Social Media & Computer Addiction

Computers were actually invented to help in daily tasks and connect people over the internet. Today, it is mostly used for social media, video games and many other activities on the internet that waste a lot of time but may not feel like it. Cell phones are also computers and people use them to make calls or send text messages. But some people have become very addicted to them. Amusement parks used to have big gatherings. But now you will find people sitting on a bench lost in their cell phones without bothering about their surroundings.

Social Media

People who are addicted to social media compare every aspect of their life with a random user on the internet and become self-conscious. They do not go outside because they think everyone around them is better in every way. In this way, they become isolated in their room. People spend time on social media talking to random people all day without doing anything productive.

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But when they meet someone in person they face communication problems because of the time they spent in isolation. Spending a lot of time on social media each day leaves less time to talk to others in real world. A person may have a thousand friends over the internet without having a single friend in real life. People think of online profiles as an extension of who they are. Social media encourages you to identify yourself with your real name and picture. Nowadays, a social media profile is treated more like a resume.

Video Games

Video gamers sit in their room all day playing video games and do not go outside to socialize with their friends. When internet features were introduced in console and pc games, a lot of players became addicted instantly. They played certain games with their friends over the internet and while talking to their friends throughout the match. Some games were made for simultaneous players connected throughout the world. Gamers mostly use headphones while playing video games and because of the loud sound from these headphones, they cannot hear a sound outside the game even if there is a thunderstorm outside. Playing video games takes a lot more time than it actually feels causing isolation for players.

Headphones

Headphones have completely changed the way a person listens to music. Before some time, friends used to go to concerts together and discover new music. But now, a person can go to the internet and download new music. In addition to this, he listens to music while performing daily tasks instead of talking to the people around him. This makes him isolated from his surroundings. Listening and dancing to music with friends in a party is completely different from listening to music with headphones sitting alone in your room. Noise cancellation headphones are very common today. Many people use them to block the sound from their surrounding and completely isolating themselves.

Cell Phones

Today’s society is facing isolation because of cell phones. Instead of meeting our friends face to face, we just call or text them. Texting them all day is not the same as talking to them over coffee. People have become so addicted to cell phones that accidently leaving their cell phone at home makes them go back to get their cell phone even if they are half-way through their journey. This is because they see their cell phones as extensions of themselves. People take pictures, videos and talk to their loved ones through cell phones and feel that their cell phone is a part of themselves. This is called extended self. People who view their cell phones as extended self, feel more isolated when separated from it.

Kendal Parmar’s 15-year-old son addicted to video games

Reference: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boy-15-becomes-first-internet-12684718 (All information about Kendal Parmar’s son has been taken from the news website mentioned above)

Kendal Parmar’s son was kept in hospital for eight weeks and has missed a year of school because of his addiction. He is set to be diagnosed as the first NHS-recognized internet gaming addict. She has battled for three years after his condition became so severe he stopped going out. Mother-of-five Kendal said: “No one has taken it seriously. There isn’t any treatment as it’s so new. Every moment he’s awake, he wants to be on a game. There’s no outside world.” She has previously told how her popular son went from a talented pupil and rugby player to a recluse after he began gaming aged 12. “He lives on video platform Twitch or games such as Fortnite.” Kendal said: We’ve lost all of him.” When his addiction reached a level where he stopped eating and washing, he needed psychiatric help. She added: “When he came out of hospital, they had medication for him. It was just vitamin D, because he doesn’t go outside.” Her sister Belinda Parmar, 44, who runs a campaign #TheTruthAboutTech, called for recommended daily allowances of technology time. She said: “We hope the diagnosis means that we start to take this problem seriously.”

A 9-year-old girl wet herself while playing and refuses to leave the game

Reference: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/girl-9-rehab-after-becoming-12673590 (All the information about this girl has been taken from the news website mentioned above)

A girl aged 9 is in rehab after becoming addicted to a video game that is gripping the nation’s kids. Her horrified parents have revealed their daughter is in intensive therapy after getting addicted to the game Fortnite. Experts fear she is one of many children at risk of developing mental health problems as a result of over-exposure to the fight-to-the-death scenarios. The obsessed primary school pupil secretly got up in night and played until dawn. She neglected to go to the toilet because she could not bear to leave the screen. In addition to this, she hit her father in the face when he tried to confiscate her Xbox gaming console. She also dozed off in class because of the night-time addiction. The girl’s mother told the Sunday people: “We had no idea, when we let her play the game, of the addictive nature or the impact it could have on her mental health. She is in therapy for the addiction after she became withdrawn, agitated and disturbed from playing up to ten hours a day – sometimes playing until dawn, wetting herself so she didn’t have to leave the screen. This is a serious issue which is destroying our little girl’s life and someone needs to step in to ban it before it becomes an epidemic.”

Gamer dies after playing World of Warcraft for 19 hours

Reference: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/11449055/Chinese-gamer-dies-after-playing-World-of-Warcraft-for-19-hours.html (All information about Mr. Wu Tai has been taken from the news website mentioned above)

A video game fan collapsed and died in an internet café in China after playing World of Warcraft for 19 hours without a break. CCTV footage shows 24-year-old Wu Tai playing the game on his computer before repeatedly coughing violently and then slumping in his chair. Mr. Wu was visiting the internet café in Shanghai to play the game alongside other players. The footage shows fellow gamers in shock as Mr. Wu collapses and is then taken away by paramedics. Hsin Lo, a fellow gamer said he called an ambulance after noticing Mr. Wu appeared to be pale and ill. He said: “I suddenly heard him groan and when I turned to see what had happened, he was very pale and looked uncomfortable. He was dabbing his mouth with a hankie which had blood on it.” When the paramedics arrived, they tried to rescue Mr. Wu but he was already dead. A police spokesman said: “An autopsy will determine the cause of death but there seems little doubt his playing on the computer for 19 hours instead of resting contributed to his death.”

Personal view about the topic

I do agree with the topic and the information provided in this essay. But there are certain things that people don’t talk about. They do not consider the fact that maybe the person is isolated because of the negative response from the society. Maybe he was too fed up from the constant bullying at school. So, he decided to isolate himself from everyone. Also, when a person spends some time isolated from everyone, he has time to think about himself, his habits, his interests, his weaknesses and his goal in life. Then after some time, he tries to find things on the internet that might take his mind off from certain things. If a person is mature then whatever activity he chooses in his isolation, he will not become addicted. But if he is not mature then those activities can waste his time completely and make him addicted. Therefore, it totally depends on the maturity level of the person whether he will become addicted or not. “It takes discipline not to let social media steal your time.”-Alexis Ohanian