Play social media, don't let social media play you!

Social networks attract users by stimulating the brain to secrete dopamine - a neurotransmitter that brings a feeling of reward and pleasure. Therefore, the feeling of being "addicted" to social networks is completely real.

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Social media addiction reduces users' ability to concentrate, think deeply and think independently.

In Hanoi, watching the sunset at West Lake is a "specialty". On days with nice weather, many people tell each other, "If you don't go around the lake together, watching the sunset too much is a sin against the weather."

The moment of sunset happens very quickly, so if you are just a few minutes late, you can miss the most wonderful scene. Yet when you are in the right place at the right time, most people take out their smartphones to film the sun gradually disappearing behind the buildings. If they do not save it to their phones, the sunset will not exist.

And so instead of calmly watching a magnificent sunset, letting the senses blend with the honey-colored sunlight, the murmuring waves of the lake and the gentle breeze... people are busy focusing, adjusting the composition, and anti-shake. Then, they continue with the 7749 steps: choosing a photo, adding a filter, and crafting a caption worthy of the moment.

It is alarming that many young people today consider “cutting off” from the world around them as normal. There was a time when TikTok went viral with videos like this: A group of close friends went to a coffee shop for 2 hours. They took 1 hour to take photos; edited the photos for 30 minutes; posted and replied to comments for the remaining 30 minutes. It turned out that the friends had arranged to meet each other, but each person was busy painting their own image on social networks, immersed in their own joy on their phones.

Watching the sunset at West Lake. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Technology helps a series of phone applications, computers, smart devices connect. In those online communities, people can easily find each other, connect and exchange regardless of geographical distance or even language.

But, the paradox is that the more we actively interact on social networks, the more “awkward” we are when meeting people in real life. The fact that users are engrossed in the joys of social networks is like a wanderer who likes here, hahas there… tirelessly scrolling through the newsfeed so as not to miss anything. Most interactions on the network are short, superficial and hasty. Therefore, the more we connect with the online crowd of millions of people, the lonelier we become.

Does social media force users to cut off contact with the world around them? Absolutely not! Although they are created by algorithms that attract users to endless content, the choice of whether to use them and how to use them is ours. Opinions calling for banning social media because of its negative aspects are as absurd as banning motorbikes, cars, etc. to reduce traffic accidents.

Attracting users by stimulating the brain to secrete dopamine - a neurotransmitter secreted in the brain, social networks bring a feeling of reward and pleasure. Therefore, the feeling of being "addicted" to social networks is completely real.

And once “addicted”, people want more, longer. This unintentionally encourages producers to create super short, easy or simply “nonsense” content. Gradually, in addition to the deterioration of communication skills, users also lose the ability to concentrate, think deeply and think independently.

Pointing out such harmful effects does not mean forcing users to go to the mountains to hide from the world. Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok… are the pinnacles of technology. They open up many new opportunities and make life much more convenient. But, play social networks, don’t let social networks play you!

Nature has endowed humans with the senses to connect with nature and the community. The image of an independent individual with a strong mind, not clinging to the praise of the crowd, is much more beautiful than that of a nameless, wandering guy struggling with the fear of missing out.