The Impact of Social Media on our Memories

The way we interact with the world around us today has been heavily influenced by technological advancements that have become a part of our everyday lives. This change is especially evident in how we capture our memories. While a decade or two ago, being able to take photos and videos was considered a luxury and a rarity, today it has become the norm. Our photo galleries are flooded with hundreds of pictures of the events we attend, the places we visit, or the people we meet. Smartphones have made capturing memories easier than ever before and social media such as Facebook frequently bombard us with our old memories.

It seems intuitive to assume that because we can readily access these captured memories, they will be easier to remember in the future when you look at these pictures. However, research has found that this assumption is not entirely true. Taking photographs and posting them on social media, on the contrary, can be detrimental to your authentic memory of the event.

The primary stage in the process of memory formation is ‘encoding’, and this very stage can be affected by social media. Encoding occurs when we actively pay attention to the stimuli around us. When you take a picture with the intention of posting it on social media, you pull yourself away from the moment to focus instead on a distant audience who will view your memories. This focus on a future audience pulls your attention away from the multisensory experience of the present. Senses play a big part in aiding memory, and when they are not attended to in the present, the recollection of that memory becomes harder. You become detached from not only the outside stimuli but also your own inner self- how you feel in that moment. In essence, caring more about your social media post removes you from the rich experience of being in that moment and leaves you with only a poor, two-dimensional semblance of it. Without encoding, even photos from the time won’t help you remember that exact event; if anything, a picture without the actual encoded memory of it may make you susceptible to forming false memories.

Social media seems to also have a significant impact on how we feel about these old memories, even altering the emotions associated with them. Research has found that the amount of ‘likes’ one’s social media post receives may influence how one feels about that memory. If the memories are not well-liked by the audience, it can negatively influence the way you feel about that memory. You grow to depend on your followers to validate your memory. An event that was originally considered valuable may deteriorate in worth if it receives few likes on social media; the reception of your post about a memory can distort the perceived significance of that memory to you.

The situation is not always bleak though. Sometimes, it can actually strengthen your memory of an event. Although attempting to capture a moment may lead to selectively attending to your surroundings, the aspects you do attend to and put up on social media are actually found to be well-remembered. This effect presumably works in the same way that journaling helps strengthen memory. When you plan your social media posts, you inadvertently reflect on the memories captured, and this reflection is what improves future recollection.

References:

Beer, D. & Jacobsen, B. (2021, April 15). Social media ‘likes’ change the way we feel about our memories — new research. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from https://theconversation.com/social-media-likes-change-the-way-we-feel-about-our-memories-new-research-156149

Lashbrook, A. (2020, January 31). Social media is messing with our memories. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from https://elemental.medium.com/social-media-is-messing-with-our-memories-fae0c14c6b0d

MacMillan, A. (n.d.). How posting on facebook affects your memory. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from https://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/memory/social-media-memory