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Social Meida Addiction Essay

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On the night of my first Media and Society class, my instructor Ann, sternly stated (while going over the class syllabus) that we were not to use our, smart phones, computers, etc. for personal use only class related reasons or taking notes. No social media networks, tweeting or sending messages. I found myself thinking this is an adult college program; why was it necessary for her to tell us that? Is there a problem here that required such a statement? Ann then asked how many of us use “Social Media” (that is what the class is about, media and its effect on society) what we use it for, how often we use it and if we ever turned our connection off. When I heard some of the answers I was concerned. Several students admitted that they would …show more content…

“As many as 1 in 8 Americans suffer from problematic social media usage,” according to Stanford University,” not only are people obsessed and over use it, but they are actually becoming addicted. There are several online social medias that people are becoming addicted to; the five most prevalent are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dating sites and online gaming, in particular Warcraft. Anyone who has access to technology, a computer, smart phone etc. and access to the internet is at stake in this new-aged addiction, regardless of age, race or gender. Social Media Addiction is now being recognized as a psychological disorder all over the world, not just here in the U.S. In the 90’s studies were focused on Internet Addiction (IA), but the new decade with its advances in social media sites have now added yet another addiction to study.
Facebook seems to be the number one social web site that has the highest addiction count. Facebook has 800 million active users, two billion posts are liked and commented on per day and approximately 10 billion minutes (all together) are logged on the site each day. It is so addictive for so many that is has been said to be as addictive as smoking. Studies have revealed that people feel upset, fidgety and agitated if they are denied access to the internet and their social media sites. Some even stating that they feel lonely, depressed and anxious if they are unable to access their Facebook account.
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