Topic Four - talking to family and friends
The Motion: Everybody should be encouraged to use social media as part of their support network
For…
It is self-evident that people with addiction problems are particularly likely to benefit from social media. Inevitably addiction leads to relationships breaking down and leaving people with no social support and especially so for those individuals who do not like mutual aid groups and who are reluctant to engage in treatment.
Against...
The world of social media is toxic and hard enough to navigate for people without an addiction problem. Being intoxicated would put an individual at risk of disclosing sensitive information or making badly judged posts on social media. Anyone with mental health problems would be vulnerable to abuse.
Many people with addiction problems have lost their real-world support, and their confidence in face-to-face interaction; therefore, it is tempting to suggest social media as an alternative form of social support. Read the study cited below, which highlights some of the risks involved. This summary of a research article should help you clarify your thoughts on the issues raised by the debate.
Social media as a social support can become an addiction. This study points to the importance of recruiting face-to-face sources of social support, of using social media as an adjunct for sources of social support and doing so with caution, looking out for social anxiety.
People low in social anxiety and high in offline support have the lowest levels of social media addiction.
People with high levels of social support online are more likely to experience addictive use of social media.
People with high levels of social anxiety are more likely to experience social media addiction.
The highest levels of social media addiction were observed in people with high levels of online social support, low levels of offline social support and high levels of anxiety..
Find the full text of the article here…
Luchtefeld C and Jordan KD (2022) Individual Differences Influencing the Relationship between Online Social Support and Addictive Use of Social Media. Telematics and Informatics Reports 8 100025 doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2022.100025
What are your own experiences of using social media? What do you think you should advise your service users?
