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Brittney Moore Professor Presnell Engl- 1102 March 31, 2014 Social Network Addiction When I was younger

(age 12 and 13) it seemed like only one social network was popular at a time. First it was Myspace, then Facebook. Now that Im older it seems like there are several popular social networks that people get onto on the daily basis. I went from getting on one social network a day, Facebook, to getting on three a day, Twitter, Vine, and Instagram. Every time I pick up my phone I automatically click on one of the three apps, its like it has become a habit. In todays time psychologist and doctors have a long list of things people can get addicted to. It seems like a person can get addicted to just about anything such as video games, shopping, tanning, pulling out hair, and even eating dirt. This led me to wonder if people can really get addicted to social networks and if so how? Ive noticed an incline in the use of social networks. There are so many to choose from already, and more and more being made. I also watch how social networks affect the people around me. My sisters and cousin constantly text me to ask me to like their pictures on Instagram. When we all get together someone always bring up how many likes they get or how many followers they have. Its like theyre in some kind of competition to see who has more followers and who gets the most likes the quickest. All of these things made me want to learn about social network addiction even

more. Are social networks just used to stay current? Or maybe people are obsessed with them because they boost their ego? Or is it really possible to be addicted to social networks? What is an Addiction? According to Psychology Today, addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in an activity that can be pleasurable but the continued use of it becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work or relationships, or health. Despite the negative consequences it may cause in their life or the people around them the user continues to engage in the activities, sometimes unaware of the problems their addiction causes. There are several symptoms for addiction: a craving or compulsion to use the substance or activity, inability to limit use of a substance or activity beyond need leading to clinically significant impairment, recurrent use of the drug or activity escalates to achieve the desired effect, indicating tolerance, attempts to stop usage produce symptoms of withdrawal, and recurrent use of the substance or activity impairs work, social, and family responsibilities, creates psychological impairments and interpersonal problems, has negative effects on health, mood, self-respect, exacerbated by the effects of the specific substance itself. Considering how broad the definition of an addiction is, it would seem very possible for some to have and addiction to social networks. Coca Cola even produced a short video to portray how social networks interfere with the personal life of people in a comedic way. In the video they showed how people are often disconnected from the world and consumed with their phone. The people in the video missed out on quality time with their family and friends all because they were on their phone. The solution to get people to stop was to put a coca cola red dog cone around there heads to prevent them from looking at their phones. Of course this really cant be

done, but it shows that people are becoming aware of how social networks are started to effect the lives of many people. Can a Person Really Become Addicted to Social Networks? It has been relatively hard to discover if a person can actually become addicted to social networks. With the rise of social networks being relatively new there hasnt been much research done on social network addiction. A lot of researchers tie it into being an internet addiction. But other researchers and I believe that it is something totally different. At first I was getting a lot of information saying people have a fear of being left out and thats why they become so attached to social networks. People always want to be on the inside loop, but there is no actual evidence to prove that. I continued searching because I knew that couldnt be it, Some people only post to benefit themselves and dont even really care about whats happening to other people. So what is the reason for people being obsessed in that case? There was research at Harvard University that proved that people could become addicted to social networks. When a person discloses information about themselves endorphins are released in the brain that causes pleasure. The same kind of pleasure someone receives when getting money or even having sex. Even though its a small amount of pleasure a person can get addicted to the feeling without even knowing it. It was also proved that when the audience is larger, more endorphins are released and the person experiences more pleasure. Which is why people care so much about how many followers they have, and how many likes they get. Harvard proved that social network addiction is actually real. Even with the mere fact that social networks have started to interfere with the lives of people makes it possible to be an addiction. Even though people miss out on activities and causes problems between families and friends, they still continue the use of social networks.

What should be done about it? Since social networks are relatively new and many people are on the fence about if people can really be addicted to social networks there isnt any current progress to fix the problem. Most people believe that it is something that will die down. They believe that since social networks are new people are still trying to figure them out and play around with them; but in a few years or so people will stop using them as much. There needs to be more research done about in before any progress can be seen. I believe that social network addiction isnt going anywhere. I believe people are going to keep making new sites and people are going to continue to use them. I think it should be treated in a way that all other addictions are. Even though it might seem silly, social networks have really started to affect the lives of many people. There might need to be counselors and groups people can go to in order to get help with their addiction. People are distracted from their family, friends, work, and class. I hope researchers continue to look into social network addiction and take it as a serious problem.

Work Cited "Addiction." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers , n.d. Web. 10 Apr 2014. Brown, Lance. "New Harvard Study Shows Why Social Media Is So Addictive for Many." WTWH Marketing Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar 2014. Lowery, Tom. "Why Social Media Is So Addictive (And Why Marketers Should Care)." CMS Wire. N.p., 28 Aug 2013. Web. 16 Mar 2014. "This Video Perfectly (and hilariously) Captures our Social Media Addiction." Huffington Post 25 Feb 2014, n. page. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

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