Internet Addiction: Content Analysis
My project will follow a content analysis format and will examine the social problems claims regarding internet addiction. I will use ten online newspaper articles as my analysis material. I will look at how this social problem is coded by studying the following patterns and themes that occur in the articles. The three main patterns and themes that I found are the comparisons between internet addictions and drug addictions, the validity of the internet as an independent addiction, and the differences in the proposed solutions.
First, all ten of the articles agreed that internet addiction is a legitimate addiction, despite its lack of presence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition, or the DSM-5. There is still a level of public controversy on the validity of internet use as an addiction, so some articles approach the topic with varying degrees of skepticism. However, all of the articles did eventually agree that internet addiction is legitimate. 50% of the articles claimed that internet addiction is similar to a drug addiction. The articles that did not make this claim did not deny it, but instead simply chose not to include it in their contents. Some of the articles that argued for this comparison focused on the physical similarities between internet and drug addictions. An example of this can be found in Catherine Steiner-Adair’s article. She writes, “[an internet addict] becomes restless, angry or depressed when unable to engage in [the internet],” (2). Some of the articles that claimed that internet addiction is similar to a drug addiction chose a different approach. Rather than highlighting the obvious physical symptoms, these articles discussed how, w...
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...d themes found in articles about internet addiction. Those patterns are the comparisons between internet addictions and cocaine, heroin and other drug addictions, the validity of the internet as an independent addiction, and the differences and similarities in the different proposed solutions. The articles that I analyzed were online newspaper articles and, my paper followed a content analysis format. All of my articles agreed that internet addiction is a legitimate addiction, and half of my articles presented comparisons between internet addiction and drug addiction. 40% of my articles claimed that internet addiction was made worse when it was used as a catalyst for other addictions, such as gambling, pornography, or gaming addictions. 80% of my articles provided solutions to internet addictions, though there was not a conclusive opinion on which strategy was best.
Currently, there are numerous issues about a lot of man-made activities. One of the most controversial man made objects that people talk about is the Internet. The spectrum of available content is steadily increasing and some members of society are agreeing that some of the content is hazardous, as it is delivered in an explicit manner. This content is also not in agreement with some of societies morals. There are multiple research studies that show how the Internet negatively affects humans in society emotionally and socially, educationally, medically and morally.
In his article “internet addiction”, published in 2010 by Reason Magazine, Greg Beato tries to show how internet addiction, an excessive behavior brought up by the psychiatrist Ivan Gilbert, is an important issue for the society and why it should be considered as a behavior disorder. He supports his thesis by using a lot of evidence such as graphics, statistics, and researches. Although, Beato’s arguments about the causes of internet addiction and the reasons why it should add to the DSM are mostly true, some of his observations on the future are pessimistic.
According to Li, O’Brien, Snyder, and Howard (2016), problematic internet use may lead to serious psychosocial dysfunction and has resulted in a proposed diagnostic criterion for the DSM-5 in order to assess the disorder. In the United States, 6% to 11% of internet users are problematic internet users. Researchers, in fact, compare problematic internet use to the assessed criteria for gambling and internet gaming disorder. They have also concluded that college-aged teens and young adults are at most risk due to the availability of internet access around them and the direct relationship between the internet and education. Symptoms include impaired physical health such as obesity or sleep disorders, psychological distress, and behavioral problems. Students may also experience more interpersonal problems and worse school and work performance.
The common types of addiction in children are the behavioral activities such as television programs, video games, other games as may be defined by the locality of a child and food. The adults are however faced with addictions of different types ranging from the drug and substance addictions to other internet related addictions such as pornography. Besides, adults are exposed to many factors which can cause addiction such as peer pressure and traumatic events. The treatment of the children and adult addicts are also quite different.
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. Another major difference in the two pieces is the main idea of the articles. In Cep’s article the main idea of his work is the idea of Unplugging from the internet. In Ross’s article, rather, the main point of his work is to discuss internet
According to Internet Live Stats, 40% of the world’s population has access to the internet today. In 1995, this number was less than 1%. The first billion was reached in 2005, the second billion in 2010, and the third billion in 2014. With these overwhelming numbers, it can be presumed that having access to the Internet has never been so easy. In fact, we are so conditioned to this technology that most of our tasks depend on it to be done. Nowadays, most of the school work is done online and when looking for a job a lot of times it is required to be computer savvy. Of course the internet is not all bad, but becoming so dependent on this can surely have severe consequences. CNN released an article evaluating internet addiction. According to this article, “A 2014 study determined that about 16% of 18- to 25-year-olds are involved in compulsive Internet use” (CNN, Adair). Psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair further explains:
Americans’ over-dependence on the internet is causing more harm than good. Technological advancement, coupled with our easy access to virtual life through computers, cell phones, iPods among others has introduced us into a new era of extreme livelihood and lifestyle; we have gradually expanded internet use to do most of our activities of daily living for us. This growing trend in internet obsession has led to increase in online sexual predators, social withdrawal, Internet fraud and health issues. This social stigma if left unchanged will lead to further deterioration in our emotional, physical and social wellbeing. This paper will take the position that our overly use of the Internet has caused more harm than good.
The prevalence of Internet use and the growing realization that it has become an addictive vice for some has spurned the creation of groups such as Webaholics Anonymous, Interneters Anonymous, Netaholics Anonymous, the Internet Addiction Association, and the Internet Addiction Support Group (IASG). All of these self-help groups can be sought on-line, which is rather ironic, given the topic, but nonetheless the groups seek to aid those addicted to using the Internet. The name, Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) has even been given to this growing phenomenon of Internet addiction.
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.
Internet Addiction is slowly becoming more prevalent in the present day. According to Hall (2001) Research on the prevalence of internet addiction varies from study to study, but recent studies cite rates of 6% to 14% of internet users. With internet addiction becoming more common, many of the behaviors and subcultures found on the internet will also be more prevalent. This is the reason for a more common appearance of ASB in
There have been many studies performed to research the idea of Internet addiction. It is just like any other addiction, including gambling, alcoholism, and eating disorders, and all of which destroy families in one way or another. Experiments created by psychologists and sociologists to explain the addiction resemble those of pathological gamblers described in the DSM-IV.[1] Using that information, a survey was made to determine if users have Internet addiction. The questionnaire includes eight questions such as “Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction?” and “Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood?” Participants who answered yes to five or more of the questions were considered addicted Internet users.
Abstract— This research examines three questions: Does Internet addiction really exist? If it does exist what criteria does one have to meet for them to be labeled as an Internet addict? And lastly an ethical evaluation of Internet addiction. The questions are explored by investigating the fundamentals of addiction (i.e., Compulsion, Obsession, living problems, lack of satisfaction) and then correlating them to excessive Internet use. This research concludes that whilst the concept of Internet addiction cannot be completely ruled out, the majority and most probable explanation when it comes to Internet addiction is that the Internet is being as a medium to engage in different types of addictions.
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
Internet addiction is a growing problem with more and more people. The internet is much more accessible to people now than it was just a few years ago. The internet provides people with entertainment, loads of information, and an escape from everyday life, but like anything else, too much a good thing can be addictive. This paper will cover what internet addiction is, warning signs of internet addiction, problems caused by internet addiction, who develops internet addiction, preventing and treating internet addiction, and safety guidelines for internet users.
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.