Internet Social Media Addiction: 21 Symptoms?

What are the warning signs that we have been imprisoned by our screens? Is it possible that the addiction to social media could be harming our physical, mental and spiritual world? I would be the first to admit that there are worse activities such as mindlessly TV channel-surfing.But I have noticed the addiction in others!

You all make so many excuses for spending so much time online. For many people this is not a cause for anxiety at all. We are increasingly cyborgian, and any wish to return to the old ways (3-5 years ago) is nothing but a futile, hopeless and romantic nostalgia.

Having allocated myself a timetable that now stipulates a progressive increase in my time away from the screen I have noticed an improvement in my general health and sense of well-being. Perhaps the experience of having recovered from cancer last year has led me to rethink the primacy of direct interaction with people, rather than digital mediation. I'm certainly not a luddite by any means, but I may well be an online social media recovering addict. Don't take this too seriously. You may even objection to the use of addiction in this regard. I'm interested to hear your thoughts, online or off.

So here is my personal and rather intuitive list of symptoms that might be associated with an unhealthy addiction. Have you experienced any of these symptoms in the last year? Or perhaps you have noticed these characteristics in other people?

1. Repetitive Strain Injury

2. Back Pains and other discomfort associated with a screen-based lifestyle

3. Delusional sense of exhilaration associated with the online flow of interactions

4. Being online is my first activity of the day

5. Being online is my last activity of the day

6. Spending an hour or more online without being aware of the passage of time

7. Less comfortable with face-to-face encounters

8. Sense of being awed or overwhelmed by the abundance offered by the internet

9. Being online while you are speaking to friends or family on the phone

10. Being online while watching TV, or listening to music

11. Convinced that multi-tasking is an effective way to work

12. Decreased length and frequency of direct encounters with people

13. Increase in weight, BMI, or change in body shape and general fitness

14. Constantly mobile connected and status updating

15. Missing deadlines for work, or failing to meet your own objectives

16. Increased tendency to procrastinate, with less efficient productivity

17. Increase in irritability, stress, and anxiety; decrease in patience and listening skills

18. Frequently checking in online, at every opportunity

19. Sense that life is becoming fragmentary or hollow

20. Decreased attention span and ability to focus on major project requiring sustained effort

21. Preference for micro-engagement rather than in depth reflection.

I'd be delighted to hear your views, or meet with you face--to--face.

Perhaps you could keep a note of how much time you spend online and then question its genuine value to your life?

Further Reading

Young, Kimberly S., and Robert C. Rogers. "The relationship between depression and Internet addiction." CyberPsychology & Behavior 1.1 (1998): 25-28.

 

Park, Namsu, Kerk F. Kee, and Sebastián Valenzuela. "Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes." CyberPsychology & Behavior 12.6 (2009): 729-733.

 

"Internet Gratifications and Internet Addiction: On the Uses and Abuses of New Media."  Indeok Song, Robert Larose, Matthew S. Eastin, and Carolyn A. Lin. CyberPsychology & Behavior. August 2004, 7(4): 384-394.

 

O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson. "The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families." Pediatrics 127.4 (2011): 800-804.

 

Correa, Teresa, Amber Willard Hinsley, and Homero Gil De Zuniga. "Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users’ personality and social media use." Computers in Human Behavior 26.2 (2010): 247-253.

 

LaRose, Robert, Carolyn A. Lin, and Matthew S. Eastin. "Unregulated Internet usage: Addiction, habit, or deficient self-regulation?." Media Psychology 5.3 (2003): 225-253.

 

Baudrillard, Jean, and Marie Maclean. "The masses: The implosion of the social in the media." New Literary History 16.3 (1985): 577-589.

 

Stern, Steven E. "Addiction to technologies: A social psychological perspective of Internet addiction." CyberPsychology & Behavior 2.5 (1999): 419-424.

 

Yen, Ju-Yu, et al. "The comorbid psychiatric symptoms of Internet addiction: attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, social phobia, and hostility." Journal of adolescent health 41.1 (2007): 93-98.

 

Watkins, S. Craig. The young and the digital: What the migration to social network sites, games, and anytime, anywhere media means for our future. Beacon Press, 2009.

 

Ehrenberg, Alexandra, et al. "Personality and self-esteem as predictors of young people's technology use." CyberPsychology & Behavior 11.6 (2008): 739-741.

 

Park, Woong. "Mobile phone addiction." Mobile Communications (2005): 253-272.

 

Wang, Wei. "Internet dependency and psychosocial maturity among college students." International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 55.6 (2001): 919-938.

 

LaRose, Robert, Dana Mastro, and Matthew S. Eastin. "Understanding internet usage A social-cognitive approach to uses and gratifications." Social Science Computer Review 19.4 (2001): 395-413.

 

Free Commons Policy

© Dr Ian McCormick. 

But please do contact me if you want to use this article as a guest post on your blog, or in your old-fashioned traditional paper news letter.

With attribution offered I seldom refuse!

Gender and Communications in International Development

The Communication Initiative is a partnership and networking space where people using media and communication strategies for action on poverty and other major issues share, learn and converse. See www.comminit.com and register. The Communication Initiative Network also has a useful page on Facebook that lists new projects.

Here are some features on gender and equality that appeared in their recent newsletter.

1. Mucho Corazón (A Lot of Heart)
The purpose of this Mexican television drama series is to help spread the word about the MDGs and the importance of sustainable development, gender equity, and respect for Indigenous Peoples. The 35-episode drama tells the story of Maruch, a young woman from a rural community in Chiapas. It is complemented by: a weekly TV talk show, ongoing promotion through the State of Chiapas radio and television networks, and community action campaigns to encourage viewers to adopt behaviours modelled in the drama.


MUCHO CORAZÓN (SUBTITLED) from PCI Media Impact on Vimeo.


2. Communication for Development (C4D) Workshop: Pacific Media Assistance Program (PACMAS)
In March 2012, the Pacific Media Assistance Program (PACMAS) held a C4D workshop in Suva, Fiji, with 20 students from technical and vocational education (TVET) institutions around the Pacific. The students produced radio and TV stories linked to the MDGs, including a television story on a female taxi driver to promote MDG 3: Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality. "We believe this story can empower young females in their career path choices and contribute to achievement of MDG 2 - quality education for all children (including females!)."

3. Event: Making a Noise for the MDGs
This initiative combined debate and drama in a show of support for the MDGs, with a focus on the role of women and girls in empowering women, reducing child mortality, and improving maternal health. BBC listeners, along with a live audience, discussed the role played by women in achieving the MDGs. Following the debate, a reception that drew a range of figures from the arts explored the role of creativity and drama as tools used to provoke lasting social change. [Sept. 2010, BBC Media Action and the Southbank Centre]

4. Progress Relies on Sound Information in the Philippines
by Michelle Hibler
The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) is an organised way of collecting, analysing, and verifying information to be used by local governments, national government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and civil society for planning, budgeting, and implementing local development programmes. The Philippines CBMS team is testing its use in gender-responsive budgeting. "A pilot project in Escalante City confirmed the usefulness of CBMS, which had been modified to capture additional gender-relevant information, such as education and livelihood skills, in targeting and resource allocation." Data are available to governments and researchers through a computerised national repository system. [International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Jun. 2009]

5. Gender Mainstreaming in Practice: A Toolkit
This toolkit provides a detailed algorithm for implementing a gender perspective in all phases of a development programme/project cycle. Special attention is paid to: (i) baseline gender indicators that help monitor: (i) whether a project improves access to development resources for women and men equally, (ii) principles of civic participation in project implementation, and (iii) active promotion of gender equality in information support of the project and communication with national counterparts. Though global in scope, it is extended as part of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kyrgyzstan's work to advance gender equality and empowerment of women as part of the MDGs. [Nov. 2011]

What’s involved in creativity? Solo, or Group?

Factors involved in Creativity

Making an Effort: mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.

Courage: to take risks.

Stamina: not to give up, to revise and redraft many times.

Perfect Imperfection: knowing when to stop.

Mentors: to follow, and to rebel against.

Style: it’s not just what you say but how you say it.

Surprise: walking the unexpected, deviation from norms, serendipity

Flow: an intense state of mind when you deliver peak performance

Skills and Tools: to build and develop projects

Confidence: to aspire and to avoid destructive thoughts and negative outlook

Team work: ability and willingness to collaborate effectively and to respect others

Solo or Group?

It is often forgotten that creativity is not just individual, it can exist within a group or a community. Typically a small group will develop more ideas than a person working alone. That's why everyone is getting into co-creation now, from wiki, to games, free source and life hacking. But is there also a danger of group-think compromises and weak statements?

On or Off

Do you have the ability to just turn on the creativity switch?
Yes. It is a kind of skill that can be learned by anyone, in my view. But there is always room for improvement, and some days (and times) are better than others.

Resistance also takes many forms and need to be deconstructed and analysed.

Do you need a Moment of Inspiration?

No. That's the myth of romantic genius that appeared in the late eighteenth century. I don’t want to deny that there is a spark of inspiration. Rather, you need plenty of fuel to sustain and to develop your fire in a sustainable and memorable way.

Do you have to focus and create the mood for creativity to happen ?

Focus is good, but if you try too hard for too long you come up with what has been done before. 

When you say mood I'd suggest that it helps if you are contented rather than disabled by the worst kinds of depression.

Or is it out of your control?

This sounds dangerous. Part of creativity involves a faith in yourself, the ability to take risks, a sense of playfulness, and the cultivation of spontaneity. Spontaneity can be developed by doing things that are unusual or out o character. Again that comes down to confidence in yourself.

Source(s):

Film, collaboration and creativity link
The 32 dangers of collaboration link


General Discussion of the Topic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

Books

Mihaly Cskszentmihalyi. Flow.

Mihaly Cskszentmihalyi. Creativity and  the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

Notes

In the Wallas stage model, creative insights and illuminations may be explained by a process consisting of 5 stages:

(i) preparation (preparatory work on a problem that focuses the individual's mind on the problem and explores the problem's dimensions),
(ii) incubation (where the problem is internalized into the unconscious mind and nothing appears externally to be happening),
(iii) intimation (the creative person gets a "feeling" that a solution is on its way),
(iv) illumination or insight (where the creative idea bursts forth from its preconscious processing into conscious awareness); and
(v) verification (where the idea is consciously verified, elaborated, and then applied).

The 15-point Exam Self Examination

 

 I hope that your exams have not been as traumatic as mine were at school. In this blog, I have taken a long hard look at exam success and failure.

Obviously my research is based on real experiences, rather than irrelevant and dodgy theories.

In my experience of 30 years of teaching in English, and in the Arts, in Schools, and in the University sector,  these are the most common reasons for poor results:

1.    Anxiety based on lack of confidence, poor planning and fear of the unknown

2.    Lack of familiarity with past exam questions

3.    Poor memory skills

4.    Failure to produce model answers in exam conditions

5.    Revision that does not edit and select key points

6.    Revision that does not tailor knowledge to the exam

7.    Answers which are too short, or too long.

8.    Poor awareness of what the examiners are looking for

9.    Not answering the question

10.    Not explaining your thinking processes

11.    Poor range of evidence

12.    Weak communication skills

13.    Not understanding how to plan and structure your answer effectively

14.    Too much time wasted on opening and closing paragraphs.

15.    Running out of sufficient time to complete the required number of well-rounded answers.

The good news is that each of these issues can be addressed.

By reflecting on them and taking action you will significantly improve your exam performance.

You might even learn to enjoy the experience, and become an advocate for examinations.

If you would like to receive further examination tips and advice please drop me a line.

Dr Ian McCormick

Examining the Examination; or, Why Students Fail

Over a million young people in the UK will receive their examination results this month.

Exams are increasingly popular because they are easy to assess and are free from the issues of plagiarism and other forms of cheating that have proliferated in coursework. Indeed, my research shows that with the right money ($100) it is now very straightforward to purchase online a plagiarism-proof, first class, or A* Essay.

In that context I believe that we will be seeing greater reliance on exams in the future, and more of them will be marked by machines in a move toward improved technological efficiency of the educational production line. Their place in the system is secured.

In my view, examination procedures involve a special kind of discipline and they operate as a regime, such as that which we might encounter in a prison. Foucault was not wrong when he linked knowledge and power at an institutional level.

And exams are also a theatre of persecution, where the performance is loaded with expectations, rituals, and associations, most of them negative. For many candidates, the personal experience of the examination is tantamount to sadistic dehumanisation.

As in all power scenarios, the entire event is staged according to simple rules and queer conventions. With a little effort we can step back from that and see examination for what it is: the play of institutionalisation and a game of power. 

But with the right tactics in place you could become a master of the game, and not its pathetic victim. Yet inevitably those who succeed will become the new advocates for more probing examinations as the only way forward.

If you learn to play by the rules the whole process can be exhilarating and very rewarding. 

It will also be your most unforgettable performance and may affect much of your future life prospects.

In the next blog I will list 15 specific reasons why students fail to meet their exam expectations. If you address these issues methodically, you will significantly improve your exam performance !

What has been your experience of exams? Are you a student, parent, teacher, or an examiner?

If you have any exam tips, advice, or recommendations, please feel free to comment below.

For many people, the examination is worse than a trip to the dentists for a tooth extraction, or an episode of surgical examination that results in your guts being ripped out. It's the worst form of dehumanisation.

How did you get over the trauma of examination?


We are all in this together!

If you would like to receive my weekly exam success tips, please drop me a line.

Dr Ian McCormick 

More information will be posted in the next blog

The Nonprofit Twitter Guide - 25 Top Tips

Classic Non-sense Poet - Edward Lear

Even some of the more successful charities, NGOs and nonprofit groups have failed to adapt effectively to the new opportunities afforded by social media. Twitter has often been neglected as irrelevant and vain.

As a useful social media tool, Twitter has often lagged behind Facebook. I suspect that's because the first impression of Twitter is that it is chiefly populated by celebrity gossips and ephemeral personal details that have no relevance to the goals of social transformation and ethical awareness.

Having researched this topic I would like to offer 25 tips for nonprofits to make effective use of Twitter.


1. Tweets (comments posted on Twitter) need to be written with professional care and attention, just like any other form of writing. That means that Twitter will have an impact on your resources. But don't let it take over...

2. Avoid flippancy, rudeness, and excessive personalisation. By the same token, a dull corporate tone starts to sound quite tedious if it lacks any emotional intelligence.

3. Check Tweets for accuracy and errors. It's important to build a reputation for reliability.

4. It makes sense to follow sister and like-minded charities and nonprofits. That means being part of a community and collaborating by co-creating value.

5. Ration your tweets. Excessive tweeting may be compared to an irritating chatterbox at a party who refuses to let you speak or comment on what they've just said. At the outset I lost many followers by tweeting too enthusiastically.

6. Use words and phrases such as 'Please', 'Check out', 'Help me/us to' if you want people to re-tweet your comments. Polite requests are highly valued and respected.

7. In the most common re-tweets (RTs) Questions (?) were more popular than Exclamations (!)

8. Strong positive words are generally preferred to weak words and negative sentiments

9. Avoid emoticons. They are the sign of infantile desperation of the worst kind.

10. Popular RTs include some form of relevant news content

12. Research suggests that people are more likely to RT earlier in the working week (Monday-Wednesday) and during working hours (9-5 EST - USA)

13. A significant proportion of RTs contain a link to further information

14. Tweets are more likely to be re-tweeted as they pass through more hands (in a chain of trusted replication)

15. Tweets that are trusted and valued will have more viral impact for nonprofits, than ones that lack objectivity or are transparently propagandist.

16. Witty and humourous tweets can be effective but they may also backfire or alienate some followers.

17. Your tweet stream and your favourites should constitute a valued and trustworthy experience.

18. Do not endorse what you have not tried and tested yourself.

19. Engage your readers by offering free resources

20. Provide news items, alerts, and thematic or critical insights into current topics in the news

21. Support your readers with helpful resources and advice for common problems

22. Information that warns people about risks or dangers is valued and tends to be re-tweeted

23. Never spread rumours.

24. Build participatory engagement with requests to vote on topics or to take part in competitions

25. Ask readers to comment on blogs or topics and to request further information on topics that they identify as significant for their work.

Please send in any other suggestions and I will add them to the list. Please feel free to copy this blog for use in your own community or nonprofit newsletter. But please attribute the author and the website.

Dr Ian McCormick