Whoever claims that it’s not possible to be addicted to a social network is either lying or uninformed. Social media addiction is, like Internet addiction, a very real, very troubling phenomenon. It’s not ‘all in the head’ of the addicted users (even if it were, would that not constitute a behavioral addiction?).
Believe it or not, there’s actually a chemical reason behind Facebook addiction. This reality becomes even more chilling when one considers the University of Chicago study
There are a wide array of reasons one might end up being a compulsive social media butterfly – often, they aren’t addicted to the platform itself, but to a variety of Skinner Box-esque games which, by their very nature, are designed to draw users in and keep them glued to the screen.
Yes, I think Farmville and anything else spawned from the blighted loins of Zynga might as well have been coded by the devil himself. I hate them, and everything about them. They’re a waste of time, and, as a rather brilliant fellow by the name of Ian Bogost demonstrated, they’re not designed to be fun- they’re designed to be addictive time-sinks. I’m also not the least bit remorseful about the joy I feel in watching Zynga go down in flames, as a result.
But that’s neither here nor there. We’re getting a bit off track.
Some time ago, I stumbled across an Infographic which rather succinctly explains the complicated nature of social media addiction, as well as the negative effects social networks seem to have on the human psyche. You can view the Infographic below, and you can bet that we’re going to take a closer look at social media addiction (as well as how to deal with it) at some point in the future. After all, it could affect more people than one might think.
As always, click on the infographic for a larger version.
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