Deterioration of Traditional Life Styles by Way of an Addiction to Social Media
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March 18, 2014
Deterioration of Traditional Life Styles by Way of an Addiction to Social Media To claim that the mass use of social media powered by information technologies is a form of addiction may seem outrageous. Yet when compared to the American Society of Addiction Medicine 's definition of addiction which states the addiction is "characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response," it can be argued that people in society are addicted to social media. People are not able to abstain and more importantly thrive as a society without the incorporation of social media in their everyday lives. Similar to a person addicted to drugs, daily lives have become interrupted and dependency on social media has enveloped society. The purpose of this paper is to describe the neural and emotional effects the access of social media has on individuals and on society as a whole, and how the effects create dependencies which have deteriorated former social norms and traditional ways of living, causing new daily life styles. This paper will show how like a drug, the frequent and wide spread access of social media effects the frontal cortex of the brain and creates heightened emotional responses. Supportive points will describe the interconnected effects social media has on people and on society from neurological reward to behavioral changes and how this impacts what is passed down as social norms since the dependency on social media became an overwhelming societal norm. Secondly, the paper will argue further point out how the dependency or addiction to social media has reshaped the foundations of a society by changing the way individuals survive and interact. In other words, the use of social media has become a basic need of survival in everyday life. Could a person
March 18, 2014
Deterioration of Traditional Life Styles by Way of an Addiction to Social Media To claim that the mass use of social media powered by information technologies is a form of addiction may seem outrageous. Yet when compared to the American Society of Addiction Medicine 's definition of addiction which states the addiction is "characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response," it can be argued that people in society are addicted to social media. People are not able to abstain and more importantly thrive as a society without the incorporation of social media in their everyday lives. Similar to a person addicted to drugs, daily lives have become interrupted and dependency on social media has enveloped society. The purpose of this paper is to describe the neural and emotional effects the access of social media has on individuals and on society as a whole, and how the effects create dependencies which have deteriorated former social norms and traditional ways of living, causing new daily life styles. This paper will show how like a drug, the frequent and wide spread access of social media effects the frontal cortex of the brain and creates heightened emotional responses. Supportive points will describe the interconnected effects social media has on people and on society from neurological reward to behavioral changes and how this impacts what is passed down as social norms since the dependency on social media became an overwhelming societal norm. Secondly, the paper will argue further point out how the dependency or addiction to social media has reshaped the foundations of a society by changing the way individuals survive and interact. In other words, the use of social media has become a basic need of survival in everyday life. Could a person
Cited: Vaynerchuk, Gary. "Social Media: The Gateway Drug." World 's Largest Professional Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. .