In this blog post, we’ll take a look at how dopamine addiction is related to the constant conflict on social media, and analyze the psychological mechanisms that cause people to repeat disputes online.
Have you ever seen the comments on overseas soccer articles on Naver, a popular Korean portal? I have been reading comments on various sports articles, including overseas soccer, for a long time, and the situation is quite serious. From people arguing over the superiority of star soccer players ‘Ronaldo’ and ‘Messi’ to people openly demeaning certain celebrities for attention, there are more abnormal comments than normal comments.
As the number of SNS users continues to grow, the number of disputes that occur not only in the comments of NAVER articles but across social networks in Korea is increasing. Name-calling, profanity, and rudeness abound, and these negative behaviors are showing no signs of abating. Why do people argue with each other and voice their opinions based on subjective criteria? The root cause of these disputes is the human emotion of pleasure.
Humans have long been sensitive to communication and contact with others. This response from others through verbal symbols stimulates the brain to release the neurohormone dopamine. This substance transmits excitement to nerve cells, causing humans to feel pleasure, such as happiness or satisfaction. In other words, when others respond to and recognize your language, you feel pleasure from the release of dopamine, and you respond to others to get that pleasure again, creating a kind of two-way relationship. The problem is that dopamine is a tolerance substance, like a drug: you need more and stronger stimuli to get the same pleasure, which in turn requires you to release more dopamine. This means that the longer you interact with someone, the more you expect faster, more immediate responses and stronger stimuli from them. If you keep interacting with other people for a short period of time, without realizing what you’re doing, you’re constantly seeking connection with others to get a dopamine rush. If this continues, you’re in a state of dopamine addiction, where the excessive release of dopamine makes you feel excited and anxious, and you’ll begin to mechanically seek out interactions with others to get pleasure and escape unbearable anxiety.
So what’s the best way to stimulate people who are addicted to dopamine? There are many ways, of course, but one of the most powerful is conflict. Conflict is a faster and more powerful stimulus for them, giving them the maximum amount of pleasure. A good example is a real-life argument or debate. Arguments and debates are much faster than normal conversations, as the pace of speech is much faster, and the rebuttals are more immediate. Why? Because they are continuous in nature, and the connection with others is made in a short period of time, which triggers the release of dopamine, which leads to greater pleasure and active participation. The effect of conflict is evident in recent rap shows like “Show Me the Money” and “Unpretty Rapstar”. In these shows, “disses,” or rapping back and forth while attacking each other, have become an integral part of the show. Unlike monologues, which are simply raps about one’s own story or situation, these rap battles are a form of conflict between two people. This gives the rappers a lot of motivation, and they use their skills to the fullest, making their broadcasts much more active and lively, which attracts the attention of viewers. Unlike normal conversations, these disputes are fast-paced, active, and stimulate the release of dopamine, giving maximum pleasure, and further stimulating people.
According to the aforementioned paragraph, social networks have the best environmental conditions for disputes to take place, that is, to fulfill human pleasure.
First, the desire to see the other person’s reaction in social networks is much greater than the desire that can be achieved through other linguistic symbols (calls, texts, etc.). According to a study on the addictive nature of social networks, the desire to check the reactions of others in social networks ranks third after the basic needs of sex and sleep. Unlike analog methods such as conversations and texts, which require a response from a fixed person in a limited space, social networks are open spaces where you can see the reactions and comments of many people in real time, and disputes naturally arise as you respond to people’s reactions. Strong desires bring greater pleasure to humans, so reactions on social networks are faster, stronger, and more relentless.
Secondly, social networks are information aggregators, which means that there is an abundance of information. For example, if you go to FACEBOOK, a popular social network, you’ll find that you’re inundated with ads and news, as well as other people’s news. And the ads and news are always accompanied by comments with people’s opinions. This variety of information strongly stimulates people’s curiosity and leads to lively conversations between them. In other words, the fact that social networks are not only personal spaces, but also allow for the influx of different information, activates connections between people, which in turn increases the potential for conflict.
Last but not least, social networks are incomparably faster than analog systems. When we used to communicate by phone, it took time to react, and when we did, it didn’t matter much because the effects of dopamine had worn off. But what about now? When you post something on a social network, you see people’s reactions to it immediately, and the app is designed to let you see them through notifications. So even before the dopamine has completely subsided, new dopamine is generated to stimulate people, and dopamine-addicted people start replying like robots.
Since the pursuit of pleasure is an unconscious human behavior, social media disputes may never be resolved. But that’s okay. It’s a process of getting to know and recognize each other’s values, and it’s another way to broaden our thinking. The important thing is that you don’t lose control and turn it into an emotional battle between people, or do something that hurts the other person. As long as that’s kept in mind, social media disputes are one of the most effective and universal ways to resolve human pleasures.
