Copy of Volume 6 - publication


Social Media Effect on Brain Plasticity
Neha Bashir

The school bell rings amongst the sounds of high-pitched
chattering of a suburban high school. Lucy, a young
freshman, was the type of student to arrive to class five
minutes early, already starting the assigned homework for
the day. Hardworking and persistent, Lucy always achieved
high grades in her studies. However, her infatuation for
social media began to affect how well she was doing in
class.

Every day, Lucy scrolled through her social media feeds for
hours on end. Even if she had an exam the next morning,
she would stay up late at night, hooked to the colorful apps
of her phone. With no willpower to study anymore, her
grades started to decline. She had trouble concentrating in
class, and her schoolwork reflected her lack of motivation.
Lucy’s addiction to social media provides insight on brain
plasticity and the effect social media exposure has on it.
Brain plasticity refers to the brain’s way of changing and
adapting to new experiences, where it grows new networks
of functional change from learning (Cherry, 2022). National
statistics show that the average person spends roughly 3
hours on social media every day, and teenagers spend
about 8 hours of phone screen time (Georgiev, 2023). By
studying the correlation between excessive exposure to
social media on brain plasticity we can possibly discern the
real negative effects of mindlessly scrolling on attention and
memory deficits. 
 
Most high school students hone their ability to memorize
facts quickly and efficiently in an effort to retain the most
important information from a lesson. However, when social
media excessively consumes a person’s thoughts, they try
using their multitasking skills to accomplish all the
requirements social media demands. Studies have shown
that multitasking leads to a decrease in concentration and
reduction of absorption in experiences, causing memories to
fade (Tamir et al, 2018). Similarly, social media has
introduced the use of shorthand typing, where statements
like “LOL” take place of “laughing out loud.” These quick
mnemonics are labeled “crutch” and are harmful in
offloading relevant information and then forgetting the
important information (Tamir et al, 2018). Memory has
shown to have a negative relationship with social media, as
it hinders people’s abilities to remember information. 

However, memory is not the sole victim of social media, as
attention decreases just as easily from social media
influence. A study was performed to determine the
correlation between social media and psychological distress
of attention control, where it was concluded that social
media has a positive relationship with lower levels of

attention control (Mahalingham et al., 2021). Using social
media provides people access to control how long they
want to pay attention to a certain video, picture, or text
message. The brain then translates this control and applies
it to other aspects of life, like being in a class where the
information could be presented in a boring way. The brain
can stop paying attention and focus on other things
because the brain is already conditioned to be in control of
how little time a person must spend on something. The
figure below shows a decrease in memory consistent
through the study, as well as an increase in mind
wandering. As social media allows people control to swipe
as fast away from a certain screen image, the brain
shortens its attention span for all life events.

Figure 1. The figure above shows the correlation between
social media use and Memory and mind wandering. Given
three studies, a positive control of no media use, and two

experimental of recording and sharing, it can be noted that
there is a discrepancy between the three groups in memory

and mind wandering. There is a decrease in memory for both
experimental groups and an increase in mind wandering in

recording group generally and in one case for sharing as well.

Social media platforms continue to enthrall millions of
people, but it is important to note the detrimental effects it
could have on brain plasticity. Social media has proven to
be a useful tool to remain connected, however excessive
screen time has detrimental effects on the brain, but
consider just the mechanisms behind social medias affect
on memory and how to mitigate the outcome.

41Brain Matters Volume VI



Cherry, Kendra. (2022). “How Brain Neurons Change
over Time from Life Experience.” Verywell Mind,
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-
2794886. 
Georgiev, Deyan. (2023).“How Much Time Do People
Spend on Social Media in 2023?” Techjury,
https://techjury.net/blog/time-spent-on-social-
media/#gref. 
Tamir, D, et al. (2018). “Media Usage Diminishes
Memory for Experiences.” Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology, Academic Press,
https://www.sciencedirect.com
/science/article/pii/S002210311730505X. 
Mahalingham, Tamsin, et al. (2021). “Attention Control
Moderates the Relationship between Social Media Use
and Psychological Distress.” Journal of Affective
Disorders,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165
032721011563. 

References
1.

2.

3.

4.

42Brain Matters Volume VI