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Have you ever seen someone constantly checking their phone? They may just have a social media addiction. An addiction to social media can occur when a person is on social media platforms excessively. They may begin to prefer it over actual social interaction, and they may feel uncomfortable when they are away from it. According to the website Psychology Today, “The only solutions that have been semi-reliable are cognitive behavioral therapy (talk therapy) and digital detox”. That means that there is no 100% solution to social media addictions. Furthermore, many problems come hand-in-hand with this addiction. One of these problems is depression. This is because kids who spend more than five hours a day on social media are two times more likely to be depressed. One out of ten teens check their phone more than ten times every night, and 78% of teens use Snapchat; however, 51% of minors say that it would be easy to give up social media. It's not. The good thing, however, is that very few of us are genuinely addicted to social media. But many social media users’ usage is habitual to the point of encroaching upon other areas of their lives that may be damaging.
Social media addiction does not develop overnight. One of the main causes of this addiction is the extensive use of social media. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, 95% of all teens (ages 13-17) have access to a smartphone. In the same survey, 45% of teens say that they are online almost constantly. Anytime I go anywhere, I can find someone completely hooked into their phone. Take a look around yourself, and you can almost always see someone entranced by their screen. And conversations are suffering, also. Many conversations consist of someone talking about what they saw on Facebook, or Instagram, and that is only if they are having a conversation. Most social media addicts try to center their lives around their screens, pushing away direct interaction with most friends and family, communicating only with people over social media or texting. But this addiction doesn’t just make you want to do social media all the time. It has some serious effects on a person's attitude, brain functions, social life, behavior, and more. Not only does a social media addiction affect you and your social life, but it also makes you more susceptible to depression. Of teens who use Instagram and other social media platforms, 60% have shown more signs of depression than those who don't use them. During a five-year study from 2010 to 2015, depressive symptom increased by 33% in a group of over half a million 8th through 12th graders, and the suicide rate for girls in that age group went up by 65%. Coincidentally, in 2015, 95% of teens had smartphones. Both teens and pre-teens have been reported to be on screens, and also social media, until very early morning hours. This means kids getting on social media or a screen in general at 8:00, and remaining on until about 3:00 or 4:0 in the morning. This has shown decreased productivity as well as increased anxiety and depression symptoms. Sean Parker, the former president of Facebook, says: “God only knows what this is doing to our children”. He continues on to say that people like himself are “exploiting a vulnerability in the human psychology... The inventors, creators — it's me, it's Mark Zuckerberg, it's Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it's all of these people — understood this consciously . . . And we did it anyway”.
Another cause of social media addiction is stimulation of notifications. Every time a notification goes off, the sound and/or vibration sends a pulse of dopamine through a person's brain. Dopamine is the brains form of an incentive, a ‘feel-good drug’ that your brain rewards you with. Notifications release more dopamine than the brain wants, along with drugs and alcohol. Dopamine is what you get addicted to, and the addiction extends to the thing that gave you dopamine. Social media was built to release dopamine, and some could argue, to get people this addicted. More things that release dopamine are when you get likes on a post or seeing that you have more followers. It also could simply be when you see that hundreds to thousands of people just viewed something you posted. This can have some effects on a person’s social life. Getting addicted to the dopamine can lead to a socially secluded person. Online and only online friends do not count for socializing with people. 62% of kids that spend more than 20 hours a week on social media have trouble in social situations than kids that do not. Every day, I view someone who has so much trouble dealing with social situations, it’s scary. That somebody even has trouble socializing with their family. Just watching how uncomfortable they can be when detached from their phone. The number of hoops you can watch addicts go through just to get a few minutes with their phone is impressive. And it surprises most people that people actually have this problem, even if it is just habitual.
The most effective solutions to social media addiction are 'digital detox' (the practice of people turning off all of their screens for 260, 180, 60, 30, or however long to slowly wean themselves off of social media, and the use of screens in general) and shock advertising to bring people's attention to this problem and propose solutions. In my opinion, digital detox is the most effective solution to curing a social media addiction. Even just a couple of days in digital detox has some benefits. People develop a better memory, deeper friendships, better posture and more. Also, when people are not on their phone, they are a lot more approachable. People who have gone through digital detox are more relaxed and empathetic. And, people who went through digital detox for longer periods of time had improvements in other things. For example, 78% of people who went through digital detox had improved motor skills because they weren’t on social media while driving. Lots of people say that if you aren’t on social media on the weekend, your weekdays are more productive. As you can see, a digital detox is the best solution for social media addiction.
If we don't take steps to solve social media addiction, all people will eventually have decreased social life and productiveness, which would lead to the collapse of governments and economy. It will also have a devastating effect on our interpersonal relationships. In addition, it is obvious that dependence on social networks undermines our ability to think. If nothing happens to curb this addiction, the outcome will be bad.
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