A Pleasure Primer, Part 2: Social Media and Dopamine

Dopamine—as I wrote yesterday, it’s the neurotransmitter fuels our pleasure-seeking and plays a part in instigating, motivating, and rewarding desire. It’s the life of the party. But does dopamine play a part in our modern social media obsession?

Social media is a daily distractor, an attention hound, a time-suck. It’s equal parts feast, famine, fear, ego, and political dumpster...