The social arena in the contemporary world is shaped by several factors. The significant concern is the nature of the implications these factors have on the current or next generation. There have been numerous posts on informative media coupled with humanitarian columns about social characteristics and behaviors that are evident within our communities. As a matter of fact, the effects drug and substance abuse on the lives of young adults is very pronounced. However, this is not the only social filth that is affecting the youth currently. There are several activities in the social context which hinder the productivity of the youth, among them being the aspect of social media. In a comparative analysis of drug addiction and social media addictions, there exist common factors which enhance their dominance in the social industry. It is necessary to picture the characteristics and the shapes these two social phenomena take among the youth so as to gain their clear and deep comprehension.
In the context of social media addictions, the internet displays an intense power of influence. The original intention of the internet was vast. It has also continued to widen, therefore, serving various objectives. However, these objectives have been altered to enable different types of relations from the intended purposes. Social Media is primarily a web-based product, which is optimized exclusively by the use of its public. This means that it is the users of the internet who shape its capacity and determine its boundaries. The youth have grown to understand the internet better, since they have an intense knowledge of its capabilities and limitations.
As a matter of fact, the significance of technology in orchestrating this social situation cannot be ignored. It is essentially the presence and acquisition of smart-phones and other internet enabled devices that make it possible for the youth to spend three quarters of their day in the internet. In the context of drug addictions, studies have revealed varying characteristics that show the prevalence of addictions. On the other hand, social media addictions compare in the same way with distinct characteristics to show its prevalence.
One fundamental characteristic of drug addictions is peer pressure. Studies have revealed in various addiction cases that individuals started practicing the use of drugs through their friends. Some individuals are influenced by their friends to actually emulate their actions. As a matter of fact, the normal trend is that those who influence others are already addicts who cannot control their conditions and feel that their counterparts should also do it. In the same way, social addicts are influenced by peer pressure.
Current social studies have shown that in social sites like facebook, individuals are invited by their friends to join the social media. As such, friends could advice each other on joining such social sites not knowing the influence it would have in their normal lives. Moreover, those who are already using these social sites feel the void of absence for their friends who are not using the sites. Therefore, they decide to convince their friends to accompany them. In this way, a large percentage of individuals find themselves using social sites as a result of peer influence.
Additionally, there are social situations which put selective groups of individuals at compromising situations. The existence of social levels or hierarchies alienates a number of individuals from the common natural social arena. Therefore, these situations make these individuals lack social attention and feel inferior in the society in which they live. It is these situations that make such individuals to sort for activities that could make them feel socially occupied. In fact, drug addicts feel socially high when using these substances. On the other hand, those using the social media find it socially rewarding as they find the company they need in the internet. Theorists have formulated hypotheses to explain the role of social ladder in addictions. Theorists argue that it is natural for individuals to feel the need for social attachment, thus, the absence of this leads to feelings of alienation.
Studies of science have displayed the human brain as an extraordinarily complex communications network programmed to reward particular behaviors. It is actually the brain that determines the repetition of particular processes in our bodies. Research has shown that drugs of abuse tap into these vital mechanisms geared for our survival. To be precise, addiction affects multiple integrated brain circuits involved not only in reward and motivation, but also in memory and inhibitory control. These circuits are disrupted by the routine use of the same part of the brain. In drug abuse as well as social media addictions, the same part of the brain is used in the control of those activities. Therefore, an exhaustive effect is felt in that part with respect to other parts of the brain. This is the significant explanation behind several behavioral characteristics observed in addicts. They find it hard to stop these activities given that they have modified their brains to a routine setup.
Twitter and facebook users find it comforting to facebook or tweet all the time while drug addicts find it comforting and very relaxing to take drugs continuously. They take such substances to appease particular feelings in their bodies. However, in the context of the topic, effects of drug abuse would be inappropriate given that social media addictions have not been confirmed to have any health effects save for the eyes. The shortcomings and influences of these addictions can only be displayed well enough when tackled in individual perspectives. The divergent nature of these addictions makes the brain the only general physiological factor. Therefore, any behavioral character common in a social addict as well as in a drug addict must to some extent affect the brain. There are numerous aspects of social media addiction like online gaming which not only takes a lot of daily time for the youth, but also alters their brain activity.
Our brains perform different function which makes it a sophisticated organ. Therefore, addictions have adverse effects on its physiology and perception of other activities. As a matter of fact, the productivity of the world relies on the amount of time taken by individuals in doing economical activities. These addictions reduce the economic viability of individuals as it takes the time that would otherwise be used in productive activities. This is because most addictions leave individuals weak in mind and body. The extensive use of the mind in online gaming and social chats lives little concentration on schoolwork for young educated individuals and productive time as for the working population. The principles of addiction have been debated for a very long time. Questions on whether social media addictions can be ranked as totally unproductive have not yet been answered. However, a comparative analysis on its principles with respect to other more established addictions reveals that it also has a dark side.
The psychological perspective of these activities reveals that there are several effects such as neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, mood modifying experiences, tolerance, and concealing the addictive behavior. These characteristics are also common with drug addicts. Studies have reviewed different sites of the internet and established that young people can engage in a variety of online activities, some of which can be addictive.
According to a more recent study on the effects of extensive use of social media, assessing the relationships between facebook usage and academic performance revealed that facebook users had lower grades and spent less time studying than students who did not use this site. A potential explanation for this disparity in performance may be that students who used the Internet to study may have been distracted by simultaneous engagement in social sites.
This is evidence enough to rate these social addictions as unproductive regarding their influence on more essential activities. As a matter of fact, the same results were found out on a study based on the use of addictive drugs among students. This shows that these addictions compare on grounds of the influence they have on human activities. Furthermore, other studies based on workplaces have shown interesting results. The performance and productivity of workers who were addicted to social media were compared to that of the ones who admitted drug addictions. This was done for several industrial situations and a common trend was established. In comparison to workers who were not party to any of the two addictions, their statistics were higher in productivity and performance. Essentially, those who recorded the highest values in the graph were those who did not practice any, followed by that for the socially addicted individuals and lastly the drug addicts. This reveals that much of these addictions exhibit common behavioral characteristics. Nonetheless, their effects are of varying degrees.
For all intents and purposes, a survey of their effects on a compact population in urban China shows that people believed these addictions had negative impacts including distraction and poor time management. It has been claimed that people addicted to using the social media experience symptoms similar to those experienced by those who suffer from addictions to substances or other behaviors. However, this has not been proved given the vast nature and wide coverage of social media.
In fact, different aspects of this addiction will pose different characteristics of the affected individual. Contrary to this pattern, drug addiction is easily predictable because individuals possess general characteristics which in most cases are substance specific. Therefore, further studies on extensive aspects of social media could be encouraged to ensure that a conclusive hypothesis can be established on the nature and influence on these addictions. The context of substance abuse is debated on harsh terms given its entire harm on the population and should not, therefore, be directly compared or weighed with social media addictions.
Actually, people who abuse drugs and social media come from all walks of life. Research statistics show that some individuals are more likely to use the social media or take drugs than others. For instance, men, single people, city-dwellers, young people are more likely to abuse drugs than women, married people, rural residents, and old people respectively. On the other hand, the disparity in the use of social sites among men and women is shaped by gender.
Different studies have tried to display the trends that come with these sites. However, there are no logical explanations as to why men or women could extensively use these media more than their counterparts. This is actually where addictions in the social media deviate from the context of drug addictions. Precisely, social behaviors like the use of facebook are shaped by minor social situations. On the other hand, drug addicts have well established backgrounds on their reasons for engaging in such practices.
There have been various reports tabling the effects of the social media and its addictions. The claim that social media addictions make people anti-social has not been conclusively established but is under scrutiny. Drug addicts are characterized by alienating themselves from the rest of the community since they feel more comfortable in the company of other addicts. This actually reduces their interactions with others and limits it to addicts only. On the other hand, the logical explanation given in this context for social media addictions is its nature in occupying most of the sociable time one has. There is no clear linkage between these two explanations. Debates are still going on regarding the effects of social media addictions on the social characteristics of the affected individual. It has been established that the psychological context of these addictions are the only surest thing. That is why direct linkages or relationships coupled with psychological explanations reveal drug addictions as the exact counterpart of social media addictions.
Moreover, the manipulative nature of social media has been compared with the hallucinations in drug addictions. It is true that the media has all forms of truth and lies. It would prove difficult to actually classify a statement in the internet as true unless some trust is accorded to the site. In this way, social addicts are manipulated by these statements and record them in their minds as true accounts. This has significantly affected the perceptions of different individuals making them to rely on internet sources for almost all explanations. With respect to substance abuse, hallucinations reduce the perception capacities of individuals and make them think of things that are not true as they imagine them as happening.
Generally, the aspect of social media addictions has aroused a lot of interest given that it has several advantages and cannot be ruled out unless its factors are weighed out correctly. There are various educative and essential aspects of social networks where cohesion is promoted through enhanced interactions. It is unfortunate that divergent practices in its use have developed such behaviors as its addiction which is harming its ethical and moral objectives.
In conclusion, the context of comparison between social media and drug addiction can only be conclusive if further research is encouraged to enable a wider coverage of the social media. It would be a rather unfair comparison if these social problems are perceived to be of the same magnitude without a conclusive establishment of all aspects of one side. Therefore, as more research is conducted to display habits in the overall usage of the social media, it is advisable that individuals control how they use their social time to eliminate the immoral and unethical behaviors discussed above.
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