Proposal form - Final Major Project

Title : Social media addiction amongst young people

By Sam Turner

Thesis:The basis of this project is to take a look at young people’s social media habits, primarily in the UK, to understand more about why they are so reliant on these services as well as trying to look at what negative impacts social media might have on them. With platforms such as Facebook having over 2 billion users worldwide Chaykowski, K. (2017, June 27) it is clear to see that social media has become a huge part of society but relatively little is known about what impact these services have or may have on people or wider society. What health implications short or long term might these platforms have on the health of individuals? Learning from all this hopefully a solution can be found to encourage people to spend less time on social media worrying about their online persona and more time having meaningful relationships with people in reality.

Rationale:The rationale behind this project is to try and gather further evidence surrounding young people’s usage of social media and their views on it overall. Alongside trying to further look at what health implications being addicted to social media may have and what can be done about it to prevent individuals becoming hooked to it. Social media has completely changed daily habits and how people go about their daily lives over the past few years. It can often be the first thing a person checks when they wake up in a morning and the last thing they check before going to sleep at night, whilst being able to lay in the comfort of their bed. It is used as a source of news, communication, entertainment and expression. As these statistics on social media usage in the UK from statista show Statista. (n.d.). social media usage has dramatically increased over the past 10 years, from just 22% of people in the UK reporting they have a social media profile in 2007 to 76% of people 9 years later in 2016. Combined with the rise of the internet and mobile phones it has allowed people very quick and on-the-go access to always be connected to these platforms.

For the majority of people using social media will not cause a problem, however there will be some people who find it difficult to pull themselves away from using it for a variety of reasons which can then lead to having a detrimental impact on their life. In an article in the Metro written by a young woman Gladwell, H. (2017, September 05)., she describes being addicted to Tumblr, another social networking site, going on to talk about how it had an impact on the relationship with her friends and how she felt it had a negative effect on her in the long run. She says “I hated thinking about real life because it highlighted how lonely it was away from the computer.” Herein lies the problem in that it can cause some people to practically live two completely different lives, a lonely existence in the real world, whilst being able to hide away from it online and be always connected to the digital realm. Despite this acknowledgment from this young woman, the World Health Organisation does NOT recognise social media addiction

as a health issue or disorder. However the World Health Organisation has recently announced that it is classifying Gaming Addiction as a disorder, an article from the BBC Wakefield, J. (2018, January 02). says: “The draft document describes it as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests". However this sounds remarkably similar to what the young woman was saying about her own life in the article from The Metro; “Even when I was busy with my friends or family I’d be consistently checking the website, scrolling through to see who had posted what and how many people were looking at my blog.” If Gaming Addiction is now classified as a disorder, why not Social Media Addiction? When you have young people openly admitting that they are addicted to these sites and are talking about how it took over their life and led to them neglecting the real world, something needs to be done about it to either help these individuals out, or raise awareness on the issue in general.

But what is it that gets people hooked in the first place? According to this post Keep it usable (2016, January 21). there a number of different reasons people feel the need to be constantly active online. Validation from others, through the form of likes, follows and comments. Having an ego that you want to show off to the world by posting pictures of your newest designer watch and so on. The fear of missing out on something whether it be drama, news or a big event. As well as the want of an individual to compare to others to see where they fit in.

It is very important to develop a better understanding of the impact social media has on lives given just how big a part of society and the daily routine of millions it has become. Because without this understanding it may lead to long term societal or health issues.

Aims and Objectives:-To develop a better understanding of what impact social media may have on the health of young people-Further research what young people think themselves about social media and their usage habits-Use combined primary and secondary research to help develop a relevant campaign to encourage young people to think about how much time they spend on social media and how much they depend on social media

Research:Primary research will be conducted in the form of a short questionnaire asking young people about their usage habits, what impact they think it has on their own life, on others lives and if/what they think can be done to limit the want and need to spend time on social media. This questionnaire will be targeted at young people that directly use social media, by putting it out onto social media and asking participants to give their views and opinions. By directly asking those on social media, across multiple different platforms, it ensures that respondents are users of these platforms and can therefore give valuable insight to help inform a better quality of research. No particular group will be targeted other than young people of the age of around 12-24, this way a wide range of users will be included that might only use social media every now

and again through to those who check for updates every few minutes, which will then provide a broader insight.

Combining this primary research with secondary research, looking at the topic or closely related to the topic will help to build a bigger picture. Papers such as “Online Social Network Site Addiction: A Comprehensive Review” Andreassen, C. S. (2015). and “Adolescent social media addiction (revisited)” Griffiths, M. D. & Kuss D. J. (2017). will provide a great addition with invaluable insight to help accomplish the aims and objectives set out previously.

Griffiths, M. D. & Kuss D. J. (2017). suggests that there is in fact growing scientific evidence that excessive use of social media platforms may lead to symptoms that are commonly linked to substance abuse such as withdrawal, relapse, mood modification and conflict. It was also found that in an examination of 5,981 Hungarian adolescents, that 4.5% of them were at risk of suffering from social media addiction. During another examination of over 10,000 european adolescents it was discovered that using social media for only two or more hours a day was related to internalizing problems and lower academic performance. Considering that young people (aged 16-24) in 2015 spent an average of 27 hours a week (or 3.8 hours a day) on the internet according to a report by Ofcom Anderson, E. (2015, May 11). it is clear to see this is an issue that needs tackling quickly, especially when you take into account the report also shows that internet usage amongst young people over the past decade has tripled.

Going back to the paper Griffiths, M. D. & Kuss D. J. (2017). it is also suggested that smartphone addiction may play a big role in the excessive use of social media. They say: “Put another way, it could be argued that mobile phone addicts are no more addicted to their phones than alcoholics are addicted to bottles.” Essentially saying that users may not be addicted to the mobile phone itself, but rather addicted to the activities that using a mobile phone enables, which links back to the statistic that internet usage amongst young people has tripled over the last decade, perhaps not coincidentally alongside the rise of the smartphone.

The same paper also talks about FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) as another reason as to why people may become addicted to using these platforms and that higher levels of FOMO have been linked to increase engagement with Facebook as well as lower general mood, well being and life satisfaction. They then conclude that the difference between frequent un-problematic usage and potentially addictive usage is a fine line and that users that experience symptoms similar to substance abuse may be addicted to social media.

Meanwhile Griffiths, M. D. & Kuss D. J. (2017). says amongst the other previously mentioned reasons an individual may become addicted to a social network site, it is suggested that “Behavioural reinforcement factors” play a role in leading to an individual becoming an addict. In this case the reinforcement factors can be both positive and if usage has led to avoiding negative consequences. Positive factors include entertainment, popularity, attention and positive feedback which encourage people to keep coming back to using these sites. Meanwhile factors such as avoiding boredom, criticism and exclusion are also likely to keep people coming back. This theory is based on learning theory that if certain behaviour or action is rewarded or

positive then it will encourage said behaviour to be repeated. This theory links into research done at The University of North Carolina UK Rehab (n.d.). which found that “that a lack of 'likes' on Facebook or re-tweets on Twitter caused anxiety in the social media addict. It was also found that when posts are 'liked' or re-tweeted dopamine is released in the brain.” It is this dopamine release in the brain that keeps those addicted coming back for more. It is known many addictive substances such as cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine and MDMA all produce a similar dopamine release effect in the brain Hirschman, D. (2010, September 13). . This also ties into research touched on earlier that suggests that social media addicts display symptoms similar to those displayed by substance abusers.

Griffiths, M. D. & Kuss D. J. (2017). also lists a number of different consequences of social media addiction. Emotional, relation, health-related and performance problems are all listed as negative effects of social media addiction.

This graphic above from the paper also gives a really nice overview of social media addiction as a whole, giving reasons why people may become addicted, to consequences, ways of assessing addiction and intervention methods. This will really help when it comes to creating a campaign and comparing it against options that are already out there as well as determining what particular areas may need focusing in on. A number of images online already depict social media addiction as, an addiction. Often picturing it as a drug in a needle or tablet by applying the logo, typography or colour to said items, which is a very easy visual representation of the issue for people to digest.

The above images are an example of how people visually represent social media addiction, visually it looks very strong and works effectively at getting a message across quickly, a picture speaks a thousand words. When we also consider that as previously looked at, social media addiction has similar negative effects on the addict as those that substance abusers may endure, it ties it nicely together with the images, perhaps not over-sensationalising the issue as much as a viewer may think. However it is also very much “top of the mind” in that it is a very quick idea to think of and the first logical link to portraying the issue, so staying away from this particular idea will help in bringing something new to the table.

But how do campaigns of other addictive issues go about raising awareness or tackling the issue? Focusing on alcohol and smoking it seems the majority try and use shock factor in their campaigns to try and put people off either excessive drinking or smoking.

The above examples to try and put people off excessive drinking show direct consequences such as a lack of control as well as medical consequences, like the effects of drinking during a pregnancy, to shock people into not drinking.

Anti smoking campaigns also use shock tactics, seemingly stronger/more graphic imagery than anti drinking, but still in a similar vein in that it is trying to show direct medical consequences of what smoking will do to you. These images and campaigns are often found on tv, online or in print, so in theory maybe easy for people to avoid if they want to just try and look past the issue. However, in the UK since May 2017 the issue has been made unavoidable for smokers by tackling it directly at source Press Association (2017, May 19). . All cigarette packaging must have health warnings covering 65% of the total area as well as being a standardised colour and font to prevent any branding, to make the packaging overall less appealing as well as to stand out less.

It was reported by an article in The Guardian Boseley, S. (2017, April 26). that the introduction of these stricter guidelines that tackle the problem head on may reduce the number of people smoking in the UK by 300,000. So perhaps taking something away from this tactic, by tackling the issue at source and making a product less appealing to use, this could be something that is used to influence people to spend less time on social media. The problem that would exist in basing a campaign around making social media less appealing is that not all social media is bad and it isn’t necessarily bad for everyone unlike smoking, which is proven as being bad for your

health, so these campaigns are trying to stop everyone from smoking. Where as social media does have it’s benefits such as being able to communicate with others and feel connected to friends and family, so it is not about trying to get rid of it completely, just limit it.

The idea:The current proposed solution is to create and promote a fictional day, weekend or week, in which social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat come together to completely shut off their services. This event would be graphically branded in a bid to try and generate a certain level of hype around it, to get people talking about it positively or negatively, so long as the debate is sparked. The thinking behind this is that it is not going after social media platforms by trying to impose strict rules and regulations, but neither is it punishing individuals, it puts everybody in the same boat. In branding and promoting this event it would ensure it is not just sprung upon everyone leaving them unprepared. This build up would not only allow the debate and hysteria to build but would also allow time for people to plan, to hopefully go out and meet up with their friends and family in the real world, whilst they are not able to connect with them in the digital one. Hopefully then this enforced period away from social media would allow people to reflect upon how much they really need to use it. The idea isn’t about trying to shut off everyone’s ability to connect and communicate with each other, they are still able to see what is happening in the world around them and communicate with people through other means.

Other previously muted ideas were to create a warning message to users who spend a certain amount of time on Facebook, Twitter, etc much like is implemented on gambling sites to try and make people think about the time they are spending on it and encourage them to think they should take a break and do something else.

Another idea was to develop an app which allows users to input a limit on how much time they can spend on social media apps on a daily basis and rewarding them in some way for spending less time online. The app would then also feedback about the change in usage habits and in comparison to other users.

Ultimately the current proposed solution was chosen as the event itself could generate a lot of debate given it causes everybody with a social media account to be involved whilst not punishing users or platforms in the long run.

Schedule:Week 1 - Conduct primary research into young people’s opinions and usage habits of social media

Week 2 - Organise findings and use the primary and secondary research to inform how the campaign may take shape, e.g. if there needs to be focus on a particular area of concern

Week 3 - Begin concepts for how the campaign maybe branded, name, logo design, etc.

Week 4 - Finalise initial concepts for design work and begin to produce a more finalised identity

Week 5 - Begin creating concepts for promotional material for online and print and looking at what touch points may be most effective to use

Week 6 - Produce some more finalised promotional and branded materials, potentially post out onto social media to get feedback and reaction from real users

Week 7 - Finalise all materials and bring them together to make sure they are consistent and effective, asses whether any areas could be expanded upon

Week 8 - Finalise project and submit for assessment

Bibliography:

- Andreassen, C. S. (2015). Online Social Network Site Addiction: A Comprehensive Review

- Griffiths, M. D. & Kuss D. J. (2017). Adolescent social media addiction (revisited)

- Chaykowski, K. (2017, June 27). Mark Zuckerberg: 2 Billion Users Means Facebook's 'Responsibility Is Expanding'. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2017/06/27/facebook-officially-hits-2-billion-users/#6c21dedd3708

- Statista. (n.d.). Social network profile creation UK 2007-2016 | Statistic. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/271849/social-network-profile-creation-in-the-uk/

- Gladwell, H. (2017, September 05). How my addiction to social media affected my mental health and my relationships. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/05/how-my-addiction-to-social-media-affected-my-mental-health-and-my-relationships-6901759/

- Wakefield, J. (2018, January 02). Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO. Retrieved February 12, 2018, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42541404

- Keep it usable (2016, January 21). Psychology of Social Networks: What makes us addicted? Retrieved February 12, 2018, from http://www.keepitusable.com/blog/?p=2568

- Anderson, E. (2015, May 11). Teenagers spend 27 hours a week online: how internet use has ballooned in the last decade. Retrieved February 12, 2018, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/11597743/Teenagers-spend-27-hours-a-week-online-how-internet-use-has-ballooned-in-the-last-decade.html

- UK Rehab (n.d.). Social media addiction Retrieved February 12, 2018, from https://www.uk-rehab.com/blog/social-media-addiction/

- Hirschman, D. (2010, September 13). Your Brain on Drugs: Dopamine and Addiction. Retrieved February 12, 2018, from http://bigthink.com/going-mental/your-brain-on-drugs-dopamine-and-addiction

- Press Association (2017, May 19). Stricter cigarette packaging rules come into force in UK. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/19/stricter-cigarette-packaging-rules-come-into-force-in-uk

- Boseley, S. (2017, April 26). Plain cigarette packaging could drive 300,000 Britons to quit smoking. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/plain-cigarette-packaging-could-drive-300000-britons-to-quit-smoking