How social media sabotages your brain s friendship mechanism, Arthur Brooks

This interview is an episode from TheWell, our publication about ideas that inspire a life welllived, created with the JohnTempletonFoundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube Watch Arthur Brooks s next interview Thanks to modernday social media, its easier than ever to connect with the people you care about. But is this really the case Professor Arthur Brooks discusses how social media is actually harming our ability to socialize, and proposes a way to fix it. Oxytocin, the bonding neuropeptide in our brains, needs eye contact and touchthings we dont get from Zoom or social media. This lack leaves us feeling hungrier for connection, which only fuels the loneliness epidemic, and causes us to further distance ourselves from others. Does this mean we should ban social media and prevent young people from using it Brooks says no, social media can be a wonderful complement