We have all experienced the rush that comes after winning a game, setting and making a personal goal, or impressing your boss. This feeling is mediated by a chemical called dopamine, which is released in the brain after a rewarding experience. Dopamine promotes a rush of happiness and contentment. It is naturally released after eating and sex, encouraging humans to procreate and nourish themselves, thereby ensuring survival. Dopamine is also released when we consume several illicit substances, such as cocaine. And when it is released, boy do we feel good, and why we want more.

Critics of the tech industry are concerned that companies purposely stimulate dopamine pathways, creating "compulsion loops" that keep us glued to our devices. Our repetitive behavior is of course financially rewarding to the industry. When we feel the rush of a "like" on Instagram, we crave more. Snapchat users are rewarded for streaks. Twitter sucks in the best of us with inexhaustibly current information. Compulsive use of social media produces addictive attachment, which isolates us from our relationships and draws us away from meaningful and productive experiences.

Social scientists are particularly concerned about the shifts they observe in teen behavior and psychological states. Many born between 1995-2012 have never experienced life without a smartphone or some kind of social media. As a result, they are isolated and more comfortable with their devices than at parties or with friends. Social isolation may be one reason that depression and anxiety have skyrocketed in this age group. The unavoidable addiction draws kids inward, decreasing social connections, which are widely accepted as creating feelings happiness and contentment. It seems the phones that we give our kids for birthdays and holiday presents, are actually making them unhappier.