see them, you'll see them slip that in there. And they're, what it is, is they're constantly going back and saying, what are my peers thinking me about this money?

[tylerhackner]

Social media’s impact on young people and Fox News/right wing and mainstream media’s impact on older people are the same imo. Both really bad

[chefbarona]

Well DUH!
It certainly doesn't stop w/kids; it permeates every age & social strata!

[ulyssesnovotni]

I am part of Gen Z and I am not afflicted with this. I might check social media once a day at most. But for the most part the criticisms were completely valid.

[globalwarmhugs]

They did an episode of Star Trek TNG (The Game, I think it was called) years before we all had handheld devices. It was a cautionary tale, for sure.

[huntern]

If I ever have kids I wasn't going to let them on social media for as long as possible. Or I'm just gonna tell them exactly what social media is, a toxic sess pool that honestly isn't worth anything

[TheRecharep]

Makes me realize why I have been having this off-putting feeling at work. Working on Teams with colleagues that can't help themselves but comment and react non-stop on everything is just F-ing annoying and obnoxious.

It being likened to a drug fix makes total sense.

[poppysquids]

Maybe this is why ADHD is so much more common. I know we have more awareness, but I genuinely think the way our society runs is making ADHD symptoms worse & creating similar deficiencies in dopamine for those who would've been otherwise neurotypical. The need for instant gratification, addiction to dopamine, it's all so familiar to me even as someone who grew up with a lack of social media (I'm 27 from a rural area; tail end of internet-less kids).

[crimson_orion]

it's human nature to want acceptance from your peers

[cromaticdragon]

Solution is PARENTS TEACH YOUR CHILDREN BOUNDARIES. THE END.

[indigowolf]

This is not only a kid and a teenage problem a young adult it's a people problem. And people make excuses why they need to be on Facebook. Well my family shares pictures or it's the only place where I can talk and learn about what's going on with my family. I guess they never heard of the phone or sending pictures in an email to everyone? I got rid of Facebook years ago.
It's just a melting pot of family drama. If you want to be along to a certain or ization then go to that organization's website. I live in Washington state and I'm glad that my state is doing something about it. Kids need to be outside more not having their eyes fixed to reading crap on Facebook or watching goofy videos.

[badnewsBH]

The study doesn't actually show a causal link, nor even does it describe any particular outcome from this exposure, according to that article. I'd say there's not much legal leg to stand on here.

[JamesPakele]

Parents being crappy parents isn't the tech industries fault... 🤷🏽

[deborahterrell]

I don't think they should win the lawsuit, but I agree with the points here of ppl seeking validation online. This is voluntary behavior going on social media, so that will be the argument.

[michaezell]

It's time to get rid of the scourge that is social media in the United States.

[barbroericson]

I knew that years ago, it is a drug addiction.

[TiagoMorbusSa]

None of this was actually said in the study, what are you on about?!
JFC

[wilkvanburen]

This doesn't surprise me any. This is sci-fi from the past becoming reality now.

[antinatalope]

Of course it changes the growing brain. The concept is not so different from neural, or biofeedback exercises. It's basic Pavlovian response reward, and establishes set pathways in the brain.

[MegaeffinGarchomp]

While I usually agree with the statements made on this channel, i have to disagree with this. The study does not draw any such conclusions. And I see no evidence people are any more addicted to acceptance and less able to deal with criticism than before...

All I see if people acting like people always have but with the added ability to more easily find social reinforcement groups..

[EdwarioERS]

You'd have been luck handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.