Are You Addicted?

Is Facebook and social networking becoming our newest addiction? Some think so. What do you think? Leave your comments below.

There’s no medical definition for Facebook addiction, but many psychologists and social media experts are beginning to use FAD (Facebook Addiction Disorder) to describe the behavior of people who compulsively use the social networking site to document their lives, closely follow those of their friends, play games and chat.

In small doses, the activity is harmless. But the site – designed to draw people in with its user-friendly organized way of finding friends, interests and news and constant updates on everything – appears to be doing just that, sometimes to the detriment of its users.

As early as 2005, when the 1-year-old site had reached 5 million members, college students were referring to the “Facebook trance,” wherein users who were logged in could be seen in a quasi hypnotic state as they dug deeper into the pages.

It is unclear which groups are most hooked on the world’s most popular social network, as experts emphasize that most addicts are likely in denial.

But studies largely point to young people, still at a critical stage in their development in which they are learning social skills through sports and other activities.

Last year, the University of Maryland conducted a study to determine the extent of social-media dependency among college students. The participants were asked to abstain from all forms of media for 24 hours and then report on their experiences.

One of the concerning findings was that youngsters reported feeling helpless, lonely, and anxious. Many couldn't function normally without their media tools, especially their Facebook and mobile phones, which they mainly used for texting – a form of social media networking.

Toward the end of the 24-hour experiment, one participant wrote: “Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort. When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable.”

Another used literal terms of addiction, writing, “Although I started the day feeling good, I noticed my mood started to change around noon. I started to feel isolated and lonely. I received several phone calls that I could not answer,” wrote the student. “By 2 p.m. I began to feel the urgent need to check my email, and even thought of a million ideas of why I had to. I felt like a person on a deserted island … I noticed physically, that I began to fidget as if I was addicted to my iPod and other media devices, and maybe I am.”

This study shows not only how easily people can get hooked on social media. It also shows how technology and social networking sites, particularly Facebook, have become such an integral part of their lives that it would be difficult to leave them, even if they wanted to.