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Social Isolation and the Internet

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Social Isolation with an addiction to the internet.

Social Isolation and the Internet refers to an individual separated and disconnected from the society due to a direct connection with a device via Internet. It’s the state in which a person lacks the feeling of social belonging in real life[1]. The social network, on the other hand has a beneficial side; it creates an open discussion network that connect people.However, the excess use of technology limits face to face social engagement and community participation, which creates perceived isolation[2] [3] Furthermore, social isolation and the disconnecting from the world have a lot of drawbacks on one’s mental and physical health [4]. Sociologists have indicated that the social disconnectedness which is the lack of social contact can lead to a severe health risks like cardiovascular disease, inflammation and depression.[3]Many young and old adults suffer from the feeling of loneliness and social awkwardness because they isolate themselves and deal with the world through the internet, which makes the situation of physically dealing with people harder. Moreover, each person uses the internet in a different way to combat his loneliness, either family or romantic or social loneliness.[4]

In the electronic industry, people lose themselves to connect with others, but in reality the more they are connected the lonelier they feel, because of the overwhelming plentiful connections [5]. Based on study made in 2003, people intensely use the internet to get virtual emotional support. [5] In addition, it was found that the usage of social networks have a dynamic effect on people. In some cases, Technology isolation improves ones’ self-esteem and perception of social support. [6]The idea of Isolation arises when there’s a lack of physical responsive interaction in relationships. [5] Social Isolation and internet addiction cause social, psychological and academic negative consequences, like poor performance and loneliness.[7] There are a lot of activities involved in the process of technology isolation and excessive usage of the internet, for instance video gaming, information gathering, and shopping. [7]

Background

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The existence of the internet arrived in the early 1900’s as an idea by many scientists, who believed in the world wide networks of Information.[8] But in the early 1960’s, the idea was implemented. The internet got innovated from a storage systems of media to a transmission system of data, through “Packet Switching”, in which the data is transferred via several network devices [8] The internet is the hub of social interactivity of the globe.[9]Through the internet, a new innovative room of sharing information and communication called “social media” came out in the late 70’s. However, in 2001 the “Golden Era” of social media started. Many online social Platforms like Wikipedia, Facebook, Myspace, etc, came out at this time and connected the global society [10]. The connecting process that allowed people to download files, games and post messages via the internet started with the Bulletin Board system (BBS). [11] BBS for years is considered the main electronic messaging center in which people can communication back and forth. [11]

The use of technology and the excess use of social networking have been associated with social Isolation and causing loneliness, in which technology minimize the social engagement of a person[12].  A Turkish study in 2013 showed that Internet users who spend more than 5 hours per week, diminish their quality time with their close people and leads to an Internet addiction[12]. It decreases their overall social interaction, A study In 2007 has been made in Stanford University, proves that 8% of the people who spend more than 5 hours on the Internet per week, are less socially active, while 13% spend less time with their friends and family and 26% have shorter calls.[13]

Social Isolation with technology creates a psychiatric co-morbidity, in which anxiety and mood disorders associated with the Internet addiction.[13]. According to Kraut's [14]Research that the higher exposing to technological devices and internet, the higher ratings of depression and social Isolation. [13]

Social Networking usage: 

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Social Media usage has created a very highly interactive platforms since late 1990’s.[15] The first social network site was created 1997, Sixdegrees.com that allowed people to create profiles and add friends. After four years of shutting down, a lot of websites opened that have similar concept of Sixdegrees, like Friendster, Hi5 and Facebook. Late in the 1990’s, the idea of blogging gained popularity and became the main source of public opinions and enhanced the idea of freedom of expression. Today, we have more the 100 interconnected million blogs. [15]The ease of access and the high speed of internet is so fascinating to the human minds.


However, the entertainment of the internet disconnected people from any social activities , opening the doors for the virtual world leading to a social Isolation [16]. The cost of the excessive use of technology and social networking sites is less offline social interaction and increase of Isolation.[17]People get addicted to social media and technology because it strengthen their online social skills, in terms of tweeting, building self-esteem or finding new love[17]. Social Media could be also a place for exchanging political views and economic issues .[15] Social Networking sites are used for different reasons and in different ways, this dissimilarity have different social implications. [17] Each online social network sites have react differently with isolation and connection,meaning that Isolation and loneliness means lack of social connection and support [17].  People value SNS because it maintain professional and personal relationships via online platforms.[18]Based on study made in 2012 on Norwegian online users, internet users experiences less loneliness than non-users.[17]Technology addicts value their virtual life the most and tend to have consistent relationships with their friends online, highly affecting their daily functioning.[6]. Based on research about SNS users and non-users from 2008-2010, female non- users experience more loneliness than those female SNS users, in 2008-2009, the level of loneliness has increased in men SNS users[17]. 90% of young adults ages (18-29) are highly active on social media and use 2 or more SNS[18]. Teens spend up to nine hours a day on social media either from laptop or mobile devices which is 90% of their time[19]. Facebook and Twitter are considered representatives of the “innovative cluster social media” [20].  The Average person spend around 116 minutes every day on social media, which is total of 5 years and 4 months.[19] The total time spent on each platform leads to the Isolation and internet addiction. Millennial are the heaviest in the usage of four leading online platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, they consider it the main way of communication and connection to the outer world.[18]

 


Twitter:

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It is the “SMS of the internet” .[21] Founded in 2006, as a blogging website for users to chat and interact using replies, mentions and hashtags consisting of 140 characters or less. [18].[15]There are average of 90 million tweets per day on twitter by more than 145 million users. [15]After six years of its launch, it had 500 million registered users and 340 million tweets daily. [15]In 2016, Twitter has proved that there 320 million users active on twitter. [18]Twitter has increased education in a more innovative way as in 2012 it was considered the 2nd most popular social network after Facebook. [21]

YouTube:

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The world’s largest online videos website that was launched 2005. In 2013, YouTube users were watching on average total of 4 billion hours’ of a video monthly. The platform gained billions of users for different purposes[22]. People spend 40 minutes every day watching YouTube videos, which is total of 1 year and 10 months [19]. According to statistics of December, 2018, total number of hours of video watched monthly exceeds the 3.2 billion.[23]

Facebook:

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The most popular social network website. In 2004, based on statistics 1.65 billion users were active monthly on Facebook.[18]. While In June 30, 2017 2.01 billion are actively users on Facebook, while 53% of U.S residents use it frequently several times a day, and there are 400 new users create an account on Facebook every minute[24]. According to research and statistics there are hundreds of millions of users on Facebook that if added together exceeds the number of citizens in the largest country.[18] 85%-99% of college students use Facebook, and based on survey conducted by EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research on a sample of 36,950 Canadian and American students 90% of students who use SNS are daily active users on Facebook.[25]

Instagram:

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Photo-sharing mobile application that in 2016 has over 400 million users and share more than 40 million photos daily. [18]. According to Statistics, In June 2018, Instagram reached one billion monthly users[26]. According to research on SimilarWeb Company, People spend average of 53 minutes per day on Instagram[27].

Complications/ Effect

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Although Social Isolation can exist in one’s life for different reasons, those reasons all lead to some mental and psychological problems as well as negative physical consequences..Social Isolation in all cases leads to morbidity and mortality. People escape from the real life to the virtual to create a shell of comfort zone; however, there’s a possibility for the opposite to happen. This social separation from the real world leads to various dangerous effects like increase in cortisol patterns, disorder sleeping patterns and immune function[1]. Indeed, the existence of mobile phones, email and Social media made it harder for people who are depressed and suffer from loneliness. But even if sometimes Social Networking is not useful in terms of practical psychology, it's still a better way to get less mentally affected from loneliness.[28]Interventions relying on technology maybe better than not interventions at all”[29]. Recently, the evolution of the internet created a major problem called “Isolating technology” which reduces the participation of the individual in the community as well as losing contact with their social environment[29]. Moreover, some people are socially isolated more than others due to the intrusion of the internet. Heavy internet users experience different levels of isolation as they relate everything they do to the internet which creates a feeling of satisfaction. People start to telecommute and make online purchases so they can save the trip to the stores which increases the correlation between the internet addiction and social Isolation.[29] . One the other hand, Information and communication technology has a short term positive dimension on the elderly people; it gives them a sense of social support, connection with the world, engagement with the community as well as reduces the feeling of social isolation[4]. The excessive use of Internet leads to a severe kind of psychological problems and social and cognitive impairments, that later leads to social isolation [16]. This isolation comes from the excessive use of internet, teenagers substitute the face to face conversations with the online chatting through several social networking like Facebook[16]. Which leads to mood modification, salience and conflicts.[30]  The unrestrained usage of internet weakened the parental bonding[16].The isolation of technology has a negative effect on a person’s productivity as it causes addiction like the drug addiction[30].Other types of addiction disorders could occur due to the high number of hours on the internet, for instance hyper sexual disorder (downloading and watching porn) and anxiety disorder[31]. However, the effects of excessive use of technology is not always negative, there’s a positive relationship between using Facebook and maintaining stable relationships with people.[25]

Social Consequences:

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Online Dating:

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Some people have a very limited circle so they isolate themselves with the internet for long times every day to find a partner[32]. They use different kinds of computer-mediated communication to match with partners online[33]. However, false action could take place due to the lack of verbal cues in the communication and manipulation of information[32]. Online dating doesn’t always have positive outcomes because a person doesn’t go through the process of social interaction, also choosing from a large pool of partners could weaken the potential of taking the right decision. [32]

Causes

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The well-being of relationships in the person’s life affects the amount of addiction to the technology, Receiving negative reinforcement from the community, can increase the addiction of a person to the virtual relationships via internet. Strengthen social relationships between family and friends, decreases the virtual attachment, Internet dependency and so as social Isolation[16]. Based on the Norwegian study 2012, people isolate themselves from the real world, when they feel left out, find difficult time meeting and having friends or when they feel that they’re misunderstood by the community [17]. Isolation with a technology or a certain SNS could result from the nature of work, political journalists use twitter to share information and spread awareness, “propagation of Journalistic content”[20]. Students are living in the digital world, adapting to new technologies that allow them to create relationships, exchange messages, share information, study and submit their work/assignments which disconnects them from the real world and connect them to the virtual one.[30] People disconnect themselves from the offline social world, to meet like minded individuals, receive companionship and support[18]. Adults spend more time on Facebook because they find social connection, entertainment, and social acceptance.[18]

Risk Factors

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Social Factors:

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Loneliness: Social loneliness is a result of substituting the real life interactions by social virtual world interactions. People isolate themselves with the internet, so they sometimes fall into the trap of being a victim of the internet. Some people put so much effort and pour their hearts out thinking that they found their partners and it ends up to be a scam, this process leads to high level of neuroticism and loneliness.[32]. Spending a lot of time on the internet reduces the feeling of social welfare and increases the feeling of social isolation. On the other hand face to face social networks minimize the feeling of emotional loneliness. [6]

Social Anxiety disorder:  

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Social anxiety arises from the lack of physical interaction it increases when the interaction is higher on the online networks than the offline. Social anxiety is feeling of fear and shyness to interact and deal with people face to face along with the fear of the first impression[34]. The over use of social networks provide feelings of safety and anonymity, which makes those who are anxious about their appearance and behavior hide behind the screens, developing SAD overtime. [35]

Psychological Factors:

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Social media has a very high effect on adolescents, so negative comparison on Facebook could affect the level of satisfaction of a person. Facebook has a very high effect on mental health, in terms of moods swings and depression as it’s correlated with “obsessive compulsive disorder”.[36]

Treatment:

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Self- control of social media usage and the balance between the online and the offline social life[30]. External techniques are used to minimize the pathological technology usage, like family therapy, support group or external stoppers. All are used to cope with the addiction disorder and technology isolation by personal empowerment. [37]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., Lin, L. Y., Rosen, D., Colditz, J. B., Radovic, A., … Miller, E. (2017). "Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S". ResearchGate.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Hampton,Her,Rainie & Sessions, K.E.L.L (2009). ""Social Isolation and New Technology: How the internet and mobile phones impact American's social networks"". Pew Internet & American Life Project.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Cornwell, Waite, Erin York,Linda J. (2009). ""Social Disconnectedness, Perceived Isolation, and Health among Older Adults"". Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 50 (1): 31–48. doi:10.1177/002214650905000103. PMC 2756979. PMID 19413133.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c Chen YRR, Schulz PJ (2016). ""The Effect of Information Communication Technology Interventions on Reducing Social Isolation in the Elderly: A systematic Review"". Journal of Medical Internet Researc. 18 (1). (1): e18. doi:10.2196/jmir.4596. PMC 4751336. PMID 26822073.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  5. ^ a b c Vega.Gina & Brennan. Louis (2000). "Isolation and technology: the human disconnect". Research Gate. 13 (5): 468–481.
  6. ^ a b c Or-Gil.Oren (2011). "Social networks and social isolation - A reason and its solution in one". Researchgate.
  7. ^ a b Weintraub, Dunn, Yager, & Taintor (2010). Internet Addiction. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Andrews, Evan. "Who invented the internet?". HISTORY. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  9. ^ Shah, Saqib (2016-05-14). "The History of Social Media". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  10. ^ Morrison|May 29, Kimberlee; 2015. "The Evolution of Social Media [Infographic]". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2018-12-26. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ a b Shah, sqib (May 14, 2016). "The history of social networking". Digital trends.
  12. ^ a b Bozoglan, Bahadir (2013). "Loneliness, self‐esteem, and life satisfaction as predictors of Internet addiction: A cross‐sectional study among Turkish university students". Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. 54 (4): 313–319. doi:10.1111/sjop.12049. PMID 23577670.
  13. ^ a b c Shaw.M & Black.Donald (2008). "Internet Addiction Definition, Assessment, Epidemiology and Clinical Management" (PDF). CNA Drugs. 22 (5): 353–365. doi:10.2165/00023210-200822050-00001. PMID 18399706. S2CID 1699090.
  14. ^ Kraut R, Patterson M, Landmark V, et al. Internet paradox: a   social technology that reduces social involvement and psycho-logical well-being? Am Psychol 1998; 53: 1017-31
  15. ^ a b c d e f Kietzmann. Jam, Hermkens,McCarthy. Ian, & Silvestre (2011). "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media". Science Direct. 54: 241–251.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ a b c d e Sourav Chandra Gorain, Agamanai Mondal, Karim Ansary & Birbal Saha (2018). "Social Isolation in Relation to Internet Usage and Stream of Study of Under Graduate Students". American Journal of Educational Researc. 6 (4): 361–364.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Brandtzæg.B.Petter (2012). "Social Networking Sites: Their Users and Social Implications — A Longitudinal Study". Journal of Computer- Mediated Communication. 17 (4): 467–488. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01580.x.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Alhabash.Saleem and Ma. Mengyan (2017). "A Tale of Four Platforms: Motivations and Uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat Among College Students?". Sage Pub. 1 (13). doi:10.1177/2056305117691544. S2CID 157520869.
  19. ^ a b c Asano, Evan (2017). "How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media? [Infographic]". Social media today.
  20. ^ a b Gerret von Nordheim, Karin Boczek & Lars Koppers (2018). "Sourcing the Sources, Digital Journalism". Routledge. 6 (7): 807–828. doi:10.1080/21670811.2018.1490658. S2CID 158783137.
  21. ^ a b Alias. , Sabdan , Abd el aziz, Jomhari, Mohamed & soraya (2013). "Research Trends and Issues in the Studies of Twitter: A Content Analysis of Publications in Selected Journals (2007 – 2012)". Science Direct. 103: 773–780.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Norlidah Alias, Hajar Abd Razak & El Hadad (2013). "A content analysis in the studies of YouTube in selected journals". Science Direct. 10 (18).
  23. ^ "37 Mind Blowing YouTube Facts, Figures and Statistics – 2018 - MerchDope". https://merchdope.com/. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  24. ^ Donnelly. Gordon (September 7, 2018). "75 Super-Useful Facebook Statistics for 2018". WordStream.
  25. ^ a b Junco, Reynol (2011). "The Relationship between Frequency of Facebook use, Participation in Facebook Activities, and Student Engagement". Elsevier: 162–171. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.716.205.
  26. ^ "Instagram: active users 2018". Statista. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  27. ^ Molla.Rani & Wagner. Kurt (June 25, 2018). "People spend almost as much time on Instagram as they do on Facebook". Recode.
  28. ^ Singer, Clifford (2018). "Health Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness – Aging Life Care Association™".
  29. ^ a b c Norman, Lutz, Nie, Erbing (2002). ""Internet and Society: A preliminary Report"". IT & Society. 50 (1): 31–46.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ a b c d Paliszkiewicz, Mądra, Filipiak, Svanadze, & Svanadze (2017). "Time Spend Online as a Factor In Usage and Awareness of Drawbacks in Social Media" (PDF). Issues of Information System. 18 (4): 135–145.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ King, Delfabbro, Griffiths &Gradisar (2012). "Cognitive‐Behavioral Approaches to Outpatient Treatment of Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents". Clinical Psychology. 68 (11): 1185–1195. doi:10.1002/jclp.21918. PMID 22976240.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ a b c d Ankee.Angel & Yazdanifard,Rashad (2015). "The Review of the Ugly Truth and Negative Aspects of Online Dating" (PDF). Global Journal of Management and Business Research. 15 (4).
  33. ^ Finkel. Eli, Eastwick, Karney, Reis and Sprecher (2012). "Online Dating: A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science" (PDF). Sagepub. 13 (1): 3–66.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ Riaz, Ishaq & Abbasi (2018). "Influence Of Social Media In Developing Social Anxiety: A Study Of University Students In Lahore" (PDF). International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications. 8 (2).
  35. ^ Mazalin.Dennis & Klien.Britt (2008). "Social Anxiety and the Internet: positive and negative effects". Searchgate.
  36. ^ Dobrean.Anca and Păsărelu.R. Costina (2016). Impact of Social Media on Social Anxiety: A Systematic Review.
  37. ^ Young.S.Kimberly (1999). "Internet Addiction: Symptoms, Evaluation, And Treatment". Innovations in Clinical Practice. 17.
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