One rainy afternoon back in 2011, when I uploaded my first picture of my food with the caption “snacking with a good book – life is amazing”, I wondered as the likes and comments rolled in, whether I was the odd or the average user of social media.

The actual person behind the picture was a depressed teenager with a book next to her, that she hadn’t had time to read between her scrolling on Facebook and the TV-series that seemed necessary at the time. As I continuously kept scrolling Facebook the mystery of this grew in my mind. Why was it, that I portrayed myself so differently on Facebook? And what is truly the consequences, if I was the average user of social media? – is everyone this unhappy?

This line of thought started my current obsession with the concept of happiness.

My obsession brought me to study the brain and the human’s core motives for how we become and stay happy. To this point, I have concluded three things about people’s happiness and drive.

1) We all want to be something for someone else

2) We are driven by curiosity

3) We want to learn something from successful peers

Your Brain Is Much Older Than You

Before diving into why social media and your brain are best buddies at this point, let me tell you some fun facts about your brain.

The brain, in the stage you have it right now, is in a general sense created like this 200.000 years ago. As you can imagine our life looked very different back then… Humans’ life was, back then, ruled by the fact that we were pretty close to dying every day. Though our life might have been hard – our brain was still pretty smart. It knew that living together with others would make us stronger and able to survive. This is why, in your core, you have the drive to feel connected to others.

On top of this drive, the brain created two reward systems that would make humans able to build sustainable and safer communities.

One reward system would give you a little bit of dopamine (the sugar-hormones of the brain) every time you tried something new. Your curiosity was rewarded, to make sure you would constantly evolve and develop your tools, processes, and adapt to life around you.

Secondly – your brain made sure you would always aspire to learn from someone else in your community. When learning from elders in the community you continuously help grew the safety and effectiveness of your community. This reward-system still makes sure humans are able to pass on and store knowledge that could prove useful in the future.

Pretty clever brain… Even back then…

What I found particularly interesting about these drives, is the fact that they are all in play when we use social media today.

The fact is – social media is not created for you, but for your 200.000-year-old brain. Let me show you why:

Why You Feel ‘Social’ On Social Media

Through social media, you are able to both like, comment and share your own knowledge with your network and online communities. Your ability to easily share and contribute to your network makes your brain feel social and happy – and therefore releases brain-sugar for you to enjoy.

Your Brain Doesn’t Care About Content – It Just Wants To Scroll

The content you are presented with on social media is actually not the core reason why your brain loves using its time scrolling through day-old content.

Our brains reward system on curiosity gets a little fix every time we unlock new information just outside the screens current display. The processes of searching for something truly good that can help us develop a tool or survive tomorrow make the processes of scrolling truly addictive to our brain. This is why we can sometimes find ourselves scrolling Facebook a lot longer than planned.

Why Infographics Are Like Heroin For Your Brain

Today social media platforms are overloaded with effective guides on how to do anything from creating a business to building a family. Infographics, e-books or online courses are well visited and for good reason. It has never been easier for your brain to feel like new survival skills are right at its fingertips. When successful people create an infographic giving us tips on how to successfully do the same as them – well then, our brain just got a dopamine rush as addictive as heroin.

So, you see? Your brain truly loves social media.

Well, That Doesn’t Sound So Bad?

What happens when our brain is filled up with social media?

Our curiosity is satisfied by scrolling, our dreams of learning new skills are fulfilled and our desire to belong is checked off today’s to-do list, that sounds great right? Well, the problem is that social media can only do so much for our brains. It is very good at triggering dopamine. But just as the rest of our body, the brain also need more sustainable fibres to build a strong and happy life. This is where all the other happy-hormones come into play.

One of the brain’s most sustainable drugs is serotonin. This drug not only makes you feel accomplished in the moment but is also able to increase your general belief and trust in your own worth. So how do you instead trigger this (more sustainable) drug for your brain? Well, I have assembled three pieces of advice for you – a reader willing to give up your addiction for just a little bit.

Pause The Phone – Not People

Triggering sustainable hormones, demands more energy from your brain than the sweet sugar created through social media. On top of your brain being old, it is also very lazy. This is why your brain wants the easiest way to happiness. Dealing with the outside world can be dangerous for a lazy brain, and there is definitely a risk of being hurt. This is why your brain loves the safety of you scrolling on your phone, while indoors. Eye-contact, hugs and talking to friends trigger more sustainable feelings of belonging and serotonin in your brain, prioritise this instead.

Get Bored

Training your ability to be bored just five minutes a day, is a core skill for the ability to grow the life you want around you. When we are bored, our brains visualise dreams, ways of living and creative solutions for our everyday struggles. This ability is slowly dying as we fill every empty space of the day with music, podcasts, streaming and scrolling on social media. Try taking just five minutes to be bored. It probably won’t be easy but in time you will learn and enjoy.

Actually Learn That Skill

Though the internet is filled with quick solutions, try to actually be conscious of your time and effort. Take time to actually read that book you wanted to. I dare you to read just 20 minutes a day. If this is too much to ask – open ONE ted-talk and actually watch it. If you find that your mind wanders to Facebook or other platforms, try writing notes while watching the talk. Reflect upon, what you learn you can apply to your own dreams and life as you want it.

My Hopes For You…

I do not plan on you banning social media. Social media has way too many opportunities for you as an entrepreneur – but I do hope that you will think more about why you are using social media right now? Is it actually giving you and your dreams long-term value or are you right now satisfying your 200.000-year-old brain? I hope it is the first – otherwise, shut it down.

Feel free to join the journey and connect with Josefine on LinkedIn or contact her here https://www.josefinebjerrum.com/