{"id":2841,"date":"2021-10-06T07:10:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T13:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irenenorth.com\/writings\/?p=2841"},"modified":"2024-04-22T02:46:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T02:46:06","slug":"scrolling-is-dopamine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/2021\/10\/06\/scrolling-is-dopamine\/","title":{"rendered":"Scrolling is dopamine"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For the past few years, I have been attempting to eliminate toxic elements<\/a> in my life. One of my biggest detractors was Facebook. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, I began deleting all my social media accounts. Instagram was easy. I only ever uploaded six photos and rarely logged in and disliked the platform. I had three twitter accounts. One of those accounts had more than 7,600 followers. I originally joined in 2009, but, as time progressed, I found Twitter to be increasingly toxic and stopped logging in. By the time I deleted the accounts in the Spring of 2021, I only logged in to keep the accounts alive for nostalgic reasons.<\/p>\n

Facebook was far more difficult. The account I deleted 10 days ago was my third. It had its hooks in me<\/a> even when I tried to walk away<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite an extreme downturn in my mental health over the course of August and into early September, deleting Facebook was still on my mind. The thought of why I wasn’t able to take that final step worried me. Toxic people were unfollowed some time ago, but it didn’t help. I still found myself aimlessly scrolling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those terrible days also led to something else. I was becoming something I didn’t like. My posts had changed. I was no longer posting things for me. There was a thought<\/a> of \u201cwill so-and-so like this post?\u201d Then, I would sit and wait to see if the person like the post.<\/p>\n

When I began reflecting on what I was doing, it caused a cascading affect in my brain and I recognized this was why I hadn’t made a blog post in two months. There was a fight going on internally to not write anything on my blog because it might make someone upset. This is not me. This is not why I write. The only person who ever should be made happy with my blog is me.<\/p>\n

Facebook is designed to either speak to an echo chamber or scream a lot. I found myself sad and\/or angry whenever I logged in. This is intentional on Facebook’s part even if you read the studies or felt it yourself. It is why we need to isten to what Facebook whistle blower Frances Haugen has been saying<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the main things she revealed, and I’ve known for a long time<\/a>, is Facebook has an extremely complex algorithm, one which studies what a person posts, likes, shares, and comments on in order to profile each individual. They are then fed similar content to remain engaged on the site. Even with this knowledge, I couldn’t stop logging in.<\/p>\n