Chasing likes on social media and the way out  | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 16, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2025
Chasing likes on social media and the way out 

Thoughts

Rehnuma Shahrin Shoronika & Md Asif Hossain
30 August, 2022, 03:35 pm
Last modified: 31 August, 2022, 06:12 pm

Related News

  • Photo of Natore UNO putting cattle in govt vehicle takes social media by storm
  • Adolescence: A series parents must see
  • Five reasons why Reddit deserves a place in your daily routine
  • 'Drug addict' son allegedly kills elderly mother in Narsingdi
  • Top three contenders in the race to replace Twitter

Chasing likes on social media and the way out 

The social media platforms now acknowledge that their platforms can be addictive. Many of these platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube added features that provide users with the option to restrict screen time and mitigate or prevent addiction.

Rehnuma Shahrin Shoronika & Md Asif Hossain
30 August, 2022, 03:35 pm
Last modified: 31 August, 2022, 06:12 pm
Representational image. Photo: Collected
Representational image. Photo: Collected

In the last few months, several incidents made us question the importance of social media. On 25 June (and for a few following days), zillions of people got on the Padma bridge after it was inaugurated. And many were seen taking photos and making TikTok videos. 

On the same day, enthusiasm turned into tragedy when two motorcyclists were killed in an accident that took place between the 27th and 28th pillars of the bridge while filming the trip. 

A man, one of tens of thousands of people who gathered on the bridge, was arrested for unscrewing the nuts from the railing to make TikTok content. In that 34-second-long viral video, he also criticised authorities for lax construction. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Recently, a teen lost her life after being accidentally strangled while recording a TikTok video of her hanging a curtain from the wall of her house. 

Last year, 11 people were arrested on suspicion of being members of a Bangladesh trafficking gang that lured young girls on TikTok and other social media groups, promising to make them TikTok models. This gang tricked these women into the neighbouring India's sex trade by using social media. 

There is no doubt that the introduction of social media changed how people communicate and has brought massive improvements in the areas of entrepreneurship and businesses. But there are many negative impacts as well, such as wasting time, online bullying and so on. 

One of these negative effects seems to be the psychological phenomenon of obsessing over 'likes' and chasing after it. The temptation of the 'likes' and 'shares' is so strong that it can even push people to break laws and put their and others' lives at risk.

Why are people, especially the youth, so obsessed with likes? Every like and comment on social media releases dopamine in our brain, known as the 'feel-good' hormone, indicating that every like/comment we receive makes us feel rewarded and happy. 

According to a psychologist, quite a big number of people prefer being congratulated on social media rather than in person for a job promotion or a new job role. They feel that interaction on social media stays there forever to look at and ruminate over. 

Most social media users' brains receive a flood of dopamine and send it along reward pathways when they get likes or emoticon notifications on Tiktok, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or other social media platforms. This cycle of motivation, sense of reward and reinforcement makes social media users crave more and more of this feeling – in effect, getting them stuck in a 'dopamine loop.' 

The social media platforms now acknowledge that their platforms can be addictive. Many of these platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube added features that provide users with the option to restrict screen time and mitigate or prevent addiction. 

A key factor that seems to contribute to stronger attachment to the virtual world is the lack of opportunities for the youth, especially compared to opportunities available in developed nations like Canada, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand and so on. 

Many students and young adults abroad work on-campus or do other part-time jobs. They are paid an hourly wage or given stipends in exchange, and some even enjoy tuition waivers as well. These opportunities usually provide some degree of financial freedom to the youths. Bangladesh on the other hand does little to facilitate these opportunities for its large youth demography. 

The constant connection between the screen and the brain can take a toll on quality of life and overburden the senses. Hence, it is absolutely necessary for physical and mental wellbeing to take breaks from social media and electronic devices. 

That's where a digital detox comes in. Digital detox is when someone intentionally minimises the amount of time they spend on electronic devices and online. Doing new activities or spending time on hobbies can help restrain the impulse to check social media notifications constantly, because it fills up the free time with enjoyable events. 

People often get trapped in a vicious circle of fear of missing out when it comes to posting on social media. Perhaps it should be kept in mind that we are not socially obliged to our followers to let them know every single detail that happens in our lives. 

If we don't even post anything, the world will still continue to spin; hence we should consciously choose what to post and what not to post.

Many people now find themselves glued to their smartphone screens, scrolling endlessly. There is no denying that social media has brought so many positive changes in  communication, business and sometimes social media's great reach even helps save lives. 

But like all things in life, the negatives outweigh the positives for social media use when not done in moderation. 

Rehnuma Shahrin Shoronika [left] and Asif Md Asif Hossain. Illustration: TBS
Rehnuma Shahrin Shoronika [left] and Asif Md Asif Hossain. Illustration: TBS

Rehnuma Shahrin Shoronika is an undergraduate student, North South University

Md Asif Hossain is a lecturer of Entrepreneurship & Strategy, North South University; Researcher, Trainer and Management Consultant.


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
 

Social Media / youth

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
    BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
  • Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
    Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
  • Representational image of school children. File photo: Collected
    Govt issues urgent guidelines to educational institutes to curb Covid, dengue spread

MOST VIEWED

  • Vehicles were seen stuck on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway due to a traffic jam stretching 15 kilometres on 14 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    15km traffic jam on Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway as post-Eid rush continues
  • Tour operator Borsha Islam. Photo: Collected
    ‘Tour Expert’ admin Borsha Islam arrested over Bandarban tourist deaths
  • Infographic: TBS
    Chattogram Port proposes 70%-100% tariff hike
  • Fighter jet. Photo: AFP
    3 F-35 fighter jets downed, two Israeli pilots in custody, claims Iranian media
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Merger of 5 Islamic banks at final stage: BB governor
  • Infograph: TBS
    Why 10 economic zones, including BGMEA's garment park, were cancelled

Related News

  • Photo of Natore UNO putting cattle in govt vehicle takes social media by storm
  • Adolescence: A series parents must see
  • Five reasons why Reddit deserves a place in your daily routine
  • 'Drug addict' son allegedly kills elderly mother in Narsingdi
  • Top three contenders in the race to replace Twitter

Features

Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

8h | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

2d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

4d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

4h | TBS World
Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

4h | Others
Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

5h | TBS World
Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

5h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net