The age of doom scrolling – Social media's attractive addiction

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Human survival requires the ability to communicate. Today's students’ use of social media has opened up a slew of new possibilities; nevertheless, it is hard to say how many more may emerge in the future. As the years have gone by, the use of social networking sites has grown in popularity among teenagers. This research investigates both the ways in which social media draws in users and the ways in which it hooks users by revealing the gimmicky worlds that they inhabit. Depending more on social media than on oneself causes a tremendous problem. It is quite challenging to separate human beings from their many electronic devices in today's world. The use of devices gradually began to take over the world.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Qualitative research approaches were used in this research. The qualitative study's findings were gathered from a variety of secondary sources, including media articles, academic journal articles, and past theses. Throughout the course of this study, a discourse analysis method was employed, and several case studies were gathered from news articles and journals.

RESULTS:

According to the results of the research, addiction to the Internet has been defined as a decrease in an individual's ability to exercise self-control within the context of the social-cognitive framework. The research is based on true events that occurred in and around India. This research article focuses on the various positive and negative effects that social media may have on education and students. It is critical to figure out how to tackle this issue.

CONCLUSION:

One effective strategy is to restrict their access to social media. The bulk of the disadvantages may be mitigated by reducing the amount of time spent on social media sites. Keeping track of their academic progress and dealing with any problems early on can help them avoid the negative effects of social media on their education.

Introduction

The written letter, which was handed from one person to another, was one of the first ways people could talk to each other across long distances. The telegraph was made in 1792. This made it possible to send messages over long distances faster and more reliably than a horse and rider could. Even though they only lasted a few seconds, telegraph messages were an inventive way to send news and information. The pneumatic post, which was invented in 1865 and gave people another way to quickly send messages to each other, is not used much anymore outside of drive-through banking. A pneumatic post moves containers from one place to another by pushing air through tunnels under the ground. In the last 10 years of the 1800s, the telephone came out in 1890 and the radio came out in 1891. Both technologies are still used today, but they have changed a lot since they were first made. People could talk quickly over lengthy distances via phone lines and radio waves, which was something people had never been able to do before.

The Evolution of Social Media in the 21^st Century

In the 20^th century, technology started to change at a very fast rate. In the 1940s, scientists and engineers built the first supercomputers. They then started to think of ways to connect them, which led to the creation of the Internet.[1] In the 1960s, early versions of the Internet like CompuServe were built. Around this time, early forms of email were also created. By the 1970s, networking technology had improved to the point where UseNet, which came out in 1979, let people talk to each other through a newsletter. In the 1980s, more and more people had computers at home, and social media became more complicated. IRCs, which stand for Internet relay chats, were first set up in 1988 and were very popular well into the 1990s. In 1997, Six Degrees was the first social networking site that people knew about. People could make profiles and become friends with other people. In 1999, people started using the first blogging sites, which started a social media boom that is still going strong today.

Social Media Today

With the rise of blogging, the number of people using social media has gone through the roof. In the early 2000s, sites like MySpace and LinkedIn were very popular. Photobucket and Flickr make it easy to share photos online. In 2005, YouTube came out, giving people a new way to share and communicate across huge distances.

In 2006, people from all over the world could use Facebook and Twitter. Still, these social networking sites are some of the most popular on the web. Some of the first niche social networking sites were Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare, and Pinterest.

There are many social networking sites to choose from today, and many of them can be linked so that posts can be shared on more than one site. This makes it possible for users to talk to a lot of people while still maintaining the intimacy of talking to one person at a time. People can only guess how social networking will change in the next 10 or 100 years, but it seems likely that it will be around in some form as long as people are around.

In the past 20 years, information and communication technologies have undergone tremendous transformation, with the advent of social media serving as a pivotal breakthrough in this field.

[2] There is a sharp turn. For instance, the growth of mobile technologies has played a vital role in determining how the influence of social media has evolved over time. Mobile devices hold the record when it comes to the sum of all minutes spent online around the world. They gave everyone the potential to connect everywhere, at any moment, and on any gadget they chose to do so.

Facebook currently has roughly a quarter of the world's population as active users. Because they are sustained by the interactions that take place between individuals, social networks gain strength as their memberships expand. Because of the Internet, people who hold unpopular opinions may now realize that they are not the only ones who feel this way.

The exposure of social, ethical, environmental, and political problems would be significantly reduced if social media did not exist. As more people know about the problems, the balance of power has shifted from a small group of people to the rest of the people.

Research Methodology

Study design and setting

In this particular research, a qualitative research methodology was utilized. Methodologies from a variety of disciplines, particularly discourse analysis, are utilized here. This research focuses on a variety of research approaches, such as textual interpretation, global analyses, and explanatory approaches through the events that actually occurred.

Data collection tool and technique

The findings of the qualitative study were collected from a wide range of secondary sources, such as newspaper stories, academic journal articles, and previous theses. In the course of this research, a descriptive survey approach was carried out. The investigation is predicated on real-world facts that took place in and around India.

Results

Bandura's social-cognitive theory, which explains behavior on the Internet as having positive outcomes, is quite well-known at this point in time.[3] In spite of this, in the most recent research, there have been some outcomes that contradict his idea. Addiction to the Internet has been characterized as a decline in one's capacity for self-control within the social-cognitive framework.

The use of social media not only facilitates the accumulation of new information but also contributes to the cultivation of long-term connections with real individuals. A student may be able to overcome the type of isolation that might normally cause her to drop out of school by connecting with other dorm occupants using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and other similar platforms. An introverted student can benefit from having a Twitter account since it provides information about events and makes it easier for them to communicate with other students in person. These kinds of relationships with other people are important for a sense of belonging to grow and stay strong.

A person may have a large number of friends as a result of their participation in social networking. However, the nature and value of these connections are not always reliable. On the other hand, the information about a person that may be found on social networking sites is not necessarily credible and trustworthy, and the sites do not check the members’ personal facts such as age or location. Despite the fact that websites provide users the chance to project a good and truthful image of themselves, there are still risks involved. Having a large number of friends through online social networking is therefore likely to be more detrimental than beneficial.

Social Media vs. Relationships

According to a study that was released in June by the ministry of civil affairs, there were 3.637 million divorces in 2014, which is a 3.9% increase from the previous year. According to the statistics provided by the ministry, the number of divorces in the nation has been steadily climbing since the year 2002. Although social media was created to bring people together, it may often have the opposite effect and drive them away. According to experts, social media may be to blame for the growing trend in China of individuals changing their relationship status from married to single.

[4] Su, a white collar worker from Shanghai, was left astonished and enraged after she learned about her husband's Internet affair (s) after discovering their affair (s) online. She discovered that he visited dating websites and was in contact with a variety of girlfriends across a variety of social networks. Some couples had been together for more than a decade before they finally decided to be married. “I won’t even entertain the idea of getting a divorce now that we have a kid.” But there is no longer any connection between us, “she said to Xinhua.” A guy who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that while on business trips, he utilizes social networks to look for possible dates. According to Yu Kun, a psychotherapist based in Beijing, almost half of his clients’ extramarital affairs were first sparked by their interactions with one another via the Internet. However, the majority of experts agreed that social media tends to have an effect on relationships that are already experiencing difficulties. According to Chen Yiyun, an expert from the marriage and family research centre under the All-China Women's Federation, social networking applications can be a weapon in the demolition of an already shaky marriage in some instances. This is the opinion of Chen Yiyun. According to Han Junmei, a commenter on https://www.workercn.cn/, the primary reason for a couple's decision to divorce is never social media. She wrote that people who do not get along are bad for relationships and that social networks only make it more likely for couples to get divorced.

The increased rate of divorce is not entirely attributable to the rise of social media. The younger generation's perspective on marriage has likewise evolved over the past several decades. “In the past, people were more traditional and considered it a disgrace to be divorced,” said marital expert Shu Xin. “Today, attitudes toward divorce have changed significantly.” “In today's society, individuals are more prepared to transgress societal rules for the sake of happiness, and they also care more about the quality of the marriages they enter into.”

Selfie

In recent years, individuals from all over the world have been sharing photographs of themselves engaging in daring behaviors on social media platforms by posting selfies.[5] A terrible incident led to the death of a 21-year-old Turkish woman who was thrown from a height of 164 feet when taking selfies. The incident occurred in Turkey. The horrific disaster that occurred while the girl was taking pictures was triggered by her actions.[6] In the Rangamati neighbourhood on the outskirts of Medinipur town is where you will find a picnic spot on the banks of the Kangsavati River close to the railway bridge. A gathering of youngsters came to the place with the purpose of having a picnic, and among them were Mithun Khan, who is 36 years old, and Abdul Gain, who is 32 years old. His fixation with selfies cost yet another person's life. Adarsh Mishra, a student at Indira College who was 18 years old and from Tathawade, was killed after he fell from the Kund Mala waterfall at Talegaon, which is located around 30 km from Pune.[7] It is believed that Oksana B, a little girl of 12 years old, took the photograph as she was seated on a balcony railing on the 17^th floor of her apartment building. She lied to her mother and said that she was going for a stroll as she left the house to shoot the picture. Before Oksana crashed to the ground, she quickly emailed the photograph to her closest friend.[8]

On the railway line, Mithun and Abdul started taking selfies with a friend of theirs. Eyewitnesses claim that the victims were taking selfies on the line in doubt when a local train travelling from Medinipur to Howrah arrived on the track.[6] The residents of the area reported that the train's conductor honked the horn rather repeatedly during the period in question, but the young man did not appear to be annoyed. After being struck by the train, they were sent careening in the other direction of the track. Instantaneously, two out of every three people lost their lives.

Facebook

Addiction is the most significant negative impact of using social media. I am always monitoring for posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, among other social media platforms. This addiction could make it harder to do other things that are important, like focusing on schoolwork, playing sports, talking to people in real life, and ignoring the truth about the environment.

There are hundreds of thousands of fake profiles on social networks, most of which belong to guys posing as females in order to become friends with other ladies. In most cases, this results in shame and disappointment, which in turn lead to despair. However, there is always a lack of public awareness, and as was stated earlier, the number of Internet users is getting higher and higher while people are still a long way behind in the field of education. As a result, it is very difficult to raise public awareness in societies where there is a lack of education. If there is awareness about the risk of social media in our community, it will not lead to anything bad.

A young man from Bangalore who is suspected of creating a fake Facebook profile for a woman from the city and then threatening her for turning down his love proposal has been imprisoned. Santosh Kumar was conversing with people under the woman's name, in addition to making her fake profile and posting her photos to Facebook.[9] According to the police officer, he also made calls and sent messages to the girl and her family, threatening them with serious ramifications if they rejected his love proposal. He also expressed an interest in having a romantic relationship with the girl. The officer with the police department stated that Santosh proposed to the victim after the two of them had met in Bangalore while they were both pursuing a course in computers. In the name of love, the accused tormented the victim. He further threatened her and her family with terrible repercussions if they tried to find another marriage for her.

[10] A man was arrested in Delhi for harassing and threatening a lady using a fake Facebook account. During questioning, the accused confessed that he used to be a friend of the complainant and had a fight with her over a minor matter, for which she scolded him. A 24-year-old man was arrested by the Cyber Cell in South-West Delhi for posting lewd, threatening, and abusive messages on Facebook using a fake account to defame a woman. Sourabh Gopal, a resident of Delhi's Palam Village, has been named as the culprit. The phone and SIM card used to access the Facebook account were seized. A woman from Palam Village filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell alleging that she had been getting obscene and threatening communications from a bogus Facebook account. She was getting dirty pictures and rude comments from the account, as well as threats that her personal photos would be posted on social media.

Instagram

An inquiry has been opened by the police in Indore after a youth, aged 16 years, accidentally hanged himself while recording an Instagram reel. However, the victim's friends told the authorities that the adolescent was filming a fake video, but the police have not been able to find any evidence of this on the victim's phone.[11] Aditya, a native of Madhya Pradesh who is addicted to social media, used to submit movies to any social media site he could find. Again, he intended to create a fake hanging scene on Instagram, but this time it ended in tragedy when he accidently strangled himself to death.

According to a story that was distributed by News 18, the victim, who was a student in class 10, was dependent on various types of social media. Because of his addiction, his family had previously forced him to uninstall all of these applications from his device. But for the last week, Aditya's parents were in Ratlam attending a wedding, and Aditya did not want to miss the opportunity to travel along with them. So, he decided to get in touch with his friends back home and try to film a fake hanging scene.

According to the story, the teenager got onto a chair and attempted to hang himself by putting a noose around his neck; however, he ended up slipping, which caused the rope to wrap around his body in a manner that was deadly. The other kids ran away because they were scared, and when Aditya's brother Rajdeep came home in the afternoon, he found out what was going on. He got help from his neighbors and took his brother to a private hospital, but when they got there, the doctors said he was already dead.

Social Media's Negative Impact on Education

Several students rely on the answers they can find on social media and the Internet. This means less time and effort will be put into learning and recalling information. Students who attempt to study and use social networking sites at the same time do not do well in school. Because YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are so distracting, they cannot focus on the work at hand nearly as well as they could. As students spend more time on social media sites, they talk to each other less in person. Social networking sites cannot replace talking to someone in person because you cannot use your body language or other nonverbal cues like tone and intonation. When students spend a lot of time on social media, it makes it harder for them to talk to each other in person.

Discussion

Adolescents feel the urge to adapt, to be famous, and to excel beyond their peers. Before the introduction of social media, carrying out this procedure was already a difficult endeavor. According to a survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Institute in 2019 of middle and high school students in the United States, more than 36% of respondents reported having been the victims of cyberbullying at some point in their lives, with 30% having been victimized twice or more. It was also shown that about 1 in 6 people claimed to have cyberbullied someone at least once, with almost 1 in 10 confessing to having done so twice or more. Teenagers can use social media platforms to spread lies, post videos with the goal of ruining people's reputations, and try to get money from other people.

[12] Over the course of the previous two decades, social media platforms have witnessed intermittent improvements in the number, quality, and usability of their content. The human mind is fostered in the same way that the human body is nurtured by the intake of required mineral elements received through nutrition. Social media offers a forum for dialogue between social media and the mental health of people living in the modern day. Since the advent of the Internet and social networking sites, human resources in today's society have grown more sociable electronically, but less so practically. This virtual existence is isolating present-day man from other sentient creatures, which is having a negative impact on both his mental and physical health as well as his general equilibrium. There are always going to be two sides (good and bad) to any invention, and the increased use of social networking among adults in this day and age is a cause for concern for parents, society, and scholars. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect that social media platforms have on users’ mental health. In order for the study to accomplish its goal, it went through all of the accessible relevant literature and synthesized it. The literature that has been reviewed up to this point demonstrates that the current generation of young people is vulnerable. The younger generation is currently going through the embryonic period of life, which puts them at an increased of major mental health issues. This generation is currently the demographic that is most likely to be affected by these issues. The younger generation of today is becoming increasingly involved as active users of social media, which has a close relationship to issues relating to mental health. The dangerous situation we are in right now calls for a deeper level of awareness. The link between using social media and problems with mental health is just the beginning.

The next step that can shed light on the linkages that are at play among these many aspects of young people's lives is to investigate and get a better understanding of the ways in which the influence of social networks on the mental health of the younger generation of today can be mediated.[13] People who use free social media networks like Facebook and Twitter can maintain relationships with peers and read good resources, but at the same time, they lose a huge amount of discretion and secrecy, according to reports.

One of the most common issues affecting people's mental health in the modern world is anxiety. People worry about the number of likes and comments they receive on the photographs and videos they publish. In this day and age, it is difficult to find someone who is immune to the influence of social media.

Individuals’ actions and reactions on social media vary based on the sort of replies and actions displayed by the people in their immediate environment. It is essential to do research on the actions taken by social media users and how those actions influence others in their social networks.

Anxiety, depression, and stress are among conditions that may be brought on by excessive use of social media, which can also have an effect on a person's overall mental health.[14] Several studies have shown that there is a clear link between how much someone uses social media and how obsessive they are.

Investigated the behaviors shown by those around the youngsters. This research also resulted in findings on people experiencing feelings of restlessness in the event that they are unable to access the messages on their social media applications; this gives birth to a syndrome that is known as Phantom Vibration Syndrome (PVS). PVS refers to an addicted person's impression of cell phone vibration.[15]

[13] It has been claimed that because of the free usage of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, individuals are able to keep in contact with their friends and read some helpful material; yet, at the same time, they lose a huge amount of discretion and anonymity. Just because of that, one of the most common and serious health concerns, anxiety, has occurred. People get worked up over the number of comments and likes on the photographs and videos that they post on social media.

Limitation

The scope of the research is constrained to the real-world incidents that have been reported in the media and newspapers and are associated with the influence that technology has had on human life. There were no supplementary works of fiction included in this study. This research paper was written using only qualitative research methods, particularly discourse analyses based on in-depth reading of the secondary source material.

Conclusion

Through this research, readers learned about the many good and bad things that social media can do for education and students. It is very important to figure out how to solve this problem. Limiting their access to social media is one successful strategy. The majority of the drawbacks may be addressed by limiting how much time is spent on social networking sites. Paying attention to their academic achievement and dealing with any issues can help them avoid the detrimental impacts of social media on their education. Plan some free time with your family when you can talk about their schoolwork in a relaxed setting or invite friends and family over for a get-together, giving you a chance to talk to your loved ones in person. All of this helps to lessen the bad things that social media can do to students, which is good for our young people. The fast development of information and communication technology has had a significant influence on the manner in which individuals communicate with one another on a day-to-day basis.[16] Communication is an essential component for the human survival. The usage of social media by today's students has offered a number of newly developing aspects; nevertheless, it is impossible to predict how many more aspects may emerge in the future. The use of social networking sites has amassed a massive following among young people as the years have progressed.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.