'Overwhelmingly non-religious'

[Brian Peacock]

I can't ignore that last part - because it's TRUE!!!

[Scot Dutchy]

What exactly is it destroying? I'm in touch with family at the other end of the country, childhood friends I have reunited with after decades - people I would never have seen or been in touch with again. Ratz is social media - and at its height i was a spectacular thing to behold.

Sure kids go over the top and are developing some pretty weird habits but they always did - its just happening faster..on the way to the ultimate merging with out robot overlords! (OK ignore that last part)

The medical evidence:

Facebook Addiction' Activates Same Brain Areas As Drugs; How Social Media Sites Hook You In

The last person I would want to meet are childhood friends. I have progressed a bit since then. Ratz is a forum we dont have 'likes'. The 'likes' are the drug.

[Rum]

You and to some extent the article are taking links as causal. The fact that it is raining on a Monday doesn't prove that Mondays cause rain. The fact that eating activates dopamine release in the brain, as does heroin and pleasure of all kinds does not mean eating is the same as taking heroin.

And I'm sorry about your childhood friends. Most I assume are British so it figures.

[mistermack]

Social media is destroying so much. If there was a cocaine epidemic as large as the social media epidemic it would be banned.

??? It is banned, isn't it?

[Scot Dutchy]

You and to some extent the article are taking links as causal. The fact that it is raining on a Monday doesn't prove that Mondays cause rain. The fact that eating activates dopamine release in the brain, as does heroin and pleasure of all kinds does not mean eating is the same as taking heroin.

And I'm sorry about your childhood friends. Most I assume are British so it figures.

A case of denial; all junkies have that. So the fact the brain responds in the same way to Face Book as to drugs does not worry you?

Childhood friends are just that and they were one of the many reasons why I wanted to leaven Britain.

[Rum]

You just googled that article and didn't actually read it properly didn't you? This from it and part of its conclusion.

'To go back to the 2012 study, researchers noted people who feel more anxious and socially insecure appreciate the easy ways to communicate via social media than face-to face. On the other hand, individuals who were more organized and ambitous were at a decreased risk for technology-related addiction as they resort to using the site as an integral part of work and networking'.

In other words like so much else in life - it works well for some people and not so well for others.

[Scot Dutchy]

You just googled that article and didn't actually read it properly didn't you? This from it and part of its conclusion.

'To go back to the 2012 study, researchers noted people who feel more anxious and socially insecure appreciate the easy ways to communicate via social media than face-to face. On the other hand, individuals who were more organized and ambitous were at a decreased risk for technology-related addiction as they resort to using the site as an integral part of work and networking'.

In other words like so much else in life - it works well for some people and not so well for others.

2014 updates the 2012 study. The effects discovered and reported are more important especially when seen in children but that does not bother you. Face Book dependence is not of your concern because you believe it does no affect you. This was not found in 2012.

It’s the element of compulsion that a new study published in the journal Psychological Reports: Disability and Trauma reinforces.

This is new. Do you when kids are the most busiest with social media? At night. Many are now suffering from sleep depravation. All healthy?

[JimC]

I think there is an element of addiction (in the loose sense of the word) in many people's use of social media, and I think it is a real and probably increasing problem, but I don't see it as analogous to people's religious beliefs or activities.