Why do we turn to social media platforms to escape everyday life?

I think that social media platforms have under gone a really transformative wave throughout the last few years or so. Mass amounts of people are now using snapchat, facebook, instagram, and twitter. Why do so many see the appeal of these sites that consume our time and kills our productivity?

Many scientific discoveries conclude that engaging on these social media sites releases pleasure inducing chemicals into our brain. Instant satisfaction and the ability to escape an unpleasant situation in reality and engage in a world that has no knowledge of who you are, or your problems. A distraction, a way to escape the boring yet complicated reality of our lives.

Over break I went to dinner at a casino in Nevada. When I went inside I was instantly bombarded by the bright blinking lights, the smell of smoke, and mass amounts of people fixated on their slot machines. They were entranced, so focused. Even if they wanted to they wouldn't be able to tear their eyes away from these enticing machines. You waste your money on the false sense of hope that maybe, just maybe you would be able to win big. Millions upon millions of people have an addiction to gambling, just as, arguably an entire generation is too absorbed in social media sites.

 Upon walking into the casino I felt this sense of detachment from the outside world I just stepped out of. For many people within the casino the entire structure of their lives surrounds gambling. These games that take your money and waste your time, but still there remains a mass following.

The common link between social media and gambling is an accessible platform that provides instant pleasure as well as a way to disregard your life in reality. People flock to casinos, people flock to these social media sites. Social media platforms have become an easy, and successful way for mass amounts of people to become detached. We want those pleasure inducing chemicals, and we will oftentimes sacrifice other things in our life to attain this superficial feeling of happiness, or escape.