DENVER — It's obvious people will do interesting things for likes on social media, but exactly how far will people go for a reaction?
New research, led by Dr. Hamed Qahri-Saremi at Colorado State University, found people will go to extremes for a perceived outcome on their social media posts.
"We are social animals. We do have the basic need for attention," said Qahri-Saremi.
Qahri-Saremi's research discovered that receiving "likes" and "dislikes" will influence some social media user's behavior. "Likes" and "dislikes" have an impact on a person's mental well-being, and Qahri-Saremi found that "dislikes" have a stronger effect on the desire to act out in a post.
"It can include behaviors which can undermine your security, the security of your information. It can undermine your privacy, or it can have physical danger," said Qahri-Saremi.
Standing near a cliff's edge to get a selfie, taking a photo you wouldn't want to show grandma, or getting too close to that bison for the perfect shot. Most of us have seen these types of posts on social media, and Qahri-Saremi said when someone's expectations fall short, they are more likely to engage in this type of behavior.
Sure, many of us compare ourselves to others online, but the study found that this isn't the only thing driving people to dangerous stunts and shocking selfies.
"Regardless of the social comparison mechanism is sort of the internal comparison mechanism that drives these dangerous behaviors," said Qahri-Saremi. "Maybe if I just endanger myself a little bit more, the people would understand that this means a lot to me, or at least I can attract more attention in order to create a situation that, on the next post, they can beat their expectations."
Darci Harvey, a clinical social worker at AdventHealth, said, unfortunately, she's very familiar with this issue. She has seen the consequences, first-hand, in some of her clients.
"I have seen in my professional world, to the point where, someone has decided to take their life because of how they've been responded to, or lack thereof response on social media. Fortunately, I've seen them before they've succeeded in that," she said.
In that instance, Harvey was able to offer help before it was too late. Not everyone reacts to social media "dislikes" the same way, but both Harvey and Qahri-Saremi agree that it is a dangerous cycle to fall into.
"It is like any addiction, it's drawing you in to do more. Or how can I do this better? And may that be something a little more dangerous, something to get more attention, or just keep trying," said Harvey.
"It happens at the subconscious level. Your system doesn't even get the chance to reflect on the consequences before the person even does the behavior and takes the action, and that becomes sort of this vicious loop of the addiction to social media," said Qahri-Saremi.
Concerning, yes, but both Harvey and Qahri-Saremi said there are ways out of the cycle. It starts with acknowledging that it is a problem.
"You have to create this awareness around what "likes" mean," said Qahri-Saremi. "Disassociate the "likes" and the "dislikes" that you get and that basic need for attention. If you weaken that link by creating awareness, then you can sort of modulate that expectation."
"I think what works for being able to not be so attached to your social media is being able to have a life outside of that," Harvey said. "I think social media's intention initially was to connect us, but it really took us to connecting a lot less where we don't see people in person as much. Make sure you're engaging in other activities. And it's really our basics for mental health, taking good care of ourselves, getting exercise and finding true connections with other people."
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