In many ways, social media has transformed our lives, we communicate, share, learn, connect – all via Facebook. It’s almost as if something is not posted on Facebook it didn’t happen… we share all the most important moments of our lives on Facebook and it has nearly 2 billion active users. There is no doubt Facebook has become an integral part of our lives, but what are the detrimental effects of too much time on Facebook and, is it as innocent as it appears, with the birthday greetings, “friendaversaries,” and memories?

There is a sinister side of Facebook, however, that has been recently coming to the surface. Whenever something becomes very popular, it is heavily encouraged and promoted in the media, but it should be viewed with one eyebrow raised. It’s always good to take a step back and ask why, why is this so encouraged, how can it be used against us, and is it a mechanism of control? It’s not about being fearful, it’s about being aware, so that you can control your life instead of having outside influences control it for you.

Facebook, no doubt, has some very real mind control tactics that are used to keep us hooked and in need of the validation that comes from the social media platform. In one sense we are more connected than ever, but in another, we are more disconnected than ever. Staring at screens, sharing only the most glamorous parts of our lives, lurking at the lives of others with envy. Facebook is lacking in authenticity, there are many issues that need to be addressed in regard to Facebook, but let’s stick to the topics at hand, the mind control tactics that Facebook uses to keep you engaged.

The Casino Effect

All of the sounds of messages, comments and notifications coming in are meant to stimulate the brain, in the same way the flashing lights and songs do at a casino, when you hear the bell sound of a notification or message you are excited to find out what it could be. These sounds symbolize attention, and for those who are otherwise pretty lonely, it can become quite addictive. This feeling of satisfaction triggers a dose of dopamine (the feel good chemical) to be released from the brain – this is known to initiate addictive behavior.

Facial Recognition

You know how when you go to tag photos, but Facebook already knows who your friends are in the photos? This is due to facial recognition software. There is a theory that this is why it was called “Facebook” in the first place, for the elite to be able to effectively track everyone’s face, this technology can track you wherever you might go, which means they are always in the know of where you are, in case you ever wanted to hide.

Emotional Venting

By giving us, the regular Joe working class citizens of the world a place to vent, it makes us feel subconsciously like we have a say in what is going on in our world. We can broadcast whatever we like on Facebook and will likely have ample likes and comments and maybe even deep discussions to back it up, but is this actually assisting us to change things or is this just providing us with the illusion of free speech? This is debatable, as I do feel in some ways that Facebook (especially in previous years) has assisted the massive changes that are occurring on our planet by bringing attention and raising awareness about important issues that we may otherwise have never heard of.

Without Facebook, CE wouldn’t be where it is today. It certainly helped us to grow, but now that has all changed as Facebook has virtually eliminated our organic reach, and no doubt there is some censorship going on. Just a few years ago if you had a page ‘liked’ then you would see content from that page in your newsfeed, but now? Good luck. Generally speaking, you will see what Facebook wants you to see, or content from whichever pages have the most money, which are often the big corporations.

Addiction To ‘Likes’

This one is somewhat obvious, but it can easily go unnoticed. Every time someone ‘likes’ something that you post it provides you with a sense of validation, and if you don’t get many or any likes, you can’t help but feel a bit down. ‘How come nobody liked that, maybe no one cares what I have to say, yada yada.’ According to Jason Christoff, an expert in Facebook mind control tactics:

“The algorithms inside the Facebook program are set to more widely distribute what you write to your friend list, the less you use it. This means the first post you make in the morning, gets the most wide distribution, and successive posts that follow, get progressively less and less distribution. Facebook is designed like a casino machine, to give out a massive payout of likes, with your first post in a day, to make sure you’re drawn to the addiction daily. It is also interesting to note that more likes, comments and traffic toward your page happens when you are on it. This means when you sit in front of the computer moving the mouse, you get more emotional rewards, as opposed to posting and walking away. This sort of brain activation reward control system makes people addicted to short term reward only, making them unable to apply themselves to any project that provides a reward in the long term future, like starting a business for example. This short term stimuli system manufacturers a person who needs reward on a minute to minute basis, placing real success completely out of their reach because real success is based on accomplishing long term.”

Dissident Tracking

Facebook algorithms track virtually everything about you, when you think about it, we post a lot of personal stuff on this “social network” our opinions about everything, from what we like to eat, to funny cat videos to our opinions about our governments and world “leaders.” Facebook is capable of developing a pretty complete profile of what kind of person you are because, well, you do it yourself. Is this something to be concerned about? Not necessarily, but under U.S. law, anything you say that is against the American government can have you labelled as a terrorist and detained without probable cause. It could cause you issues while crossing borders, but again I feel strongly that the more you fear something the more you are attracting it into your existence and your reality. Do not fear, just be aware. As mentioned above, Facebook censors content, so the more truthful your post or your share, the less it will be seen by other Facebook users.

Behavior Analysis

Facebook behavior analysis is capable of determining en masse whether the public is still asleep, or awake and aware to the media that is being spoon fed to them. When a mass shooting occurs, how are the people reacting on Facebook? Do they generally believe the spoon fed story that the media tells or are they questioning this information and looking at multiple sources? Facebook knows who is asleep and who is awake.

So, What Can We Take Away From This Information?

As mentioned above, this is not about being afraid, and chances are that you are reading this article because you came across it on Facebook. Yes, there are still some good things about Facebook, but it is important to be aware of the potentially harmful aspects of Facebook as well. You can use Facebook to view the information that you want, keep up with friends and family and to share your thoughts and opinions, but with all of the aforementioned information, you can now control how you use it, rather then letting it control you. Be aware of these tactics and avoid them if possible.