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Online and out of touch

Thanks to social media, staying in touch and interacting with others has never been easier. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an avenue for problems, such as addiction, to occur. Studies are revealing an inverse link with online connections and deeper, face-to-face relationships.

Norwegian researchers recently developed a test for networking sites, called the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, which likens inordinate amounts of time spent on the networking site to drug and alcohol abuse. The test measures how often people use the site, if they do so to forget their problems, and how using the site negatively affects their personal and working lives. They found that women, young people and those anxious or socially insecure are the most at risk for Facebook addiction.

“Social media, and the new emphasis on the importance of ‘multitasking,’ have helped drive a wedge between family members,” says psychologist Gregory L. Jantz, author of “#Hooked: The Pitfalls of Media, Technology and Social Networking.”

Ironically, people become less social the more time they spend on social sites, and they tend to get less done while multitasking because they do not focus on completing one task at a time, he says.

“When people abuse drugs and alcohol, they are trying to feel better, yet they are worsening their situation. We’re finding this is also true for those who spend excessive amounts of time on social networking sites,” he says. “Perhaps the hardest hit from social media addiction is the family unit.

“Technology continues at its accelerating pace, and we are in unchartered territory,” Jantz says. “Increasingly, social networking infiltrates our personal lives, but we need to remember that it is created to serve us, and not the other way around.”
 

Source: News and Experts, www.newsandexperts.com
 

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