Social Media, Rather Than Addiction By Amanda Baughan

Aiden was 14 when he first started using drugs. He started with smoking blunts of marijuana daily because he loved the way it made him feel and at that point in his life that was all he wanted. At age 15 his peers and family regularly drank alcohol so he thought he would try it, the first time he drank he got violently ill, but since it was socially acceptable he drank whenever he could. The combination of marijuana use and drinking continued for years. At the age of 17 Aiden began hanging around a group of people that made him question whether or not he was good at academics and school in general; he decided that he wasn’t and his participation in school significantly declined. During this time Aiden said ‘Yes’ to using cocaine and he

In the article “Why It's Important to Think about Social Media Use as a Form of Dissociation, Rather than Addiction '' author Amanda Baughan argues that addiction is not the proper term for people who overuse social media. Amanda Baughan is a Ph.D. student in computer science and engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. She researched people's social media use for four years as part of a study with multiple collaborators. Amanda writes about how social media affected her routine life during the Covid 19 pandemic. She felt ashamed picking up her phone as soon as she woke up in the morning, however, there seemingly was nothing else to do. She became completely absorbed in the social media cycle. The phrase that the author repeatedly uses to talk about trends in the media is “‘ it is impossible to ever get ‘all caught up.’”. Meaning someone can never fully get caught up with Tiktok, Instagram or anything with the news; it can become increasingly easier to keep scrolling and become entranced into the media. This experience that Amanda went through sparked a driving question: ‘What if, instead of people becoming "addicted" to social media – as users often characterize their excessive engagement – they're actually dissociating, or becoming so engaged that they lose track of time?’. Researchers say that people should be moving away from saying that excessive social media use or even chronic online use is an addiction but rather a form of dissociation. Amanda writes in her article explaining the comprehensive indication of an addiction; In the words of Amanda, she writes, “describe excessive smartphone use, explaining that the behavior – even if it's a source of distress – should not be considered addiction if it's better explained by an underlying disorder, is a willful choice, or is part of