Position Paper on Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) leading to internet usage addiction.
Position: Use of ICT leads to Internet addiction
The age that we live in has been termed as an information centric age. Computers and Internet have been instrumental in ensuring that we remain connected with the world around us at all times. With the development of mobile communications the size of the personal computer has been reduced to a bare minimum. This has resulted in information being available at our finger tips 24*7. This change has been facilitated by the advent of notebook computers, mobile phones and tablet computers. Rapid innovation in information technology and its ready accessibility and media convergence of it across several platforms has made information to be accessible at all times. This has led to frequent and often over-use of this information since it is no longer bound by physical barriers. Such convenience to access information has led to the phenomenon of internet usage addiction. A disorder, unique to our generation. It was only a matter of time that its convenient accessibility would lead to an over use and abuse of it by individuals who get hooked on to it.
Internet overuse has now been recognised as a true disorder with several unique characteristics to it that tend to interfere with ones normal life. Internet addiction disorder as it is popularly referred to is also known compulsive internet use and internet overuse.
Making use of information communication technology to gather and disseminate information lets one learn, be aware and share that information easily and often effortlessly. Numerous websites and internet portals provide us this information by the minute in the form of news,...
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... left to an individuals own good judgement in realising and ensuring how much is too much for internet usage to be regarded as an addiction for them, and how they would like to deal with it. ICT is indeed a very potent means to connect, learn and share information in a digital age but its convenience should be measured on an individual basis. Wisdom tells us that too much of everything is bad. If we make use of it to an extent that it impedes our daily life and begins to interfere with it then it is indeed a cause for concern and would start impacting us negatively. Use of internet through ICT is indeed convenient and interactive but we must try and make use of it positively so it doesn't interfere in our daily lives and influences us positively. The idea for the existence of ICT is to use it responsibly for it to work for us efficiently and effectively.
The internet is used today for many reasons. It is a platform for people to stay in touch with others, entertain themselves and complete work tasks. In the following articles, “Internet Addiction Left my Brother Homeless” by Winston Ross and “The Pointlessness of Unplugging” by Casey N. Cep, the internet is discussed very deeply, but in two varying lights. In the article by Cep the author is writing from personal experiences and research. In the article by Ross the author is writing merely from opinions.
According to www.telegraph.co.uk, “[y]oung people aged between 16 and 24 spend more than 27 hours a week on the internet.” Certainly this much internet usage would have an effect on someone. What exactly is the effect of using the internet too much? Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” argues that we are too reliant on the internet and it is making the us dim-witted and shortens our attention span. While Clive Thompson’s article “Smarter than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better” states that technology is not only a collection of knowledge, it also a method of sharing and recording our own knowledge. I fall between both Carr and Thompson. I agree with car on his points of us being too reliant on the internet but disagree when he states that it is making us less intelligent. Meanwhile, I also support Thompson’s statement that the internet allows us to assimilate vast amounts of knowledge but disagree with his opinion on how we should be reliant on
Addiction to the Internet can be emotional for other people and can take an emotional toll. Researchers got some evidence of how being addicted to the internet can affect teens, “ Health studies also show that those who spend a lot of time online are more likely to experience depression.” (David Price) A study shows that teens who use the Internet may be about 2.5 times more likely to become depressed. But wait, there’s more! There’s more evidence of why the internet can cause an emotional problem, “ A slow internet connection or ‘unplugging’ can promote irritability and anxiety for a teen otherwise used to constant connection through technology.” (FCD Prevention Works) Because of being addicted to the internet, slow wifi can irritate teens by not having what they want fast enough. There’s no conclusive explanation as to why anxiety and depression so often coexist. There are serious cases in which teenagers would change their behavior and more. This proves that being addicted to the internet can promote bad things for the physical body and even the
The website, NetAddiction.com, has self-assessment tests that tell you if you are addicted or not. Here is a list of some of the questions the website would ask you: Do you neglect housework to spend more time online? Are you frequently checking your e-mail? Do you often lose sleep because you log in late at night? If technology is interfering with your daily life, it is an addiction and taking a toll on you. A clinical psychologist, Ms. Dowling calls that “Internet Dependence.” Some experts ideas for solving this problem would be setting limits of how many time you can check your email, social media, etc. An experiment with 200 people was done at the college of University or Maryland. They asked them to not use their technology all day, to see what the results of the people thought. Their experiment showed that quitting cold turkey is very difficult, but it makes them connect with people more. Technology is decreasing our time to have real conversations with people and enjoying and seeing stuff that we usually
Some participants say they use the internet the entire time they are awake. Tolerance is the increasing amount of a substance over time in order to achieve the desired effect meaning that subtle use was not enough. Craving is another symptom seen but not assessed in the DSM-5. Participants report craving internet use especially when the see that internet access is available to them. Loss of interest in other hobbies or activities was another sign seen in activities such as reduced either academic or project work, reduced socialization with friends and family, and reduced exercise because of the use of internet. The use of the internet in order to escape or relieve a negative mood was also observed among the participants, internet use is used as a distraction. The last symptom observed by the study was the “lying about the use”, individuals would lie to their family, friends, and therapist in order to conceal the extent of their involvement with the
In their article, Janarthanan Balakrishnan, and Mark D. Griffiths discuss that “internet viewers online addictions are primarily about addictions on the Internet rather than addiction to the Internet, and that most of those with online problematic behavior are addicted to the online content rather than
What is addiction? Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of the brain reward and memory circuitry. Addiction is the inability to abstain consistently from a substance which leads to an impairment in behavioral control. This forms cravings, a diminished idea of significant problems with one’s behavior, and dysfunctional emotional responses (Definition of Addiction 2014. p 1). There are several different substances that a person can be addicted to: alcohol, drugs, food, sex, etc. These substances affect the neurotransmitters and interactions within the reward structures of the brain. Thus giving the person a pleasurable feeling that they want to recreate over and over again. Most people are not able to control the use of their desired substance of choice. They may continue using the substance despite knowing it is harmful. There are characteristic stages of abstinence and relapse. The abstinence stage is where the addicted person tries to quit using. Unfortunately most are not successful because it is almost too hard to quit on their own. This is followed by a relapse stage where they start using the substance again. Addiction can cause serious long-term consequences including issues with mental and physical health, relationships, employment and the law. To help a person overcome an addiction it may take help from a doctor, family, friends, support groups or an organized treatment program.
Technology has advance so much since the old days. We see technology everywhere but one major thing that has change since back then into now has been the internet usage. Believe it or not internet is being used everywhere. First, it was used in desktops now is on laptops, cellphones, and tablets and even on TV and Video games. Internet, is very bad for society but three major reasons why is bad is due to many deaths, creating health issues, and bullying.
Social networks, like Facebook or You Tube can keep someone updated with world events and even local events. It has become part of everyday life in which people can’t live without. But what lies beneath is the evil of how addictive technology can be. The above chart demonstrates that almost 60% of students use electronics more than two hours a day. This shows us that technology can be addictive. Jonathan Mandell’s article Are gadgets, and the Internet, actually addictive, recalls a time in April 2007 when BlackBerry users could not send or receive emails for 11 hours because of a glitch in the system. Many people reported this as a natural disaster (Mandell, 2007). People are relying on technology so much, that it is becoming a major problem in our society when it becomes temporary unavailable. Being able to plan your whole day on your smart phone and lock your front door to your house at the same time contributes to society laziness and dependency on technology. On the chart picture below I surveyed fellow ECPI Students on the question does technology make us lazy and or smatter and this was the results. From this pie chart it’s clearly shown that more than half of the students at ECPI agree that technology is making people lazy. Also the ratio of yes to no is about 6:1, certainly showing that the wrong effects of technology are starting to show up in our society. Choices people make about using their
The internet is an essential tool in everyday life. The age of a person does not matter, because whether they are a teen, an adult, or an elderly person in order to stay in contact with others they will need the internet. However, the internet is dangerously addictive. Some studies say that the internet is not the addiction, but the means of getting to the addiction. The more believable of the two studies are the ones that discuss the internet being the addiction. Curtis stated in 2012 that reports on the brain are showing that people who excessively use the internet show abnormalities similar to people who suffer from substance addiction. Curtis also stated that internet addiction was becoming
In Greg Beato’s article “Internet Addiction” originally published in august, september 2010 in to Reason magazine he argues that internet addiction is a problem in our society today. Internet addiction should be reported in the Diagnostic and statistic manual of mental disorder (DSM). It is a huge problem, he also says that internet is like narcotic drugs and very addicting. He states that if ones use Google for few minutes only it leads us to spend more than a few minutes on the internet and it turns in to spending hours. Beato refers that University of Maryland did a group study for 24 hour and all the students went crazy without their phones and iPods, one girl admitted that she is an addict. The students were anxious and miserable. He also says that one kid killed his parents because they took away his Xbox. Internet also leads to death of people, therefore it is a problem and we should put it on to the DSM.
The Internet’s influence on our lives has spread throughout. According a 2009 US Census survey 74% of Americans use the internet and have access within their household.A number that has increased every year since 1990 and will sure grow in the future. In this survey they relieved that they did various activities on the internet including social media, (Facebook and Twitter) researching and reading news articles, watching YouTube videos, shopping and so much more all can be done with a computer or Internet enabled phone. With this ease of use and convenience it casts a shadow upon the future of printed and broadcast information. The Web’s instant and vast knowledge bank has changed ...
A lot of research has gone into understanding the real impacts of technology in people’s lives. The impact of Internet on our life becomes more and more significant and undeniable. Life without Internet is definitely very troublesome and inconvenient. However some do think that this technology is more of a nuisance than useful. Even more complaints have come forward about the Internet disrupting humanity. Over the last two decades people have seen time and again complaints from parents that their children play video games 24/7 or relationships that have been ruined because of a partners inability to use technology in moderation (i.e. Technological addictions). Technological addictions are categorized under behavioral addictions and involve human-technology interaction. They can be passive (e.g. television) or active (e.g. computer games) Internet Addiction does have the core components of any addiction and will be expounded on in this
This online article was useful for my research because it showed how over use of technology impact on people. This article also gives background information on internet addiction and internet dependence. The source is one of the best sources used in my research due to the fact that it had some of the basic information about the harmful effect of becoming so much dependent on technology.
In the modern world internet access is a vital part of everyday life. It is important for education, and is a necessary skill for those entering the job markets of today. The internet is highly entertaining and informative. These qualities make the internet an attractive escape from the stress of everyday life. People can enter a different world and make the problems of the real world disappear. Anything is possible on the internet. Internet addiction has the same symptoms as an addition to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or caffeine. When someone becomes addicted to the internet they will have increasing tolerance to the amount of time they spend online, withdrawal, mood changes between when online and off, and there will be an interruption of social relationships and activities. People with an addiction will need more time online to be happy. When access to the internet is not available people will show signs of anxiety, depression, irritability, trembling hands, and restlessness.