Are you addicted to social media? You may think you can quit it any time you want, but your body and brain may not agree. Staying deeply connected to your social networks can be costly.
Researchers took a look at how non-stop social networking can actually change your brain. Social media sites are used by one third of the global population, and 5—10% are unable to control their online usage due to a psychological addiction. Researchers call this addiction a substance addiction, namely, a similar effect of drug or alcohol on addicts.
There is a decline in the white matter (脑白质) that controls emotional processing and decision making, largely because social media provides an immediate reward. When you post something online and someone “likes” it, you get the immediate reward—people’s praise, and then your brain begins to long for these rewards. It’s just like how a drug works.
Researchers also looked at how multitasking affects the brain. When you are dealing with a variety of tasks, devices, and websites, you have to constantly switch your thinking modes, which usually leads to the unbalanced distribution of attention. Also, multitasking could damage your ability to commit to memory. Consider what happens when your phone vibrates (振动). You feel the vibration and nine times out of ten, you pull your phones out to check, which will distract you from what you are doing.
Of course there is nothing wrong with using social media to stay in touch with family, friends, and colleagues, but as with everything else in life, moderation (适度) is the key. Moderation can not only help us on task, but also help control the side effects from over stimulating our brains with social media, mobile devices, and screen time.
【小题1】What’s the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To raise a question. | B．To give an example. |
| C．To bring up the topic. | D．To make an analysis. |
| A．Their fragile brain structure. | B．The convenient Internet access. |
| C．The pressure from fast city life. | D．Their mental dependence on it. |
| A．An improvement in time management. | B．A decline in creativity. |
| C．A decrease in working efficiency. | D．An increase in sensibility. |
| A．Objective. | B．Doubtful. | C．Supportive. | D．Critical. |
