Internet addiction

 Internet addiction is very similar to any other addiction such as being addicted to alcohol and other substances, which wastes our time, money, and freedom, as it becomes a habit that enhances the mood of the human being whenever engaged. For example, At the point when the radio was created, individuals were intrigued by radio projects. At the point when television went along, they were keen on TV shows. When you had a phone in your home, you were keen on the discussion you were having using that phone. Yet, Marshall McLuhan believed that the technology innovation itself shapes us, and absorbs us in ways we don’t even know. In other words, we are addicted to the internet. When someone is addicted to the internet, they tend to escape from the real world by engaging with social media on their cellular device or laptop in order to kill time and cope with their anxiety and stress. Research in 2019 has revealed that the average time that a teenager spends on their cellular device is about 7 hours and 22 minutes per day, and this is very concerning as that is almost ⅓ of their entire day being wasted every day on social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and more, constantly consuming very worthless data every day, when that time could be spent on schoolwork, picking up a new hobby, and working. Due to this issue, Apple has created a new feature where the user is now able to see and monitor the amount of time they spend every day on certain applications and their phone in general, in order to raise awareness that internet addiction is a real and growing problem among teens in this generation. When people are not on the internet, they begin to feel the withdrawal symptoms of internet addiction such as depression when not interacting with one another online, and stress as we rely upon our cellular devices as a way of escape from reality. 

In 2018, Aza Raskin who is a software engineer created the design of “infinite scrolling” for big platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, which means that no matter how much you scroll down your feed, it will never end, as algorithms are constantly intaking data and providing your technology with posts and advertisements that encourage the user to spend more time on the app. Aza Raskin was not aware of how dangerous this design is, as many people today will scroll down their feeds for hours without realizing how addictive it is. An example of design in relation to algorithms causing internet addiction is the platform Tiktok. TikTok is one of the largest growing social media platforms of all time, and that is because they have gathered all the algorithms that every social media uses and put it all together through effective design. The application has a “For you” page, which is a never-ending stream of accurately selected content based on the user’s data of what they spend the most time on, and the things they like. The algorithms used are the cause of internet addiction, as the application is uniquely developed in order to keep the users engaged and happy with the application.

We cannot control addiction but we need to be aware of it!