Those who are not registered on social networks, even if not voluntarily, are perceived by us as people hopelessly behind the times. Doctors are sounding the alarm, comparing addiction to social media. networks with alcoholism and drug addiction. This “virus,” which is incurable by Kaspersky, has also infected Orthodox Internet users.
All social networks, be it Odnoklassniki or Vkontakte, Facebook, etc., etc., are similar to each other. In them you can tell literally everything about yourself: from your full name and place of residence to personal photos. The “wall” of a page on a social network gives the public a series of statuses, experiences, statements, jokes, and, by the way, often useful things.
We must pay tribute to the social networks. The speed with which people find themselves in contact with the help of VK, OK and FB is sometimes extremely convenient in the modern world. Word of mouth is triggered at high speed through reposts. Information spreads instantly throughout the world, and often it is worthy of the attention of so many people.
However, all the conveniences turn into nothing when real addiction arises from social networks.
Why does addiction develop?
First of all, social networks are fashionable.
If earlier, in order to appear “cool,” teenagers began to drink, smoke and use “dope,” now the fashion has gone to blogging, posting stories and photographs about everything that happened during the day. The clip-based thinking of modern youth leads to the need for a colorful and easy-to-perceive world. This is exactly what the virtual space is, because web developers do not sleep, but are actively trying to satisfy this need. Otherwise, social networks will lose popularity.
The virtual world also attracts teenagers because during correspondence they have the opportunity to think about the formulation of thoughts. You can unfollow a person's page or even block their account if communication becomes unpleasant. In short, communicating on social networks is easier than in the real world. Since man is a biosocial being, he cannot function normally without communication. Most teenagers choose the easier way to communicate, and because of this, addiction arises.
It is easier to make friends on social networks than through live communication. Sometimes a person adds someone as a friend in return just out of politeness. The teenager has the illusion that they are not indifferent to him.
Due to all of the above, the teenager develops “hormones of happiness,” especially when he receives recognition, which is lacking in real life. Dopamine addiction occurs.
In addition, the reason for social network mania may be complexes (and teenagers often have them). Let's say a teenager doesn't like his appearance. If he communicates exclusively on social networks, this is not a problem for him: it’s enough to put someone else’s photo on his avatar.
Trips
At what point did you think that your report on a trip to Istanbul was better than the same from National Geographic or Global Trekker? At what point did you start getting your idea of a new city not from Marco Polo, but from Instagram? Are you still building your image by showing everyone how cool you are at traveling and how lucky you are to be luckier than all these online losers around you? This makes no sense.
Can you show me a selection of photos of your retreat to India, and a report about your trip to Bali? Or maybe you have a collection of photographs of your baby who has grown so quickly over these five years? If not, then you are the same as I was in the past - a collector of likes and stupid useless comments.
My life over the past five years has been sorted into irrelevant folders - these are torn events that are not connected with each other. I couldn’t put my two months in Thailand together - it’s a superficial collection of shitty photos with thousands of likes. But why should I care today if I didn’t keep what I liked so much for myself?
Collect photos on cameras and smartphones during your trip, and when you arrive, make memory boards - real or virtual. Tag friends in iPhoto and backup in Time Machine. Invite your friends to the “goose bar” upon arrival, show them and tell them about the trip. Forget about the rest - their opinion is not important.
Alarm bells
How to recognize that a child is developing (or has already developed) Internet addiction? There are emotional and behavioral patterns. These patterns have something that is typical for all types of addictions, and something that applies only to the virtual world.
The teenager cannot resist visiting his page; he has a strong desire to read news in his favorite community, to find out about the number of new posts and comments.
Pattern mechanism: a person cannot analyze that there is no need to check a new like or repost every minute. After all, this happens on an emotional level. Instead of analysis, sometimes there is a state of anxiety and fear.
Why is this dangerous? If this continues regularly, the teenager loses control over time. He doesn’t even suspect that he spent not a couple of minutes on social networks, but a couple of hours. Needless to say, how difficult it will be in the future to learn the important art of time management?
In addition, loved ones sometimes cannot stand it and begin to express dissatisfaction with this behavior. The teenager considers the accusations unfair and sometimes begins to talk about them to virtual friends who support him. Social media addiction is getting worse, which threatens a person’s health and future financial well-being.
A person is too irritated if he does not have access to the Internet.
Wi-Fi was temporarily turned off - who doesn't? But social network users panic as soon as this happens. This is fraught with quarrels with loved ones. There is no need to talk about problems with nerves - everything is clear.
Absurd quarrels and strange methods of sorting out relationships
Don’t rush to say how stupid teenagers are when they block their parents’ accounts out of resentment. It sounds funny, but this happens even in adults! The wife did not like the photo - the husband was offended. If you want to sort things out, it’s time to remove your spouse from your friends.
But is there any sense in changing marital status on social networks if spouses have breakfast in the same kitchen? A calm and constructive conversation is a reasonable solution to family problems. Only emotionally immature individuals do not understand this. Simply put, infantile people.
The desire to be in the spotlight through new posts, photos, etc. This suggests that the person lacks attention and recognition.
Virtual communication has completely replaced real meetings.
We're not talking about special circumstances. For example, in today’s conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, we have to limit ourselves to communicating at a distance. But even now you can understand whether there is an addiction or not: if one person swears eternal friendship to another, but does not want to talk to him, but limits himself to correspondence, it’s time to think about it.
Causes
The desire to keep abreast of all the news
- The desire to gain approval from others.
- Dependence on other people's opinions.
- The desire to become popular.
- Interest in a large flow of information.
- The ability to simultaneously communicate, listen to music and view photos.
- A way to escape loneliness.
- The result of a traumatic experience when communicating with real people.
- Lack of interests in life, hobbies.
- The desire to be aware of all the news.
Personality types susceptible to social media addiction
The tendency to this mania depends not only on age, but also on the personality of the person. Complexes and internal loneliness are prerequisites that contribute to the formation of dependence on social networks. Below are the personality types whose representatives most often encounter these prerequisites.
Infantile people
It is not surprising that teenagers suffer the most from complexes. Of course, not all teenagers are infantile, but their psyche is not yet fully formed. However, adults can also be emotionally immature. Such people lack critical thinking, they are highly dependent on the opinions of others and prefer easy virtual communication to complex live interaction.
Liars who act solely for their own benefit
Where, if not on the Internet, can you easily deceive others? Change your name, write a lie in a message (non-verbal language is not visible during correspondence), make a lot of false promises... This way you can get the girl to like you and find out if she is dating someone else. And there is a lot more that can be done. This is just one example.
People sensitive to criticism
They do not know how to resist or ignore what is said about them. Such a person hides from his eyes all sources in which he sees a negative opinion about himself. And thus creates the illusion that he is understood and accepted.
Egoists
They love, as they say in youth language, “to feed their emergency situation.” Selfies, photos of purchased items and everything they have are typical signs of such a person. Again, there is an illusion: he thinks that others are interested in every detail of their lives.
Dreamy
A person trying to get into a better world can easily become detached from reality and get hooked on something. Including on social networks.
Unconscious reflexes
My friends and I, while on vacation outside the country, noticed one interesting thing. If you are sitting at a table with four or more people and someone takes their phone out of their pocket, then you and everyone else do the same. Those. The first one to take it out may just look at the time, but you take it out unconsciously. Unblock and... go check Facebook. It works like with yawning - one yawns for physiological reasons, and you repeat for others not related to natural needs. Are you yawning? 
Consequences of Social Media Abuse
So, what are the negative effects of social media on teenagers? It has already been said above about problems with health and other areas. Let's take a closer look.
Stress
Social networks relax a person, so most often people “let off steam” there. And, accordingly, the news feed is clogged with continuous negativity. Women are especially susceptible to stress.
Bad mood
The man couldn't resist looking at a couple of pages that wasn't necessary. And after that he often feels that he wasted his time. And if you also communicated on the Internet with a user who is “out of sorts”, he becomes “infected” with negative emotions.
Depression
The usual bad mood is still “flowers”. The matter becomes more serious when depression occurs, because it is already a disease. Often the cause of this disease is cyberbullying (bullying via the Internet).
Finding yourself in a selfie
The writer suggests using the example of two friends from the Louvre to consider the reason for this behavior. Imagine the dialogue going on in their heads:
Woman (thinks to herself): Oh my God! I'm at the Louvre! Woman's mind (whispers): Come on, don't stand rooted to the spot! Make a photo. No, wait! Take a photo with your best friend. Stop. I came up with an idea! Take a photo and post it on Facebook! Woman: Great idea!
“Daniela (let’s call her that) takes a photo, then puts her phone away and goes into the museum to look at the exhibits,” comments Brewer. “Not even ten minutes pass before she feels a strong desire to check her page. While her friends aren't looking, she secretly goes on social media to see if anyone has liked her photo. She may feel some guilt, so she immediately puts her phone away before her friends notice. A few minutes later she again has a strong urge to look at her phone. And then again and again. She spends the rest of the day wandering around the Louvre, and where is she looking? Not on world-famous art objects, but on her Facebook feed, tracking how many likes and comments her photo received.”
The power of one
But changing the mood of millions of people is not the only visible effect of using social networks. As it turned out, they directly affect the mental health of users. In 2014, a team of researchers from the universities of Palo Alto and Houston, led by Duquesne University specialist My-Lee Steers, studied the connection between active Facebook use and symptoms of depression.
Experts found that Facebook users felt depressed when comparing themselves to other people. First, scientists were able to identify a connection between the time spent on social networks and the depressive symptoms that appeared among the respondents. It turned out that the more time a person spends on the phone, the worse he feels.
This doesn't mean Facebook causes depression, but depressive moods and spending time comparing yourself to others on Facebook tend to go hand in hand.
says the study
The situation is aggravated by the fact that people do not talk about everyday life and routine matters on the Internet. They share joy, achievements, beautiful views. All this makes it clear that our life, compared to someone else’s, is gray and uninteresting.
People who may have problems even without social networks often feel lonely and unnecessary when viewing the feed. This only pushes them towards isolation.
“Research shows that constantly comparing yourself to others is bad for your psyche. Too frequent comparison clearly leads to a deterioration in the emotional state,” explained one of the study authors.
However, social networks do not at all need a stable psyche of users: it is important for them to remain online and generate profit. “Companies like Google and Facebook constantly conduct experiments on users. Thanks to them, they know exactly how to get people to do what they want. It's a simple manipulation,” says former Facebook manager Sandy Parakilas. According to him, the audience of modern social networks are experimental animals. And experiments on them are not carried out in order to develop a cure for cancer or help starving children. “We're just zombies. They want us to watch more ads. This way they will earn more money,” he concludes.
Crazy scenario
This scenario seems completely crazy, but in reality, stories like this happen all the time. The scientist believes that this behavior is based on the following scheme: trigger - behavior - reward. Based on this, behavior is developed that makes us hang out on social networks. The same pattern underlies other addictions, be it alcohol or drugs.
This is not always a bad thing, for example, the same scheme underlies training. But on the other side, according to the scientist, is people's obsession with their phones to the point that they write messages while driving a car. In between there are many other things - from the habit of having your head in the clouds and chewing gum to immersing yourself in a state of stress.
