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 of breakdowns
Wow, so many useful arguments!
But still, why am I losing my temper?
And everything seems so right, so good.
For myself, I found three reasons for breakdowns:
Fatigue
A tired person has much less self-control and is much less critical of other people's opinions. A tired person is easier to manipulate, and he performs most of his actions without thinking, automatically. My simple recipe is to get enough sleep. Let this be your main responsibility for the near future. Everything can be remade and changed. The main thing is to get enough sleep...
Reluctance to complete a task or not knowing how to complete it
When I have no idea what to write about, or how to approach a complex “elephant,” my pens reach for the entertainment-procrastinating bookmark on the computer. Unfortunately, I haven’t come up with another, more pleasant means than strict control and awareness. But strict control, by the way, only works when you are not tired. So once again - get enough sleep!
