Research | Social Media Addiction

Our Research

Here is all the research that we found that influenced the making of our video.

Research Area and Question/Aim

Does the problematic use of social media have a negative impact on people?

The research aim was to explore the negative impacts of social media on people and to provoke a discussion amongst the audience on this topic.

Addiction

Social networks are physically addictive as well as psychologically addictive. We are social creatures who need to interact and feel connected. “The feeling of belonging is something we crave as human beings” (Forbes.com, 2020) Research by Bennett (2019) found that to be diagnosed, addictive symptoms should be experienced for at least 12 months, unless extremely severe.

Symptoms include:

Salience - experiencing emotional, behavioural, and cognitive preoccupation when using social media
Changes in mood - use of social media induces positive mood change in patients
Experiencing tolerance - users increase their social media usage over time
Withdrawal - if social media use is stopped or reduced, the user experiences aversive emotional and physical symptoms
Conflict - both intrapsychic and interpersonal issues are experienced due to excessive social media use
Relapse - following a period of abstinence users revert back to their previous excessive use
Inability to control social media usage
Increasing priority given to social media use to the extreme that impacts activities and other life interests
Escalation or continuation of social media use despite experiencing negative implications
Bennett (2019)

According to AddictionCenter (2020), It is recognized as a behavioural addiction that is characterized as being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to or use social media, and devoting so much time and effort to social media that it impairs other important life areas. Addictive social media use will look much like that of any other substance use disorder, although it is not recognized fully yet as an addiction. Many argue there’s a plausibility for such disorders to be recognised as a mental health condition especially since the adoption of video gaming as a subcategory of addiction in 2018 by the World Health Organization.

The phenomena of social media addiction can largely be contributed to the dopamine-inducing social environments that social networking sites provide. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram produce the same neural circuitry that is caused by gambling and recreational drugs to keep consumers using their products as much as possible. Studies have shown that the constant stream of retweets, likes, and shares from these sites have affected the brain’s reward area to trigger the same kind of chemical reaction as other drugs, such as cocaine. In fact, neuroscientists have compared social media interaction to a syringe of dopamine being injected straight into the system. (AddictionCenter 2020) Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance. The reward area in the brain and its chemical messenger pathways affect decisions and sensations.

When someone experiences something rewarding or uses an addictive substance, neurons in the principal dopamine-producing areas in the brain are activated, causing dopamine levels to rise. Therefore, the brain receives a “reward” and associates the drug or activity with positive reinforcement. When an individual gets a notification, such as a like or mention, the brain receives a rush of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, causing him or her to feel pleasure. Social media provides an endless amount of immediate rewards in the form of attention from others for relatively minimal effort. Therefore, the brain rewires itself through this positive reinforcement, making people desire likes, retweets, and emoticon reactions.

Social media use becomes problematic when someone views social networking sites as an important coping mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness, or depression. For these people, social media use provides continuous rewards that they’re not receiving in real life. When social network users repeat this cyclical pattern of relieving undesirable moods with social media use, the level of psychological dependency on social media increases.

The questions that need to be asked about the person are:

Does he/she spend a lot of time thinking about social media or planning to use social media?
Does he/she feel urges to use social media more and more?
Does he/she use social media to forget about personal problems
Does he/she often try to reduce the use of social media without success?
Does he/she become restless or troubled if unable to use social media?
Does he/she use social media so much that it has had a negative impact on his/her job or studies?

AddictionCenter (2020)

Audience Interaction

Interactive performance is any performed experience in which audience members become co-creators of a performance. Theatre, in a way, is the ultimate example of consumerism. In the time of Shakespeare and even ancient Greece, there was a certain element of responsiveness in theatre - if the audience didn't like it enough to show up, the performance could not go on.

In theatre, the separation between performer and the audience is known as the fourth wall, an imaginary barrier at the front of the stage that prevents viewers from becoming part of the action. To help tear down the fourth wall there are ways to help achieve this goal, To Choose your technique. Activities such as a show of hands, role-playing, games, personal opinion/input and group exercises. Show of hands helps gain feedback at that moment. Personal input shows experience and the group lets the participants learn from one another.

Another helpful tool is before you ask people to take part, think about the feedback you may get. You want what the audience says to help your performance, so pre-plan your questions, so you can get the response you’re aiming for. Consider how the audience is going to help you, the audience feedback and response should help the study.

Use Inclusive Framing- This means wording your questions correctly so that everyone can understand and answer. Don’t put anyone on the spot.
Be clear about what you are asking. Leave time for the audience member to consider the question. You can always help by saying something like ‘Think for a moment…’.
Always acknowledge the person's contribution, by thanking them or saying something like ‘good’.

Performance Art

Laurie Anderson is an American Multimedia artist and musician. She is a highly acclaimed performance artist. She uses multimedia performance and Installation art. Anderson's work often features political content and engages with societal issues. ‘Her work often involves mediating and changing her own voice as she tells stories and narrates her thoughts, framed by the striking images she creates through props, costumes and the innovative use of projection and lighting. Her artworks therefore often have a futuristic, almost science-fiction aesthetic’.

Technology has always been an important element to Laurie, from her aural experiments with tape loops, overdubbing and recording technology in the 1970s and her use of projection and experimental theatrical Lighting. She is currently carrying out digital experiments in virtual reality and binaural sound. Her work has been particularly significant in the development of performance art in the 20th Century.

Marina Abramovic is a famous performance artist. She is a performance artist who deals with themes such as trust, endurance, exhaustion and cleansing.

She uses her body to create performances that deal with these themes to create conversation and to highlight issues regarding each theme. She uses her own life experiences with the themes to create narratives, Art and uses her body to tell these stories.

Life was a series of performances that took place in a gallery over five days. Visitors had to hand in all their belongings. They then were given headsets and entered a roped, five-metre circle in which Marina’s 3D Mobile Simulation of herself was seen. The performance was recorded using 36 cameras that filmed Abramović from different angles.

"In the same way that a film is not a projector, but what's loaded onto a projector, The Life is not the goggles but what we've put into the goggles," explained Eckert.

Immersive Theatre

Immersive Theatre is a contemporary performance, it's usually site-specific, Improvisational Theatre, Interactive Theatre, environmental theatre, performance art and promenade theatre.
Immersive theatre is usually indoors, but also can be outdoors. The most important part of immersive theatre is the traditional theatre is eliminated, no red seats forcing the separation between performer and audience member. The boundaries between them can be so blurred that they often don’t exist.
Indoor Immersive theatre allows for a more intimate relationship, as they are confined to space, creating a close space between the performer and spectator.
Participation in immersive theatre can be both physical and sensory experience. You can ask them to hold props, sit at tables, join the performer, take on a role, following instructions. They are ‘Inside’ the action.