How am I trending? Social Media Addiction

Social media can be a powerful and valuable tool for play, communication, engagement, and promotion, offering convenience and communication opportunities in many instances. But social media can also raise questions around online safety, ethical implications (honesty/veracity) of its content, as well as problems such as compulsive or addictive use. This course will explore social media as an addiction.

The scope of the course will range from social networking, social media, gaming, exercise tech, and more. The ingredients that are inherent in addictive behavioural use include: accessibility, progress and feedback, escalations, cliff-hangers, and social interaction.

Social media use presents for many people a double bind in that they use it both professionally and personally, so they never really get a break. It is as present in the home as it is in the office.

This course will investigate the reasons for problematic use of social media which often include a person’s social isolation, the social necessity of social media, feelings of fulfillment, fears of missing out, and the intertwining of social media and daily life.

Addiction commonly is understood as a process that is attempting to fix or soothe (self-medicate) one’s difficulties, but in the extremes of doing so it unwittingly promotes further pain or distress. There is always difficulty cutting back, stopping or self-regulating one’s use, and there are always negative consequences.

Recovery from social media addiction whether abstinence or harmony and balance will be explored.

Course Content:

·         Defining social media and social networking

·         Australian and international statistics and concerns

·         Risk factors

·         Continuums of Use

·         Ingredients for behavioural addictions

·         Genetic/biological models of addiction

·         Durand Jacob’s General Theory of Addiction

·         Neurological factors

·         Comparisons with alcohol, other drug and problem gambling addictions

·         DSM: Criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder

·         DSM: Criteria for Pathological Gambling Disorder

·         DSM: Criteria for Alcohol and substance abuse disorders

·         Beginner’s luck

·         Getting hooked on “likes”

·         Exercise Tech

·         Recognising/assessing social media problems

·         Treatment for social media addiction

·         Recovery for social media addiction

Participants will learn:

·         The scope and prevalence of social media and problematic social media use in Australia and around the world

·         What are common risk factors for problematic social media use

·         How to understand social media use based on a continuum of use model

·         Understand the ‘functional’ nature of addiction and the ingredients for behavioural addictions

·         Understand the models and theories of addiction

·         Understand evolutionary constraints on neurological structures and functions

·         Contrast substance with behavioural addictions

·         Understand the rewards that are offered with social media play

·         How to assess and treat problematic or addictive social media concerns

·         How to support ‘recovery’ from social media addiction