'Addicted To Distraction' By Tony Schwartz

Addiction doesn’t only come from drugs and cigarettes, but also social media. When teens start using social media too much it can get as addictive as drugs and cigarettes.This is disturbing because of past studies drugs and cigarettes are one of the hardest things to give up, once you start. “Teens who get hooked on such forms of social media find it hard to spend too much time away from them.Their schoolwork can suffer as a result. So can their personal relationships and their moods,” states Source 1. One can see from this that social media has caused stress among teens by getting them to attach to their social media profiles that they lose touch with reality.

Young people would rather be on social media playing on apps, instead of going outdoors and playing an activity, which later can cause obesity. In Poertners article, Frances Jensen a neuroscientist states that,”dopamine can be triggered just as easily by the release of the latest iPhone as by alcohol, pot, sex, or a fast car. In some ways, technology is like drugs”(2). Author is trying to say that young people need to realize that social media is like drugs. For instance, young people are staying up late and only having 4 to 5 hours of sleep on a school day, which can not enough to function throughout the day. They can also feel emotional and have mental problems such as anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints among many others. These symptoms are exactly what drug addicts go through as well. With this being said, social media is more like a drug rather than an necessity.

It has become extremely common for an individual to sign into their Facebook account, and see a picture that they feel exposed a little too much. Check into their Instagram account, and regret letting everyone know what their location was. Feel uncomfortable, or bullied by a tweet that a person posted to their Twitter. Per Farheen’s article on negative effects of social media “participating in social media sites such as these can make you feel more connected” (Sagheer 1). It is not okay for individuals to feel victimized due to the negative effects of social media. Social media tends to distract, humiliate, and destroy one-self through entertainment. If people would donate more time to things more supplemental to their growth, and limit their use of social media, then maybe people would stop walking over the harm that social media presents to our community. Monitoring the time invested into social media will help eliminate most of the detriment, privacy issues, and bullying flowing through today’s society.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are commonly used among the younger generations, but can the excessive use of these apps cause mayhem? According to a new study conducted by the Family Technology Education Non-Profit Group, teenagers are spending nearly 9 hours a day on social media. The excessive use of social media is a bad influence on adolescents because of the negative impacts it has. Social media can cause direct impacts to the mental health, safety, and lives of its users. Teenagers need to ensure that they are being cautious and responsible while using different social media networks.

One example is Amino; Amino is an app that has a myriad of groups on it for all different interests, scaling from videogames to fingernail painting, to soccer. People on this site can share pictures, create blogs, enter chatrooms with other people to discuss their chosen topic and can potentially meet someone new. This takes the basic idea of common interest and expands it into a social network. Amino is just one of many platforms of social media. This increase in communication and relationship building seems harmless but it has slowly become an addiction. In the article “The Ugly Toll of Technology” by Tara Parker-Pope, she discusses how kids and young adults are addicted to technology; this addiction is causing harm to our mental and emotional well-being. People have been using technology, specifically social media, as a social crutch to communicate to others in our daily lives. Similar to drugs abuse, without technology, many people cannot function on a normal basis. This new for way of communicating is slowly making physical conversation obsolete. The International Center Media and the Public Agenda at the University of Maryland conducted a study where

First, social media, especially Facebook, are very addicted. People would say drug or alcohol is more addicted than social media or social media addiction is not big problems, but it is not true. There is a report of the social media addiction by University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. A team from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business recently conducted an experiment involving 205 people in Wurtzburg, Germany to analyze the addictive properties of social media and other devices. Participants in the week-long study were polled via BlackBerry smartphones seven times per day and asked to report when they experienced a desire within the past 30

Andreassen, Pallesen, Griffiths (2015) argues the implications of social media on a person(s), being addictive habits which affect self-esteem and moods. They did a study proving over 23,500 participants (Andreassen et al. 2015) showed addictive behaviour; of which it was most associated with

Irena Ceranic, the author of the web article Social Media Addiction a Growing Concern, has utilised quotes, anecdotes and statistics to convey the author’s argument that social media is becoming an addiction. “… If a teenager spends long periods of time on the computer… that’s going to interfere with things like their real-time social life, they get fat… and it can interfere with their relationship with their parents, it becomes a source of conflict,” mentioned Perth psychologist Tony White. By bringing up the negative impacts for both the addict and their family, Ceranic has heightened concern for the parents with adolescent children who are obsessed with technology. To reach out to the adolescents who may fear they are becoming addicted to

There is a high probability you are 1 of the 211.39 million of Americans who are social network users (Statista). This number is the highest it’s been and on the rise for years to come. It’s considerably difficult for you to not have a social network platform. There is hardly a person who does not have a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account. Social Media is typically used for communication and entertainment, from direct messaging, uploading photos and videos, reading articles about various topics and playing video games. Today’s generation of Americans check their accounts periodically throughout the day trying to read messages from their “friends” or look at the new photo they uploaded. Most without hesitation

Social media is used widely by many across the nation, it is very prevalent in the lives of today’s college student and young adults to connect with friends attending different institutions or even friends sitting just across the room. In a generation where technology is so heavily relied on and even addicting to some, we have seen an increase of addictive behaviors. Does the overuse of technology contribute to the rising alcohol and drug addictions as well as mental health issues? In this paper I will discuss addiction and it’s prevalence in the U.S.  I will also discuss the use of social media in both teens and adults and the effects it has on the use of alcohol and drugs.

From waking up at dawn to sleeping at night, it has now become essential and perhaps normal for people—specifically the youth—to check their social media accounts regularly. Moreover, with phones glued to chests the entire day, it is as if cellular devices have become lifelines—seemingly impossible to survive without. A study by the Australian Psychological Society displays that 56% of adolescents (aged 13-17) are heavy social media users, connecting more than five times a day; 25% remain constantly connected. On average, adults spend 2.1 hours a day linked to social media, whereas teens spend 2.7 hours. People constantly have desires to check into the virtual world, disconnecting themselves from reality. However, in actuality, these are warning signs for a dangerous outcome: addiction. While many brush off these urges in a light-hearted manner, addiction is a serious issue with life-altering effects. The previously mentioned study also states that 60% of adolescents and 25% of adults feel brain burnout from continuously staying connected to social media. In addition, more than half of adolescents find it difficult to sleep after spending time on these sites—thus proving that the effects of addiction can be dangerous. What may seem like a few ordinary hours on the web can actually have psychological effects on the brain. Mental health is no laughing matter; it is a critical issue that needs to be dealt with in a serious fashion. Constantly staying attached to social media can affect sleep schedules as well as the ability of the brain to operate properly; consequently, this can influence the capability of a person to function in school, at work, etc. The negative effects of social media may also include a decrease in one’s self esteem; people who regularly visit networking sites may be prone to anxiety as well. The

The most genuine complication of social media is addiction. A reporter on Salem health characterized that text messaging is no longer the biggest teenage obsession, and enormous phone bills from lengthy phone calls are no longer the biggest doubts for parents. These teenage addictions still remain, but in our generation and in analogy to the Facebook mania, it’s quite insignificant. Facebook addiction is advised to be a disorder driven by a craving. Not being able to access Facebook creates anxiety among fanatics. It is one of the most prominent social networking sites and has over one billion users without exception. People detach themselves from family and friends. Further symptoms of Facebook addiction have been related with needy sleep patterns. Researchers have also attempted to evaluate certain personality traits to the obsession. Being in touch with friends and family might clarify the logic why people are unreasonably obsessed.

In today’s society almost every individual has some type of social media, whether it is Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter, People have accustomed to utilizing these types of social media and it has become part of their life and daily use. According to the essay “Students Addicted to Social Media” by the International Center for Media and Public Agenda, the study from the University of Maryland claims “American college students today are addicted to media” (Signs of Life in the USA 403). The university discovered that when these students are restricted from using media it is similar in terms of drug and alcohol addictions. During the study that the university conducted, students discuss how boring it is without media and how it gives them anxiety about not receiving information through social media. Other students claimed that texting and IM'ing gives them comfort and if they do not have these items then they feel alone and isolated from the world ( Signs of Life in the USA 404). Students are not the only ones who have an addiction of media but also parents and non-students. However, the International Center is accurate in some aspects and the responses students gave are very relatable which some people can agree with.

Our lives seem to be more and more consumed by technology as great advances in this area have continue to be made, especially when it comes to social media. Many researchers have begun to notice that depending on how much time individuals spend on these social media sites, they can negatively affect their daily lifestyle in very significant ways.  For example, social networking has become a huge distraction for students and it can affect their grades depending on how often they check their various accounts while doing class work.  Researchers have also come to find out that social media can contribute to the development of psychological symptoms

It is easy for someone to get addicted to something, and in today’s society, people can become addicted to anything, even social media. With media and technology always advancing, it is not a shock to hear that too much media and over use of electronics will affect your mental and physical wellbeing. There is a link that shows that watching too much television can cause an increase in childhood obesity. Along with this, there is also an increased risk of higher cholesterol levels in children. This does not just come from too much television; it is too much media in general. Abusing computers have been shown to cause this same result, along with social skills not developing