According to new research, there’s a way to get high off of social media and you don’t have to risk going jail chasing it.
NYU Marketing Professor Adam Alter argues that social media addiction is real – and similar to taking a hit of your favorite drug.
“When someone likes an Instagram post or any content that you share, it’s a little bit like taking a drug,” Professor Alter claims.
This of it like gambling: it’s the unpredictability of a posts success that keeps users checking their stats, in hopes of achieving wild success.
According to Professor Alter, using drugs for pleasure produces a chemical called dopamine in the brain.
The brain produces the chemical, because it’s not guaranteed that you are going to get likes on your post.
But Professor Alter said like any drug, there is also a downside, since most people take a good amount of photos before the decide on that perfect picture.
“What that means is every time you look at someone’s feet you’re getting only the very best aspects of their lives, which makes you feel like your life, in comparison, with all its messiness, probably isn’t good,” Professor Alter said.
Professor Adam Alter is the author of “Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.”