The Role of Social Media in Reinforcing Cognitive Biases: An Ethnographic Study of Adolescents in Islamabad

Abstract

In today's digital era, social media plays a significant role in adolescent life by shaping their behavior. This study, "The Role of Social Media in Reinforcing Cognitive Biases: An Ethnographic Study of Adolescents in Islamabad,” investigates how adolescents in Islamabad, Pakistan, integrate digital technologies into their lives, focusing on their usage and the consequent changes in their behavior. The present study examines the major cognitive biases among adolescents, considering their impact on decisionmaking and mental health. This study highlights that adolescents now have unusual access to knowledge due to the technological revolution, thereby serving as an asset in their cognitive development drive, directly impacting their cognitive biases, and leading to a polarized and distorted view of reality. Several types of cognitive biases have been observed among adolescents. Through qualitative methodologies, including digital ethnography, in-depth interviews, informal discussions, and participant and nonparticipant observation, the present research provides a comprehensive understanding of adolescents' behavior in the digital realm. Social media posts make adolescents think in a biased way. The present research focuses on social media use, cognitive biases, and adolescent norms, which reflects the overall view of the adolescent’s experience with social media, their behavior alteration, and the effects of biases on the social and cognitive aspects of their lives. In terms of the demographic structure, there is a relatively equal representation of both male and female participants who are active social media users. They mostly share content connected to viral topics like memes, reels, shared experiences, etc. Consequently, the present research highlights the essential significance of social media in terms of social interaction, social isolation, and its effects on daily life behavior. This research points out how these biases are reinforced among adolescents. Social media influencers and memes play an important role. Things like social comparison, body image perception, an idealized lifestyle, purchasing behavior, and food choices are impacted by social media influencers. Moreover, the impact of those biases was observed in their mental health and daily life activities. The finding revealed that adolescents only see information that confirms what they already believe, and some viewpoints in the comments section confirm their beliefs. Moreover, adolescents are easily influenced by social media content. They get easily influenced by their way of life and success, which leads to a fear of missing out (FOMO). Additionally, it also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and reinforces different norms among them. Linguistic behavior has also been impacted as they use different memetic languages and other slang. It increases their vocabulary. The findings show that social media has become a source of entertainment as well as a source of knowledge for adolescents. It had a greater effect on their on their behavior. Excessive use of social media has developed a fear of missing out among adolescents, which is why they can't enjoy reality. It is thus necessary to have an equal implementation of both physical and digital activities, as it is seen that adolescents have different preferences for displaying digital practices. The study supports the idea that social media can have a rehabilitative effect while making important variables that require a need for critical analysis of media content and one’s susceptibility to cognitive fallacies. All these bring the need for collaboration among public policymakers, educators, and technology architects in formulating policies, curriculums, and guidelines that can champion the positive use of social media. They should foster healthy conversations on online platforms, create tools that facilitate respectful discussions, and showcase examples of good, courteous debates that can create a positive atmosphere in interactions. That will close the knowledge gap and guarantee that users can move through the digital space not just blindly but rather with critical thinking that does not reinforce biases.