By Cassy van Eeden

Not only do we spend hours scrolling down our newsfeeds, but we keep coming back for more. It is reported that the average Facebook user checks their account 13 times per day.

So, what is it about social media that has us hooked?

It’s how we’re wired

Social media answers a number of our needs as human beings. We are, naturally, a social species. We always have been.

“Our brains are hardwired to respond well to instant gratification,” says Carla Potgieter, instructional designer at Red & Yellow School. “The dopamine hit we receive from getting interaction on social media posts are not dissimilar from the neurological chemistry that also caters for things like gambling addictions.”

As Kerry-Leigh Glass, social media specialist at Social House, explains, social media answers our core emotional need for certainty, variety, significance, connection, growth and contribution. “Social media provides this by instantly connecting you to your friends, family, your favourite brand or social event,” she says.

“Everyone wants to feel involved and like they are a part of something,” says Conrad David, founder and CEO of Hashtag South Africa. “People want to be associated with other people.”

Better than a drug

It has been reported that the average Facebook user visits their account up to 13 times per day. That’s the thing, we don’t just log on once and leave it at that. We check back, constantly, to see if anyone has interacted with what we’ve said or done.

“You can connect to social media any time of the day or night, it’s always there,” says organisational psychologist, Dr Lynne Becker. “All you have to do is pick up your device and you’re connected, even if you’re alone.”

The fact that it fulfils our needs isn’t the only thing that has us addicted. According to a Harvard University study, “Self-disclosure online fires up a part of the brain that also lights up when taking an addictive substance like cocaine,” writes Kimberlee Morrison for Social Times.

It’s what we need
 
As Becker says, social media fulfils many of the core needs that are a part of our human nature. “We need to be needed, we need validation and approval from our peers; and we need to feel connected. Social media does just that,” she says.

“We find satisfaction with people commenting on something we said,” explains David. “We find satisfaction in a simple ‘like’, because everyone is searching for agreement with everything they talk about and do in life.”

We need to feel connected, we need to feel like we are being included and we need to contribute to the conversations that surround us, says David.

Are you addicted to social media? What is it about these networks that keeps us coming back for more? Share your thoughts in the comments below.