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Bethany Schmidt

Malcom Campbell

UWRT 1104

October 30, 2017

Social Media Addiction: A Public Health Concern

Social media addiction is a very current issue. Defined by a phrase used to refer to

someone spending too much time in a social media platform, so much that it interferes with

aspects of daily life (Walker). Some people would say social media has more negatives than

positives and that it is causing dangers to kids and young adults which in some ways it is. Other

people would say social media is a good thing. That it is helping people be social

and helping businesses. These are all true but the addiction to these social networks is the

concern and more needs to be done about it. Even though the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition recently added internet gaming disorder to their manual it

doesnt mention anything about the general use of the internet and the addiction to social media.

Also, it is only identified as a condition needing more clinical research so it is not in the main

book as a formal disorder (APA). So, it is being looked into more but it still is not a top priority

in most peoples eyes. I do not think many people are thinking about the long-term damage that

can occur because there have not been any major cases on it. But we should be trying to stop it

before serious addiction cases arise.

Kids cannot put down their phones and feel the need to constantly check their social

networks for fear of missing out. This is known as FOMO. It is defined by "Anxiety that

an interesting event may be happening somewhere else, often aroused by posts on social media"

(Oxford Dictionary). The fact that there is an anxiety disorder related to social media should be
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enough for the US to declare it a public health concern. There are even people videoing violent

interactions to post on the internet instead of helping the person in danger. These people are

more concerned about posting on their social media than helping and that is a major red flag of

addiction. This addiction is rising and needs to be addressed in the US to make the people aware

of how much they use social media and how much is it affecting them. It is already a public

health concern in other countries and they have treatment centers for it.

How much time do we spend on social media?

Since social media has become so popular recently, time spent on the internet

is increasing quick and social media is a large portion of that time. Total time spent

online daily is about 6 hours. This includes laptops, mobile phones, and tablets. With two hours

of that time spent browsing on social media sites, which is half an hour longer than in 2012. This

totals up to a third of our daily internet activities (Mander). In a 2012 survey conducted by A

Common-Sense Research, found that 20% of social networkers describe themselves as

addicted. They also found that 15-19-year olds spend about 3 hours per day on social media,

18% of users check Facebook every four hours and 28% of iPhone users check their twitter feed

before getting out of bed (Ramasubbu). This was 4 years ago and with the increased popularity

of social media it has greatly increased. In 2017, 81% of Americans had a social media profile.

That is a five percent growth from just last year (Statista). Lauren Davidson from the Telegraph

news site says, "The average person has about 5 social media accounts, leading to more

accounts, which means more time spent online". However, strangely in Britain they are only

spending about an hour and twenty minutes daily on social media.

So, why is it less than the US? Well I think it is because the US has not addressed social

media addiction as a public health issue even though other countries have. They are aware of the
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social media issue and recognize their use of it so it is less than the US. With all this time spent

online and on social media these sites are mainly visited by mobile phones. Mobile internet is

rising and it is adding to the addiction. In 2013, 15% of all internet traffic was due to mobile

usage and was predicted to be up to 30% by the end of 2014 (Yarow). So, I'm sure it

has increased a lot by now. This adds to the social media addiction because everyone always has

their phones in their hands, it's so easy just to scroll on Instagram while you're walking or

waiting anywhere.

What are the effects of this addiction?

Constantly being on your phone scrolling social media or on any other device

is causing real issues with people's health. "Facebook Depression" is a term related to when

people spend a lot of time on social sites they begin to have symptoms of depression, says

Gwen O'Keeffe. She is a medical doctor with a concentration in pediatrics, an author and health

journalist. She also says, "This depression can then lead to them going to risky internet and blog

sites for help and that can promote substance abuse". This happens because troubled youth go

online to seek help and vent. If they go to the wrong site there can be unprofessional people on

the website promoting drug use or self-destructive behaviors. If they arent getting any other help

or talking to someone that can actually help they think it is their only choice. This is definitely a

negative factor of social media because kids aren't going to adults to get help. They are just

posting more on their social networks.

Social media has a way to make people feel like their lives are less adequate. When social

media users see posts of famous people traveling the world with all their money or see pictures

of supermodels looking very thin, it has the power to make anyone feel bad about themselves

This can cause anxiety and/or depression. If someone posts on social media and it doesnt get a
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certain number of likes or retweets it makes them feel unimportant or like people dont

like them. Also, this addiction is making advertisements on social media sites more

common because of the excessive use. Advertisements can be very manipulative. There are

behavior ads and these collect data on your browsing behavior to create ads that will appeal

more to you (O'Keeffe). If you have a young teen constantly seeing ads for things they are too

young for then they are going to feel like it's okay to buy these products or to try them.

Symptoms and Side Effects

Like any other addiction there are symptoms and side effects. With social media

addiction, it is still being researched but we do know that it has the most effect on

younger people. It lowers self-esteem and lowers their quality of life. They have feelings of

distress and mental overload. People that are constantly on social media will feel like

other people are happier and live better lives then they do. People may feel less successful about

themselves and it can have effects on relationships by causing people to become jealous

more easily (Fox). People can use the internet to escape troubling feelings, they can start to build

a tolerance to the amount needed for satisfaction and can have conflicts with other people

because of the use. These are all signs of addiction and these signs have also been determined in

gaming addiction and with food consumption (Young).

Studies show that full time students are at highest risk for becoming addicted to social

media and the internet because of the free unlimited access and the amount of free time. This is

interesting because I would agree that full time students have constant access to social media.

The full-time students also are the millennials and have had the most use of social media.

Everyone between the ages 15-25 has one or more forms of a social media account. Pew

Research Center says, Young adults were among the earliest of social media adopters and
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continue to use these sites at high levels. You can find anyone online and I think that it is

because we have grown up in this social media age and gotten used to the major use of

social media because I think we are the generation that uses the internet the most.

Treatments

Because this is a new issue and there isn't much known about social media addiction the

treatments and clinics are limited. You can get treatment in many different ways. A few

examples are being a patient in a clinic, going to self-help groups, having family counseling,

support groups, and the family can go to educational workshops to learn about the addiction

and how to handle it.

Medical professionals treat social media addiction basically like any other addiction.

First you have to admit to the addiction because you cannot recover if you are still in denial.

Then you have to restrict and moderate your use and turn off all notifications so you are not

tempted to get on social media. After you reduce the time on social media you have to find new

ways to communicate other than social media. More face to face communication is always

suggested or phone calls (Young). Treatment is really about limiting use of social media and

internet as a whole and communicating face to face more. There is a lot more treatment clinics in

eastern Asia because internet and social media is so big there that theyve had the issue a while

and have plenty of ways to treat it. Like wellness centers where they completely isolate you from

social media and the internet. This helps the patient see that they do not need social media. After

reducing the use of social media therapists will meet with the patient and start to discuss and

evaluate the underlying causes or triggers that could cause the addiction (paradigm). Unlike here

in the US where it's not a public health concern yet, so it's harder to find a clinic or support

groups that will help with this social media addiction because it's just not as known about. There
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are a few clinics that are providing care for this issue. They are in bigger cities like Malibu.

There is also an internet addiction center that just opened up in the state of Washington. They

have a 45-day program called restart and it basically removes them from the internet and

reprograms their social skills. It is on the rise however, I think more and more people are

becoming aware and realizing that it probably is not good to spend so much time on social media

and the internet.

Why is it not a public health concern in the US?

The US uses social media as a major marketing tool to sell technology, ideas, and

clothing. Not only is social media a marketing tool for the United States economy it is also one

of the largest news outlets for people, which is why I think it has not been announced as

a public health concern because big businesses that support the government will lose

money. Also, celebrities and government officials can use Instagram and Twitter to reach out

to millennials and try to persuade them to think a certain way. Like President Trump for

example, he tweets daily and the majority who sees it is millennials because twitter is most

widely used with that age group. Twitter use for people ages 18-29 is up to 36 percent. With ages

30-49 it drops down to 22 percent, according to a survey conducted in 2016 by Pew Research

Center. I know some say millennials are politically unmotivated which could be true for some

but some are very into politics. So, when they see all of trumps tweets they are able to form their

own opinions. Also, celebrities post about their opinions and beliefs so people who look up to

them usually believe it. Really the US could be telling them what to say and what to post so the

average people will go along with it and believe what they want.

Also, the US is now using social media to find out more information and data

on immigrants (Darville). The Department of Homeland Security has added 12 new types of
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information that can be collected through social media. Anyone who corresponds with an

immigrant can have their conversations monitored. This is a process of high-tech surveillance of

immigrants (Darville). The US isn't announcing that social media addiction is an issue for their

own gain.

Conclusion

With social media being such a used tool, the US may never declare social media

addiction as a public health concern unless the use increases drastically and its effect on people

gets worse. I think it is an important of a way to reach out to people. You can use it to share news

and for communication for them to try to lower the use. It is such a crucial part of the culture we

live in today that I think it is more likely that we adapt to the excessive use of social media and

the internet rather than change it. For example, children these days start using technology at such

a young age. My two-year-old niece knows how to work an iPhone and get to the apps she wants

so she can play games. That just shows how young the use can start and it will just grow from

there.

Social media should just be a way for people to communicate and should just be a form

of entertainment. It is a newer thing so we have no idea what the long-term effects could be, if

there are any and that should be looked into so we know what can happen with over use of social

media before it gets out of hand. Addiction is a real thing and comes in many forms. It can cause

people to become very mentally ill and distant from the real world. The use is rising each year

and growing as technology advances. People just need to be aware of the chance of addiction and

the effects of it so they can try to limit their use on their own if they can. As citizens of the US

we need to look at our actions and see the affects they have. I believe that could make a big
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impact on the addiction issue and could possibly fix itself. We should lower our use of social

media and the internet just to see what happens because this could beneficial for everyone.

Page Break

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