Schmidt
Bethany Schmidt
Malcom Campbell
UWRT 1104
October 30, 2017
Social Media Addiction: A Public Health Concern
Social media addiction is a very current issue. Most people would say social media has
more negatives then positives and that it is causing dangers to kids and young adults. Which in
some ways it is but 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 no one is doing anything about it. Kids cannot put down their phones and feel
the need to constantly check their social networks for fear of missing out, also known as FOMO.
This is defined by "Anxiety that an interesting event may be happening somewhere else, often
aroused by posts on social media" The fact that there is an anxiety disorder related to social
media should be enough for the US to declare it a public health concern. They're are even people
videoing violent interactions to post on the internet instead of helping the person in danger. 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 the time spent on the internet is
increasing quick and social media is a large portion of that time. Total time spent online daily
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averagely is about 6 hours, this includes laptops, mobiles and tablets. With 2 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 it was found that 20% of social
networkers describe themselves as addicted. Also 15-19-year old's 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). If this was 4 years ago, imagine how
much these numbers have grown, with the increase popularity of social media. Lauren Davidson
from the Telegraph news site says, "the average person has about 5 social media accounts,
leading to, more accounts, more time spent online". However, strangely in Britain they are only
spending about an hour and twenty minutes 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 and recognize their use so it is less. With all this
time spent online and on social media these sites are mainly visited by mobile phones. Mobile
internet is rising and I feel like its 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.
"This depression can then lead to them going to blog sites for help and that can promote
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substance abuse"(O'Keeffe). 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. So, when people see posts
of famous people traveling the world with all their money and see pictures of supermodels
looking very thin, it has the power to make anyone feel bad about themselves and this can cause
anxiety and/or depression. If someone posts on social media and it doesnt get a 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 is "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 is 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, 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 became 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
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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 also agree that the age range of full time college
students is the range of the most social media use. Everyone between the ages 15-25 has one or
more forms of a social media account. You can find anyone online and I think that it is because
we have grown up in this situation and gotten used to the major use of social media because we
are the generation that has the most use for the internet.
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, by 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. They
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 use and you have to 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 and communicating face to face. 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. 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 for this addiction
because it's just not as talked about.
Why is it not a public health concern in the US?
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The US uses social media as a major marketing tool to sell technology, clothing, etc. 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. It is too widely used for them to try to make people decrease their use. Because big
businesses that support the government will lose money. Also, I think celebrities and government
officials use Instagram and twitter to reach out to millennials and persuade them to think a
certain way. Like President Trump, he tweets daily and the majority who sees it is millennials.
Also, celebrities post about their opinions and people who are fans look up to them and they
automatically believe it. So really the US could be telling them what to say and what to post so
the average people will go along with it. Also, the US is now using social media to find out more
information and data on immigrants(Darville). So, the US isn't letting people know that social
media addiction is an issue for their own gain.
Conclusion
With social media being such a used tool, I dont think the US will ever 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 too important of a way to reach out to people for them to try to
lower the use. Which can become a whole different issue. Social media should just be a way for
people to communicate and should just be a form of entertainment. Addiction is a real thing and
it can cause people to become very mentally ill. I believe that we should lower our use of social
media and the internet and see what happens.
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Works Cited
Darville, Jordan. Report: The U.S. government will start collecting social media
information on immigrants and naturalized citizens. The FADER, N.P., 27 Sept.
2017, www.thefader.com/2017/09/27/report-the-us-government-will-start-
collecting-social-media-information-on-immigrants-and-naturalized-citizens.
Davidson, Lauren. Is your daily social media usage higher than average? The Telegraph,
Telegraph Media Group, 17 May 2015. Accessed on October 10, 2017
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11610959/Is-
your-daily-social-media-usage-higher-than-average.html.
Fox, Jesse, and Jennifer J Moreland. The dark side of social networking sites: An
exploration of the relational and psychological stressors associated with
Facebook use and affordances. Computers in Human Behavior, Science
Direct, 24 Dec. 2014, Accessed on November 03, 2017.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214007018.
Mander, Jason. "Social Media Usage Rises To 2 Hours Per Day | GlobalWebIndex."
GlobalWebIndex Blog. May 16, 2017. Accessed on November 01, 2017.
http://blog.globalwebindex.net/chart-of-the-day/daily-time-spent-on-social-
networks/.
O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, and Kathleen Clarke-Peterson, and Council on
Communications and Media et al. The Impact of Social Media on Children,
Adolescents, and Families. AAP News & JournalsGateway, American Academy
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of Pediatrics, 1 Apr. 2011. Accessed on November 03, 2017.
pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full
Ramasubbu, Suren. Biological & Psychological Reasons for Social Media Addiction.
The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Mar. 2017. Accessed on
November 03, 2017. www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/biological-psychological-
reasons-for-social-media_us_58c279a7e4b0c3276fb78388.
Yarow, Jay. CHART OF THE DAY: The Rise Of The Mobile Internet. Business Insider,
N.P., 4 June 2013, Accessed on November 02, 2017.
www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-the-rise-of-the-mobile-internet-2013-6.
Young, Kimberly S. Social Media Addiction: Assessment and Treatment. Social Media
Addiction: Assessment and Treatment, Psychiatry online, 28 Feb. 2016, Accessed on
November 01, 2017. www.psychiatryonline.it/node/6078.
