Social Media Addiction, Does It Exist?

Part 2

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned last week, this weeks post is a continuation of the post from last week. I felt that there was too much information about this topic for it to just be crammed into one big long post, and this way it kind of builds up more anticipation.

There was one article I came across on Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/social-media-addiction-based-fear-missing-143357943.html), which I believe plays one of the big factors into online social media addiction.

The fear is of missing out. If you ask people “could you go a full 24 hours without checking your phone or computer” most people if they are being honest would respond by saying “no”. That’s because in this day in age, we have all become so dependent on our phones and computers that it would drive us crazy to not be able to look at these things all day. 

This article provides good statistics and reasons why people seem addicted to social media and it all focuses around the simple idea that people are afraid to miss out if they have too much time between their log ins.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->62% of adults who are a member of more than one social networking site, keep an eye on their social networks because they don’t want to miss anything (news, events, status updates).

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Younger generations often check their profiles before they are fully awake and right before they go to bed.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Nearly 40 percent of the respondents agreed they would rather do any of the following than give up their social networking profiles:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Wait in line at the DMV

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Read "War and Peace"

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Do their taxes

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Give up an hour of sleep each night for a year

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Run a marathon

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Sit in traffic for four hours while listening to polka music

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Get a root canal

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Spend a night in jail

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Clean the drains in the showers at the local gym

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·      <!--[endif]-->Give up their air conditioner/heater

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->54% of millennial social media users ( ages 18-24) would undertake any of the above activities then give up their social media profiles.

As you can clearly see, it is quite possible for one to become addicted to social media. It has become such a big part of our lives throughout the years that most people wouldn’t be able to survive a day without checking their online profiles. It’s so easy to check now too, because of the applications on smartphones which makes it so that people can check their profiles at anytime during the day no matter where they might be.