Facebook & Twitter More Addictive than Alcohol?

Social media is indeed very addictive. This generation (Y) feels the need to constantly be plugged in. It’s hard for people to resist the urge to check social networking sites for updates, it seems more difficult than turning down a drink nowadays. You would think the top two things the young generation long for during the day is sleep and sex, But, social networks are the hardest to resist. 

According to a new research on people’s daily struggles withself-control and desire, Facebook and Twitter are harder to resist than alcohol and cigarettes.  The findings explore the thin line between self-discipline and addiction. The researchers gave BlackBerrys to 205 adults and signaled them seven times a day at randomly selected daytime hours for one week. When they were contacted the participants reported whether they were experiencing any desires or urges for something and what it was they yearned for.

The majority of the reports proved that some felt strong desires for sex and sleep but cravings for cigarettes and alcohol were unexpectedly low. But in terms of behavior the participants had the hardest time refraining from checking social media when they preferred not to, and from working.

When you think of an addiction, one may think of it as being located in a substance or perhaps an activity and displaces everything else. In this special case, an addictive drug is viewed as changing the brain to make it unable to resist social media. However, addiction is a matter of imbalance between your personal desire to engage in the addictive behavior and your conflicting desire to avoid the negative consequence of the said behavior.

The participants in the BlackBerry research were mostly college students and employed people between the ages from 18-55. Aha! So, it’s evident that the younger generation fall victim to the unhealthy addiction of social media.  

A co-author, Wilhelm Hofmann of Chicago University said:

“Desires for media may be comparatively harder to resist because of their high availability and also because it feels like it does not ‘cost much’ to engage in these activities, even though one wants to resist. With cigarettes and alcohol there are more costs — long-term as well as monetary — and the opportunity may not always be the right one. So, even though giving in to media desires is certainly less consequential, the frequent use may still ‘steal’ a lot of people’s time.”

All in all, social media is harder to resist because it’s easily accessible and doesn’t cost much like other addictions such as alcoholic beverages. When the opportunity presents itself which is often, people are checking their phones to be constantly updated.


Below are interesting results signifying how addictive Facebook and Twitter are:

How often do you check or update your Facebook or Twitter? Do you check it after you go to bed...?

Dislike: Facebook Likes Reveals A Lot

Now if this isn't creepy than I don’t know what it is. There was a study to show that Facebook could predict everything from your race to your sexual orientation, political affiliation to your personality type from a simply “like”.

Researchers had studied more than 58,000 people who volunteered in taking the “my personality” survey application on Facebook, in which subscribers allowed access to their list of likes. The purpose of the research was to see whether such information, which is publicly available on many Facebook pages, could predict a number of aspects about its users lives that can presumably predict their sexual orientation, ethnic origin, political views, religion, personality traits, substance use, and even intelligence level.

I find it intriguing that such information that was once personal to us is now in the public eye. Online behavior like Facebook “likes” can make the connection deeper than I thought.  The link in which the user “Likes” can relatively give information about relationship statuses, logic, and personal preferences. Some "Like" pages may be "Gay Love", "Pro Obama", "Single Ready to Mingle", and etc.
Some links are very personal and will automatically give fellow Facebook friends an impression of your personality.

Although the research is fascinating in how much Facebook can reveal but it also strikes a concern about privacy. But- in the meantime, I highly suggest that everyone is aware of how companies and entities with whom you share your “like” information may ultimately use this data. We must understand that our hidden meanings behind our desires and “likes” may end up teaching us about ourselves. 

Post Later, Remind Me Later

I find it funny that I too find myself caught up in a trend. I used to tease my friends about ignoring my calls and texting me right after. Ugh! But, now, I too prefer to text than call. It’s crazy! I blame the influence of this generation. They prefer to communicate with each other via text message in place of causal conversation:

• What time are you out of class?
• Do you want to eat lunch together?
• What are you doing?

But as I get heavily involved in my professional career I find myself exchanging direct communication:

• Running late, on my way
• Review the attached document and edit it to your liking
• Confirm that you will be in attendance at our next meeting

If it wasn't for caller ID, you’d never know who called you because you barely answer the phone or at least I don’t. I also get impatient and find myself just deleting the voicemails before listening to it and just texting back, “What did you call for?" 

I found an interesting article that I’d thought was relevant to share, Disruptions: Digital Era Redefining Etiquette. This article uncovers the un-normal norms. What was once normal is now foreign to people.

Voicemail lost its purpose because people expect a text message rather than a voicemail.  I mean think about how long it takes to access your voicemail and actually listen to those lengthy messages. It may seem time consuming compared to shooting a quick text message to someone. Phone companies made it even easier for us to comply with this lazy way of communicating. For iPhone users, have you noticed the reply with message option and for droid users, have you noticed the reject call with message option? They are encouraging us to ignore calls! Why?!

It’s amazing how many socials norms just don’t make sense anymore. People are SO wrapped up in  digital communication that they lose touch with the polite and civilized ways people used to interact. Rather than just asking someone for directions, they prefer to Google something on their smartphone. Technology is taking away from our interpersonal skills. The author mentioned when he asked a friend for something that could be easily discovered on the internet, his friend responded with, lmgtfy.com, which means Let Me Google That For You. Aha! Now, that’s rude!

Fun Fact: "Google" became a transitive verb on June 15th, 2006 in the Oxford English Dictionary

But it's true! People lost their touch. Take the smartphone for instance, there’s an app for everything! You have a widget for weather, contacts, maps, store hours, and so much more. People no longer have a reason to have a conversation with someone nor ask any questions. It seems as unnecessary communication to this generation!  Why ask someone something that I can simply access by the ends of my fingertips? It’s even a verb! When my fellow classmates ask a question and are not sure about the answer, they would suggest, “You should Google that!”

The article hits home for me and I’m sure it will for you too. Will our politeness die out? Is it no longer a trending topic? Let’s hope our forms of communication become important again. 

#socialmediaistakingover

A televisions show’s Twitter hashtag or trending topic can make a world of a difference in a show’s presence, especially for a popular show with low ratings that has loyal fans.

If you don’t know Twitter, this is how it works: a trending topic is a word or any group of words put together behind a simple hashtag (#).  Only the ten most tweeted about topics will appear on Twitter's homepage and landing in this spot will create A LOT of attention for the show. 

 You will notice that throughout the day, many topics will move up or down the list depending on current events that continue to occur. It’s amazing how much you can learn about the show without even watching. Like seriously, if I miss my episode of Pretty Little Liars or Catfish I can simply scroll through my timeline on Twitter to catch up. People usually tweet the entire time through the duration of the show. Viewers would tweet about the plot and the climax as it continues to happen. They serve as commentators for the show.

The power of social media NEVER ceases to amaze me day in and day out. Viewers/tweeters have landed shows in the TOP 10 spot. Viewers/tweeters not only serve as a narrator to their fellow followers but also as a passionate promoter of the show. The effect of Twitter leaves other fans curious and eventually tuning in even if it wasn't in their plans to do so. I should know! At times I get frustrated with the million conversations on Twitter and I tune in to find out what the discussion is all about. If not, I’ll be sure to catch a rerun.

During Twitter's early stages, viewers/tweeters would just create a trending topic while watching their favorite shows so their followers would know what they’re talking about. But, now, tweeting about television shows or movies has become second nature to tweeters/viewers. The hashtag movement has become so powerful that even some channels are encouraging viewers to tweet while watching their shows. Channels like ABC, CBS, THE CW, FOX and NBC live-stream their fans tweets during the show and on their website. They even have their own Twitter account so the tweeters can directly mention them through their tweets with a simple (@).

See below for all the television hashtags: #seehowdiscretelytheyplacethem

It’s all about fast information in this generation. The Twitter accounts for television shows have added to the experience with the ability to update fans at all times, anytime with news and information. Just as fast as piece of news is posted to the website/Facebook page, fans can make it part of their tweet. With the power of a tweet fans can be immediately connected with their favorite network and/or television show. Fans show their love with a (#) or (@).   

Twitter has definitely become a new frontier for television shows increasing their audiences and creating anticipation for upcoming episodes or seasons. For instance, True Blood created a hashtag, #waitingsucks as their promotion for their new season premiere. 

#whatdoyouthink?