The year is 2015. As one looks around, they notice heads bent over an illuminating device, blank stares at a screen, and mindless chatter over retweets, likes, and favorites. The world this generation lives in today has dramatically changed from what previous generations knew. Almost the entirety of information known to mankind is available with a couple taps on a screen. With iPhones and iPads, all knowledge available to teenagers and young adults is directly at their finger tips, yet they use these devices for pointless, unhealthy things such as social media. It is truly a startling realization that the next generation of presidents, CEOs, congressmen, and entrepreneurs are more worried about how many likes they get on an Instagram post,
…show more content…
Social Media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram negatively affect mental health in teens and young adults because it is addictive, gives rise to cyber bullying, glamorizes drug and alcohol use, causes a decrease in personal skills, and exposes teens and young adults to explicit and violent …show more content…
Unfortunately, addiction falls within that category. Whether it is smoking cigarettes, or chewing tobacco, most teenage addictions became major problems in adult life. Social media addiction is as real as cigarette addiction. According to Eliene Augenbraun of CBS News, nearly 13% of Americans are experiencing some form of social media addiction. They either feel they are not receiving enough of it, or they are overcome with an urge to engage in their addiction. Recent brain imaging studies have discovered startling facts about the similarities in a drug addict 's brain and a social media addicted brain (Augenbraun). It is easy to see why social media is so addictive. Internet addiction was first proposed as a psychiatric disorder in 1996 (Augenbraun). Since then, access to the internet has been made easier and easier with each passing year. Smart phones are conveniently giving this generation updates on different sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and apps make it even easier. People feel a strong sense of identity online, and have trouble separating from it in real life (Keller). Although studies have shown a variety of problems associated with the correlation of social media and addiction, there has not been enough studies for treatment and recommendations for preventing internet addiction (Augenbraun). The easiest way to prevent social media addiction is the same way as preventing other crippling addictions,
Social Media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram negatively affect mental health in teens and young adults because it is addictive, gives rise to cyber bullying, glamorizes drug and alcohol use, causes a decrease in personal skills, and exposes teens and young adults to explicit and violent …show more content…
Unfortunately, addiction falls within that category. Whether it is smoking cigarettes, or chewing tobacco, most teenage addictions became major problems in adult life. Social media addiction is as real as cigarette addiction. According to Eliene Augenbraun of CBS News, nearly 13% of Americans are experiencing some form of social media addiction. They either feel they are not receiving enough of it, or they are overcome with an urge to engage in their addiction. Recent brain imaging studies have discovered startling facts about the similarities in a drug addict 's brain and a social media addicted brain (Augenbraun). It is easy to see why social media is so addictive. Internet addiction was first proposed as a psychiatric disorder in 1996 (Augenbraun). Since then, access to the internet has been made easier and easier with each passing year. Smart phones are conveniently giving this generation updates on different sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and apps make it even easier. People feel a strong sense of identity online, and have trouble separating from it in real life (Keller). Although studies have shown a variety of problems associated with the correlation of social media and addiction, there has not been enough studies for treatment and recommendations for preventing internet addiction (Augenbraun). The easiest way to prevent social media addiction is the same way as preventing other crippling addictions,