I was interested in exploring addiction of social media because social media and the mobile digital devices they are used on were introduced into an early stage of my life (just before I transitioned into my teens). So it is seen as a necessity for social acceptance, business networking and even educational uses in my generation. In school we were taught to be cautious online and to use social media responsibly with online bullying, ‘stranger danger’ and the digital footprint we leave. But we were never informed about how abusive it can be to our minds as well as the affect it has on our lives.
TedTalk speaker Dr. Cal Newport (2015) spoke about his experience never having used social media being very positive. In his research he found that major companies (Such as Facebook, Instagram and Twiter) hire attention engineers who borrow principles from Casino owners to draw in and keep users staying online for as long as possible. People forget that social media platforms are essentially products, our attention and use of them is the payment so of course the companies want to maximise their profit by any means possible.
I look around me and people are constantly using their smart phones to access social media, even in the most inappropriate situations; during class, studying while driving or walking and in valuable social circumstances. It concerns me that most people (including myself) are so consumed by online activities for an extensive amount of time. I often think about the years before social media was created, when people didn’t use their phones or laptops for leisure time. It seems like a simpler time in the sense that they would read a newspaper and discuss the information in a social setting, take a photograph and move on with their day, their communication was strictly over the phone or by text messaging with no other distractions.
This is where my project combines old and new media to display the contrast in simplicity and complexity. The prints from the disposable camera display the people in their addiction and next to those prints are screenshots of their externalisations. A large part of social media is interaction and connection so I have also linked people in their social media usage to show how digital associations can commonly become disconnections.
Over the last decade social media has become increasingly popular with user growth and activity reaching new heights each year, social media is pretty much unescapable is this day of age. The reason for the excessive use of digital technology is because of how easily available is has become to access content. A 2014 study (Ryan, Chester, Reece, Xenos, 2014) states that there were 1.28 billion active users on Facebook per month and at least 802 billion of these users were logging into the site and app everyday (This making Facebook the most popular social networking service at the time).
The main reason people start to commonly abuse social media is due to relationship maintenance, passing of time, entertainment and compassion. (Tracii Ryan, Andrea Chester, John Reece and Sophia Xenos, 2014 [built on studies from Kuss and Griffiths (2011]).
Researchers also found that introverted people gravitate towards social media websites and apps because there is no face-to-face engagement involved. This gratifies shy individuals and can become an issue due to them becoming addicted to conversing through this medium. A clinical report by American Academy of Paediatrics researchers (Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe & Kathleen Clarke-Pearson, pg. 806, 2011) shows that many preteens and teenagers who do seek connections through Facebook often develop what is called “Facebook Depression”. This is because users often develop the overwhelming feeling of being isolated from society. Also realising that acceptance is not as easily found in real life situations.
Cecilie Schou Anderson, Stale Pallesen and Mark D Griffiths suggest that narcissism comes into play with social media addictiveness, people rely on recognition through likes and positive comments as rewards for sharing their accomplishments and succusses to a large internet audience. This method of gratification has proven to be harmful as it creates almost a fake image of self-creditability hidden behind crippling lack of self-esteem. These people who spend large amounts of time and effort on social media fall into picking up addictive social media symptoms. They lose touch with real life social interaction and expressing themselves in person (Beck, 2007).
Molly Scott (2015) explains that this nature of recognition over social media is also linked to the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is also one of the large factors of social media addiction. Dopamine is a pleasure chemical released by neurons to your brain, it is the feeling you commonly receive after a positive rush from an act. Scott states that when you share information (thoughts, pictures, content) online you gain encouraging attention leading to the release of dopamine. Just like drugs, you always want more and can be easily triggered, her research found that the buzzing from your phone and notifications activate this need for more acknowledgment online. People also see an increase in the chemical release when viewing content they like or that causes excitement/anticipation.
Tracii Ann Ryan, Doctor of Philosophy viewed blogs from people who identified as being Facebook Addicts, User Bobby L (2008) described it as harder than quitting cigarettes, that the site was like a “digital slot machine” calling his name. The USA released several studies after 2006 showing a sample of 340 communication students, on average the participants would log onto Facebook 5.56 times per day using the site for 17.4 minutes. The number of studies showed that most students logged in multiple times a day with out considering their daily schedule, rather working their timetable around Facebook which is seen as an unhealthy habit (Fogger, 2008).
This is very concerning as constant use of digital devices has shown to have negative affects on the brain (Fritz Kohle & Sony Jalarajan Raj, 2015), Korean practitioner (Kim Dae Jin) has seen a rise in digital dementia and detrition of cognitive abilities that are not usually seen in young people. This issue saw a noteworthy increase in 2008 with the popularity in sales of mobile digital devices in South Korea.
This is an extremely eye opening reality check. I have learnt so much from the research and construction of my creative piece based on social media addiction. Modern social media can contribute to and intensify mental health issues as well premature cognitive problems.
While simultaneously swapping between new media (smartphone and laptop) and old media (disposable camera and note pad) I have noticed the difference in how I use my time and energy. While digital and modern social media do have advantages, so many people focus intensely on how they present themselves on social media, also getting hooked on the content provided by platforms. So much so that they often forget about the world around them.
Using the disposable camera I had no method of distraction to go too, I would return back to the activity or situation I was in instantly. I had to be patient in my art because of the development process that gave me more appreciation for the pictures and the time I had to take them.
Total Word Count: 1,201
Old’s Cool – Daniel Binns
Quinlan Li – s3540025
Bibliography:
Ryan, T 2015. Facebook Addiction: A Exploratory Study Using Mixed Methods, RMIT University, Melbourne, AUS.
Ryan, T, Chester, A, Reece, J & Xenos, S 2014. The uses and abuses of Facebook, Akademiai Kiado, Hungary.
Andreassen, C, Pallesen, S & Griffiths, M 2016. The Relationship between addictive use of social media, narcissm, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national survey, Elsevier, Nottingham, UK.
Gwenn, O, Kathleen, C & COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA. 2011, Clinical Report—The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families, American Academy of Paediatrics, USA.
Molly, S, 2015. Social Media Triggers a Dopamine High, American Marketing Association, Viewed on 3 Jun 2017.
https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/feeding-the-addiction.aspx
Fritz, K, & Song, R. 2015, Abuse of the Social Media Brain: Implications for Media Producers and Educators, IGI Gopal,
Suw, A. 2009, Seeking Addiction: The Role of dopamine in social media, Computer Weekly, USA.
Viewed on YouTube, Quit Social Media / Dr. Cal Newport / TEDxTysons – YouTube, 18 Sep 2016, Uploaded by TEDx Talks, viewd on 22 Jun 2017:
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