Social media has become an extremely powerful and useful tool that enables people in a modern society to interact and socialize with each other via the internet; however, there is an extremely dark side to social media. Social media has the potential to become extremely addictive to users. The addictive nature of social media may intensely interfere with users daily obligations in the real world, which may make a recovery process necessary in order to quell the addiction.
First of all, there are several reasons as to why social media has the potential to be extremely addictive. Many believe that “as in the case of other types of addiction[s], there are two types of behaviors found in internet (as well as social media) addiction. The first
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For example, having only five friends like or comment on a post is not nearly enough; it must be at least 50, but as soon as 50 people …show more content…
Several studies have shown that many forms of social media are often used excessively and can become addictive (Social Media Addiction). Roughly 10 percent of respondents reported disordered social media use in a 2014 study by the University of Albany, SUNY (McGrath). Another study found “disordered online social networking use was present in 9.7% of the sample surveyed, and significantly and positively associated with scores on the Young Internet Addiction Test, greater difficulties with emotion regulation and problem drinking” (Hormes). The likelihood of a person who has an addictive personality of developing an addiction to social media is especially high because these people most likely possess a “cluster of symptoms of poor emotion regulation skills and heightened susceptibility to both substance and non-substance addiction” (Hormes). The compulsive use of social media websites may result in “the same kind of changes in people 's brains as those caused by drug addiction” (Social Media Addiction). There are many examples of people who become addicted to social media, such as a 15-year-old social media addict named Krishnan (name changed) who spent nearly 16 hours a day on Facebook (Beware). Krishnan “developed an obsessive personality profile and was neglecting priorities of life, including education” (Beware). Dr. Sameer Malhotra, director, mental health and behavioral sciences at
In reality, what they are going through is called the “obsessive factor” (“Are SNS Good for our Society?”). The obsessive factor is a condition where a person who is logged in to a social networking site cannot seem to log off, even though they claimed they would just update their status, or upload a few pictures. A great number of people on social networking sites today display this symptom. Spending an excessive amount of time online comes with other problems. Face-to-face interaction with other people decreases significantly, possibly leading into a state of isolation, which has been proved to happen to some people. It has also been found that teens now spend an average of nine hours per week on social networking sites, which is a considerably large amount of time to be sitting in front of a computer (“Are SNS Good for our Society?”). Not only is a large amount of time spent on the computer, but healthy eating habits, exercise and overall health are thrown out the window since people spend so much time sitting in front of a computer. They become too lazy to go exercise or would rather go out to get some fast food, as opposed to a nice healthy homemade meal. Although some people may still find time to do so, others do not. Those problems, however, are not the only ones that come with social networking addiction.
Many teens, young adults, and even adults are faced with social media addiction. Do people realize this addiction is a serious problem or is it just simply ignored because it is considered as a “hobby”? These things cannot be ignored especially when it is considered a habit. Social media may have not been looked at as a problem when social networking sites were coming out to the public, but today it is very clear that more people are becoming dependent on social networking sites. It seems as if nowadays everyone has a Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram account. It is the norm for the 21st century and it is how people communicate and network today. People log on different social networking sites numerous times a day. Some people argue social media is a hobby, and it is only a habit that is not considered dangerous. Today’s social media has grown quickly and as it spreads more people are becoming addicted and not focused on what really matters in the outside world.
Social media can be addicting, to most people. Social media affect some adults, but mostly young people. I agree that Social media can take over a person’s life. A couple authors explained why social media can be addicting. Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and any other social media you can name is what people do during their daily lives. Do you think social media can be detached from someone who tends to be on their phone, laptop, or tablet daily?
In all, people who use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter show signs of addiction. This is due to all the new technology that allows people to sign into their social media accounts in less than a minute. Since technology is now able to be wireless and portable, people can always check their profiles and and new photos. The new technology and social media sites created a new kind of addiction that takes control of any user. People now don’t even realize or deny that they are addicted. To sum up, people who use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter show signs of addiction.
Karrie Lager, a child psychologist practicing in Los Angeles, says. “However, excessive internet use can have serious negative consequences,” she explains in response to a survey published by CASA Columbia (Stein, 2014). Dr. Lager has a great point, she believes that the use of technology for communication is a great thing for children, but she also agrees that using it to excess can be harmful and dangerous to a child. A lot of children, as well as adults use social media as fuel to their self-esteem and their self-worth, by doing so they become addicted wanting to use it more and more to never feel less than they should. Unfortunately because of this the addictive tendencies are becoming more apparent “Social media is simply providing a quicker peeling of the onion, however in most cases the problems were already there,” Dr. Sophy says, “Many people are genetically predisposed to use excessive amounts of potentially harmful tools (sex, substances, food, social media, etc.) to self soothe. And yet there are others who learn these behaviors due to life circumstances and events” (Stein, 2014). As you look closer to the problem one can understand that there are beneficial factors to social media but they can also see that there are factors that are harmful. If children are using social media more and more there is naturally going to be
Even though social media has many attractions, it also has many defects. Social media has its pros and cons, but unfortunately has more defects than goods because of all the affects it has on our mental health. Not only is social media causing addiction, anxiety, depression, and mental health problems, but includes “the decrease in real life social community participation and academic achievement, as well as relationship problems, but all these symptoms indicate potential addiction”, said Daria J. Kuss and Mark D. Griffin (Kuss, D.J. & Griffins, 2011). Many people who use these social networking sites tend to believe that they are perfectly fine, yet we walk around the street and see people on social media while walking, while talking with others, and even when driving. We look back in time and would never guess that social media would ever exist, nor would it take over our society. Technology has created many good things but also many bad things. For which all comes to believe that our society is in a crisis with excessive use on social media. Therefore excessive use of social media “can indeed” contribute to addictive behavior (drugs, tobacco, and alcohol) and of course mental health issues. One may say that all this information about social media may be a bit exaggerated, but things like this have occurred. But the complete truth is that these networking sites are like they say ‘weapons of distraction’, a big waste of
When we think about the word addiction we usually think about marijuana, alcohol, nicotine or drugs. In the article “A World Wide Woe - Internet addiction sounds like a punch line. But it ruined my brother’s life”, author Winston Ross (2009), written as a Newsweek Web Exclusive, gives us a look into the world of internet addiction.
Purpose of Study Individuals should understand that the use or nonuse of social media has negative and positive effects on their lives, whether they recognize them or not. Students who excessively use social networking applications can be negatively affected because they are spending too much time on these applications rather than paying attention in class, completing homework, studying, sleeping, or focusing on their own health and condition. However, these same students who are excessive users are often times the students who are more aware of global issues and updates in pop culture through the use of social media. Students who moderately use social networking applications spend a good amount of time on these applications and are still able to manage time for sleeping, practicing good eating habits, homework, and studying. These students are usually just as aware, or slightly less aware, than students who excessively use social networking.
Social media is so popular that according to a recent article published by forbes.com, “72% of American adults are currently using social media sites; that figure has gone up 800% in just 8 years”(Olenski). Social networking was originally created to simply reconnect people with old high school pals, but in recent years it has evolved into a completely different operation. When social media first originated it was also intended for adult usage, which has in recent years expanded into the usage of all ages. Social media can create a negative affect on lives because it has been proven to be a dangerous addiction, for it takes away interpersonal relationships that are essential in life, and it has been proven to prevent people from being productive in life.
Social media is a resource that a majority of people use to keep in contact with their loved ones. These sites are powerful resources because one can post or share something to their personal page and within days it can be shared all over the internet. The leading competitors of social media sites are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Many people in my generation post every personal detail of their lives, whether it is what they ate that morning, or who their new date is. Now that smartphones are faster than ever, social media is even more accessible with the use of applications. Social media has become an addiction that is plaguing this generation.
Social media although a great tool can become an addiction ultimately affecting our lives and state of mind. That is why we need to limit the amount of time and information we share on social networks. Although the internet is a tool full of good and bad available to everyone, teenagers and young adults are more prone to falling into the traps of the internet. People also abuse social media and overuse it every day because they are concerned with what is happening every hour. Social media is a tool not a necessity and should never be abused or used as a diary because it could result in unwanted consequences that can hurt us in the future.
Social media has become an extremely powerful and useful tool that enables people in a modern society to effortlessly interact and socialize with each other via the internet; however, there is an extremely dark and little known side of social media: addiction. Social media has the potential to become extremely addictive to its users. The addictive nature of social media may intensely interfere with users daily obligations in the real world, which may make a recovery process necessary in order to quell the powerful addiction.
Social media can become very addictive to some and it may cause negative effects on that person’s life. Everyday use of social media can make a person want to get on, to needing to get on the computer. Becoming hooked can affect a person in many ways. Such as, their job, family,
Although Internet beneficial a lot to human like convenience, improving the efficiency and saving time, these advantages also cause us to be bad. Internet addicted is not uncommon, especially in the youngster. Emily T, Ernest K. (2013) show the research that 26.7% of the students are met the criterion of Internet addiction. From the Center for Digital Technology Sustainability information the Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) criteria are defined as tolerance, persistent desire, continued excessive use, loss of interest and uses the internet to escape.
A question worth considering is, why a large number of Internet users , only a few people will be addictive , but most people can normally use ? If we can answer this question, perhaps this is the key to solving the problem . If we know the root cause of the few addicts addiction , we can correct strategies to prevent young people through addiction, prevention should be the ultimate solution to cure Internet addiction . Therefore factors for addiction research has become a core and frontier research. These studies focused on two aspects of family life factors of Internet addiction , the second is the personality factor of Internet addiction . Many studies have excellent reference value for the prevention of addictive behavior . Now more and more people are discovering , is the intrinsic value of the cognitive processing characteristics and attitudes more deeply factors , and these factors seem to be more research and explore the nature of this aspect of the training is not only a fundamental Internet addiction prevention , but also correction and effective method of treating addicts .