{"id":209555,"date":"2021-03-24T11:30:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T08:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks\/"},"modified":"2021-03-24T11:30:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T08:30:38","slug":"you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks\/","title":{"rendered":"#You can\u2019t be \u2018addicted\u2019 to social media \u2014 but it still sucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40474b40397\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40474b40397\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks\/#Social_media_use\" >Social media use<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks\/#Social_media_addiction\" >Social media addiction<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#You can\u2019t be \u2018addicted\u2019 to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> \u2014 but it still sucks<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                            If you spend hours of the day on your phone checking social media, you\u2019re not unusual. The average internet user spends <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.globalwebindex.com\/chart-of-the-day\/daily-time-spent-on-social-networks\/\">two hours a day<\/a> on various social media sites. But does your habit of checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok every few hours make you a social media \u201caddict\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>The term \u201csocial media addiction\u201d is being increasingly used to describe people who spend a lot of time on these websites and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>s. Doing so can be harmful to people in a variety of ways \u2013 causing low self esteem, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lanchi\/article\/PIIS2352-4642(19)30186-5\/fulltext\">bad sleep<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/internet\/2015\/01\/15\/psychological-stress-and-social-media-use-2\/\">increasing stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The main focus when considering addiction to substances tends to be on three key elements: compulsion (or loss of control), tolerance (needing to increase amount to achieve the same effect) and withdrawal (unpleasant side effects when use stops). Other factors to consider relate to craving, preoccupation and continuing use despite it causing obvious problems. It\u2019s easy to see how these factors apply to drugs, but what about shopping, gambling or, indeed, social media use?<\/p>\n<p>Increasing interest in these and other behavioral \u201caddictions\u201d \u2013 like gaming, sex or the internet \u2013 has resulted in broadening definitions of what addiction is. Psychologists talk <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/fampra\/article\/19\/1\/118\/555581\">of excessive appetites<\/a> and powerful motivational drives to engage in particular behaviors that have the power to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/op.europa.eu\/en\/publication-detail\/-\/publication\/a8f43b64-d6c6-48e1-aaf3-c83ce4c92fd6\/language-en\">do considerable unintended harm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As researchers in social media and addiction, we have spent the last 25 years understanding different kinds of addiction. Our research tells us that social media addiction is not the same as an addiction to substances, like alcohol and other drugs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Social_media_use\"><\/span>Social media use<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Too much social media can certainly be damaging. One major feature of social media is it allows users some control over how they present themselves to others. People can edit their online appearance and sometimes present themselves inaccurately while seeking validation from others.<\/p>\n<p>This can cause all kinds of harm. In a study in 2019, we found when female users looked at the platforms for around one and a half hours per day, this was related to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pure.southwales.ac.uk\/files\/3659041\/Graff_Czarnomska_2019_.pdf\">an increased desire to be thin<\/a>, a heightened awareness of how they think other people judge them and motivation to exercise for the purposes of losing weight.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>Read more:\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-is-celebrity-abuse-on-twitter-so-bad-it-might-be-a-problem-with-our-empathy-154970\">Why is celebrity abuse on Twitter so bad? It might be a problem with our empathy<\/a><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>And in 2016, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/gb\/blog\/love-digitally\/201603\/do-you-crave-facebook-likes\">we investigated the ways<\/a> people seek validation on social media. We looked at how often people manipulate posts to increase the number of likes received, use social media to boost spirits or blindly post about issues with which they did not necessarily agree.<\/p>\n<p>We found when this kind of online behavior increased, self-esteem decreased. But our findings didn\u2019t necessarily show a compulsion to use social media \u2013 something key in making it an addiction. Other social factors, such as fear of missing out and narcissistic personality traits, may drive the need to use social media to an unhealthy degree.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Social_media_addiction\"><\/span>Social media addiction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In 2020, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/32793537\/\">we undertook a study<\/a> into harmful gambling that might help answer the question of whether social media addiction is real.<\/p>\n<p>We found that rapid technological developments in the ease and speed of access of phone and tablet apps are leading to increased levels of gambling harm. Similar psychological processes may be at work on social media platforms, where need for validation, craving and checking likes is amplified.<\/p>\n<p>Behavioral explanations for how addictions develop emphasize the power of reinforcement. Gambling products often use the most powerful form of reinforcement: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jgi.camh.net\/index.php\/jgi\/article\/view\/3780\">random pay outs<\/a>. This, again, is potentially similar to the way users receive validation in the form of \u201clikes\u201d on social media.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1344012 lazy\" alt=\"Selfie time\" width=\"1640\" height=\"1092\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1640px) 100vw, 1640px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920.jpg\" data-lazy=\"true\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920.jpg 1640w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920-280x186.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920-405x270.jpg 405w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920-203x135.jpg 203w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920-796x530.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/people-2557410_1920-1592x1060.jpg 1592w\"\/><figcaption>Credit: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/people-men-guys-boys-girl-woman-2557410\/\">StockSnap \/ Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/socialmedia\/2021\/03\/24\/you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks-syndication\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenextweb.com%2Fsocialmedia%2F2021%2F03%2F24%2Fyou-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Selfie time\" data-title=\"Share Selfie time on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Selfie time on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Selfie time<span class=\"attribution\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\/><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are some who might argue that chronic overuse of social media can be seen as an addiction, but it not is currently recognized as such by the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3767415\/\">American Psychiatric Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There are important differences between excessive social media use and substances in terms of addiction. For example, withdrawal from the latter is often physically unpleasant and sometimes dangerous without medical supervision. Users often suffer stigma, which can be a barrier to seeking help. In comparison, it hasn\u2019t yet been established that there are physical withdrawal effects when people stop using social media.<\/p>\n<p>Considering social media use more as a continuum of possible harm might allow more scope for appropriately targeted messages that could prevent problems developing in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>There are clearly elements of social media use that resonate with certain characterizations of addiction, such as psychological notions of excessive appetites or powerful motivations, and the built-in platform mechanisms of reinforcement through random affirmations or \u201clikes\u201d. It\u2019s also clear that this can be harmful in terms of negative impact on some users\u2019 self-esteem and body image.<\/p>\n<p>But despite these factors, the most useful question might be how to create a healthy balance of interaction in our virtual and real worlds.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth remembering that behavioral addictions, like those to substances, often occur alongside other mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, suggesting that vulnerability may be multifaceted. This may also be true of excessive social media use.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/157082\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/bev-john-826790\">Bev John<\/a>, Professor of Addictions and Health Psychology, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-south-wales-1586\">University of South Wales<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/martin-graff-437243\">Martin Graff<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Relationships, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-south-wales-1586\">University of South Wales<\/a>,\u00a0is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/too-much-social-media-can-be-harmful-but-its-not-addictive-like-drugs-157082\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/socialmedia\/2021\/03\/24\/you-cant-be-addicted-to-social-media-but-it-still-sucks-syndication\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#You can\u2019t be \u2018addicted\u2019 to social media \u2014 but it still sucks&#8221; If you spend hours of the day on your phone checking social media, you\u2019re not unusual. The average internet user spends two hours a day on various social media sites. But does your habit of checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok every few&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":209556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Woman-phone-social-media-addiction-not-quite-hed.jpg&signature=d8b22e52528bda320b433f61f656c96e","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[71612,4976],"class_list":["post-209555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-insights","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}