It is estimated that 1 billion people worldwide use the internet each day. Recent research in America has found that American teenagers, not dissimilar to Australian teenagers, spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes each day interacting with some kind of media.
This shocking figure comes from a combination of:
31 hrs per week watching TV
17 hours per week listing to music (iTunes etc)
3 hours a week watching movies
4 hours a week reading magazines
10 hours a week online*
This excess of media consumption by young people is leading to a change in consciousness with leading psychologists now saying that it is becoming an addictive obsession.
Young women are especially affected because they are very influenced by what is said about them on social media sites (SMS) and value themselves by how they are rated by others. They check their Facebook pages several times a day to see what is being said about them and to update their status.
Social networks are literally taking over their lives and they are living in a virtual reality with every moment being captured by an online comment or an uploaded photo. Often recording the event and posting it on Facebook seems more important than living the actual moment and learning from what they felt at the time.
However going into the Christmas period, many young people should be aware that up to 25% of employers now use Facebook to screen job applicants, so they should think twice before they post those outrageous photos of Christmas parties where they can’t remember anything about the night and only have the pictures to prove they were there.
Many are venturing into a very dangerous place where virtual life has taken over the daily life they are actually living.
The danger signs for youth obsession with media are out there loud and clear; for many boys role play interactive computer games are leading to an increase in violent behaviour at schools and for many girls being joined at the hip to Facebook is causing them sleepless nights and altered behaviour.
Any parent who does not realise the full impact that interactive media is having on young people should see Miss Representation, although it looks at how the media is affecting young women, it is also an eye opener about the online lives of all young people today.
The Daily Telegraph reported that clinical and organisational psychologist Dr Darryl Cross said “When it takes over and interferes with other aspects of functioning and living, then you’ve got an addiction,” he added “I find some students are staying up excessively late and losing sleep because they get into a dialogue that takes them well into the night. There is often a lack of concentration in school as a result.”
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: The Telegraph
The problems associated with overuse of social media are just the tip of the iceberg. Many people are missing out on sleep, as well as other social activities due to their obsession with being ‘connected’ 24/7. People take their technology everywhere and it is also contributing to more accidents. Users are often so obsessed that they refuse to take responsibility for their actions, including whilst driving or crossing the road.
Students are particularly, but certainly not exclusively at risk. They often use lecture time for social media, then go home and spend more time on Facebook and Twitter. Then they seem surprised when they fail subjects! It’s not just young people Many parents and older people have now become addicted. Many users do not appear to have appropriate ‘boundaries’ and are prepared to share even quite sensitive information with others. This often causes friction in relationships. Unfortunately, the problems are likely to get better before they get worse, and they won’t get better until more people understand that spending 7-10 hours a day – and more – on social media is an addiction!