Internet Addiction in 2022
Internet addiction isn’t what it used to be. When the topic first started getting tossed around about 5 years ago, the focus was on how it was affecting millennials. People of this generation experienced negative side effects of social media, such as-
- low self esteem from comparing themselves to their friends’ Instagram Glamour Moments.
- Developing an anxious and negative worldview as a result of the Facebook/Google algorithms and how they inundate their users with massive amounts of outrage and negativity in an attempt to psychologically manipulate people to click more ads.
- Social isolation
Teenagers in 2022 have overcome some of these issues. They’ve gotten the idea that everyone posts the top 1% of their life on IG and leaves out the boring or embarrassing stuff. They are not suffering from comparing themselves to a friend’s Europe trip. They also have no interest in using Twitter or Facebook, as these are considered “old people websites.” They don’t fall for outrage and clickbait the way their parents do. Kids these days are far too savvy for that.
Teens today have a different set of problems. The pandemic has created a level of social isolation never before seen in the history of mankind. During the pandemic years, internet socializing was THE ONLY socializing.
Typically they will have multiple Instragram accounts to avoid unwanted attention. They tend to communicate in Discord servers where no adults are present. They have way less interest in public posting. They draw a distinct different between public posting and private communication. This is something previous generations paid little attention to.
The social isolation is at an all time high. Many kids have more friends online than in real life. Their online friendships are closer and more important to them. The addiction to electronics is stronger than ever, but seems to be a bit less harmful than it was for millennials. The research has just begun. The pandemic has changed things and we have to throw out some of our old ideas about internet addiction and how kids socialize. Stay tuned for more.
