A study was performed comparing the addiction to social media to that of drugs and alcohol in 2012. Social media addiction can be considered a type of mental health problem. Addiction is not the only thing that is changing the way people behave and how their brains work, but it is also altering peoples' ability to multitask.
Another effect is in our nervous systems. "Phantom vibration syndrome is a relatively new but completely legitimate psychological process where individuals constantly believe their phones are vibrating." (Dovey, Medical Daily)
There is another report by ASAP Science that state how people talk more about themselves but how virtual interactions are now leading to stronger relationships. Could this be a cause of social media or is it just that people who are social media addicts can tolerate each other?
As Dovey describes, do we control technology or does it control us?
According to Samuel Merritt University, there are five ways that technology is altering our brains and changing our lives. These include:
- a decrease in our attention span
- distracted more easily
- more multitasking
- with a growing addiction to technology and social media, being able to socially interact with people has become harder.
Conclusively, there are ways that people can use social media and rely on technology but still have a balanced life. To have a healthier life and shift our brains from so much social media, people could meditate and/or do physical activity, and putting our phones down when eating and when around other people.
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I enjoyed reading the article you posted. While Social Media has helped me connect more to friends and social events, I feel technology is controlling us like nobody could have guessed it would in the past. Another thing I have noticed is the affect of phones and technology on the sleep cycles of people. I know from my own personal experience that technology has made it a lot harder to adhere to my old sleeping habits. From keeping my phone on my nightstand as a alarm clock, to the blue lights emitted from phones restraining the body's production of melatonin I, like many people have been getting less sleep on a daily basis. I found an interesting article.
ReplyDeletehttps://sleep.org/articles/ways-technology-affects-sleep/
I believe that this is a growing issue and should be addressed more seriously. I have noticed that people my age not only have trouble paying attention in places like class, meetings, and work, but they also have trouble even paying attention to someone that they are having lunch with! With our smart phones constantly at our fingertips, people in our society often will pay attention to their phone instead of the real life interactions that they are having with their friends or family.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article on this topic:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/ignoring-people-for-phones-is-the-new-normal-phubbing-study/486845/
The debate of whether social media actually drive people away from each other is another good topic Max. You may see a trend that social media is trying to develop new functions to help people actually get connect (e.g. instagram live streaming with friends), instead of clicking like bottom to virus image with no heart. However, so far these functions barely help people get connect with friends and family around them, but triggers people to pay attention the hottest topic on air. Like this streaming things - none of my friends have live stream with another friends, like how they promote in the app.
DeleteI first read about this topic in 2016. But thank you for bring this topic back @Carolina Pensky. This problem unsolved in out society. One of a singer/artist I know, David Archuleta, claims that for one who has problems staying focus, social media has worsen his problem. For myself, I have to download App that clock my phone temporary to satay focus on my priority.
ReplyDeleteWhen we see so many different social media develop for us. Undoubtedly, social medias development in 2017 has realized