Social Media has society in a chokehold.
After a brief interlude with TikTok I quickly resigned myself to the fact that a portion of society is completely lost to social media. I have never disputed how toxic social media is, and after deleting Facebook about 8 years ago, being banned from LinkedIn for opposing views at the height of the pandemic, I have lingered on Instagram, mainly for business, but also for raising awareness on various challenges that we face locally, nationally, globally, individually and collectively. Whilst I aim to contribute on social media rather than consume, like many of us, all too often, I am sucked in, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling…..
In September 2021, TikTok celebrated 1 billions monthly active users, and since then the social media platform has continued to grow becoming the most downloaded app globally in 2022.
Whilst training to become a hypnotherapist, I have learned about hypnotic suggestion, induction techniques, eye movement techniques for reprogramming and trance induction and after 3 weeks of attempting to observe TikTok, I could feel myself being reeled in. The very nature of how you view continual feeds on TikTok (and most social media for that matter) puts the viewer into a trance like state, making the subconscious mind highly susceptible to suggestion, and creating a very dangerous position for the unsuspecting social media user. Unaware that the hours lost on TikTok, Instagram or Facebook is actually programming their behaviour, habits, beliefs and world views, keeping them distracted from everything that makes us feel human and allowing technology companies to literally learn every single thing about them and harvest this information for financial gain.
The truth is, every time you engage with social media, enter a question or topic into a search engine or even ask for directions via GPS, algorithms are storing and tracking the data and learning more about you with every key stroke and click. This information is data gold to corporations who are targeting you as a customer, and presenting buying opportunities that match the information you have given them, and you agree to most of it when you click the annoying Accept Cookies button that plagues every screen.
But here’s where I think it links in to the bigger picture, and how it damages the collective, well in truth, there are far too many ways in which I think it damages the collective for me to list here, but here are a couple of them;
Social Media/Smart Phones and ADHD - ADHD Diagnosis is steadily on the rise, and the very nature of this disorder is one that embodies impulsiveness and a lack of concentration. The NHS provide the ‘symptoms’ of ADHD in more detail as follows;
Inattentiveness (difficulty concentrating and focusing)
The main signs of inattentiveness are:
having a short attention span and being easily distracted
making careless mistakes – for example, in schoolwork
appearing forgetful or losing things
being unable to stick to tasks that are tedious or time-consuming
appearing to be unable to listen to or carry out instructions
constantly changing activity or task
having difficulty organising tasks
Hyperactivity and impulsiveness
The main signs of hyperactivity and impulsiveness are:
being unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings
constantly fidgeting
being unable to concentrate on tasks
excessive physical movement
excessive talking
being unable to wait their turn
acting without thinking
interrupting conversations
little or no sense of danger
Figures released by the NHS Business Authority state an estimated 170,000 identified patients were prescribed at least one drug for ADHD between July and September 2022 – a 20.4% increase from the 141,000 identified patients during the same period in 2021.
Dr Tony Lloyd, the chief executive of the ADHD foundation, said its own figures suggested a 400% increase in the number of adults seeking a diagnosis since 2020, adding that prescription volumes did not take account of those who do not use medication.
Could it be possible that long term daily, consistent social media use is amplifying the rise in the condition of ADHD?
It is clear to see that social media use is addictive, and Smart phone ownership poses constant distraction, multiple notifications from multiple apps that bombard the mind repeatedly throughout the day. Is this the trigger for that short attention span and the distracted tendencies, being unable to concentrate fully on tasks and a change in behaviour in response to the grip that social media and smart phones have on the human psyche?
In 2017, Speaking at a Stanford Graduate School of Business event, Chamath Palihapitiya, former vice president for user growth at Facebook, said "we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works". He added: "The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we've created are destroying how society works.
"No civil discourse, no co-operation; misinformation, mistruth.
"And it's not an American problem - this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.
"We are in a really bad state of affairs right now."
And from what we know about the censorship of information throughout the COVID pandemic and the coercive nature of the information that was published in relation to the vaccination requirements and the fear based propaganda that we are now seeing linked to Russia, China, Israel, Palestine, ISIS, is it any wonder our society lives in such a heightened state of anxiety and fear when we walk around with access to a Doom-monger in the palm of our hands 24/7.
We know that where we put our attention is what we give energy to, and it is all too easy right now to be consumed with negative energy omitted from the news and media, and it is getting harder and harder to consciously remove yourself from being sucked in to the various issues that arise because most people are inherently good in nature, we have empathy for those that are suffering and in feeling that empathy, we allow ourselves to consider “what if that was us”, and in that moment fear sets in, and morbid curiousity tightens its grip, and once that happens it becomes so much harder for you to remove yourself from the doom loop.
If you feel like social media, the news or the media in general has your consciousness in it’s control, this is your sign to remove yourself. You can contribute without having to consume - and even then contribution isn’t required, authentic human connection is all around you, you do not need to use the internet as your medium for connection, just because it has become the norm, doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
If you would like to make some authentic connections, and have some courageous conversations, get in touch with me @The Mend Project.
Much Love,
Emma x
