Technologies are evolving at a lightning speed and we are using them more and more. Our brains are starting to get used to them and surfing the web sometimes gives us a certain satisfaction, but where does it come from? Real relationships between humans are diminishing, are fascination and dependence too strong compared to human needs? A survey will give a small idea of the use we have of the internet and technologies.
I asked myself this question some time ago. Why do we spend so much time on the internet and on our electronic devices? I will try to answer it as best I can in this article.
The brain and the reward circuit
First of all, let's talk about the reward circuit, you will see why in the rest of the article. I am talking about the brain here, the reward circuit is a process that is necessary for the survival of an individual because it will give the necessary motivation to carry out the actions of life. When you reach the goal established beforehand, the brain releases dopamine which provides this feeling of happiness. Some psychotropic drugs (such as drugs or alcohol) act directly on this part of the brain, which therefore releases "too much" dopamine, this is one of the causes of addiction to these substances.
The well-being
So does the Internet bring happiness? Yes, in part. When you share a photo on Instagram, when you post a message on Facebook, what do you expect in return? Likes and comments in general. Even if you think you are sharing “just to share your life”, that is not the only reason. Why do it without having good impressions from other people?
Encouragement for the work done
It is important to separate the act of taking photos (for the first example) and telling what happened to a friend (for the second case) from the act of sharing these things with a much larger audience. If you like taking photos, it is because you find them pretty and that it gives you memories. If you share them, it is largely so that other users tell you "it's beautiful!" or that they simply like your image. I won't hide it, I am also like that, if I continue to post articles and photos, it is because I have good feedback, otherwise I would probably have stopped a long time ago. On the internet, you also have the possibility of reaching hundreds, or even more, of people and you know that you are more likely to receive "rewards" from these individuals.
Something fascinating
Computers and screens fascinate. How many people have ever told you "It's crazy what you can do with a little thing like that!"? Every day, technologies evolve very quickly, even if we are used to them, they still attract us as much, like fire. This is another parameter in internet addiction, this fascination is present in almost everyone, is it because the number of possibilities and the speed are so important and imperceptible? I don't have an exact answer, but man has always been attracted to things he does not control or only partially, like space, nuclear power, etc.
Real relationships are diminishing
Let's talk about relationships with other humans. They are not the same on the internet as in real life, in the latter case you don't have emoticons but in the former case you can't clearly express your feelings and expressions (unless you do a video conference). I have met several people on the internet that I have never seen physically, but I have still been able to create friendships with some of them. There is also another point in relationships, in general you don't see the person's body and head, so you can't judge them by their physical appearance, unlike what we do in the street, communication is then established more easily. The real contact we have with our friends is decreasing more and more with the multiplication of means of communication. So do we need other relationships to fill this "lack" of relationships? I don't know, but it wouldn't be surprising if the brain made this substitution in order to function properly. However, for me, these relationships do not replace those with my real friends.
Technology addiction
Let's get to the addiction. Dopamine partly creates this addiction to the internet (and to technologies in general). I consider myself addicted (without being to the point of not being able to do without the internet), this also led me to an "overdose", I could no longer stand receiving a notification, it was too much for me. Following this, I decided to spend a maximum time without touching an electronic object but I only lasted one day. It still did me a lot of good. I have now changed my internet use somewhat by reducing it and putting certain limits on my smartphone, you should try it.
I see too often people looking at their smartphone instead of looking around them, we live in an increasingly individualistic society, interest and altruism towards others is decreasing day by day. Large companies have understood this addiction and continue to feed it by often offering new products, with better specifications and features. The latter assist us more and more, for example Google and other firms are currently testing driverless cars, we may no longer drive in the more or less near future. Companies are also adding electronics wherever they can in order to create a new dependency that was not present before, as in the field of home automation.
A certain naivety
Even today, a lot of people think that their data is safe as long as they have an antivirus and the connection is secured via the HTTPS protocol. However, this is absolutely not the case, every computer system has flaws. We saw this clearly with the recent hacking of nude celebrity photos. Why were these photos on iCloud? Due to lack of precautions, take good care of your data. Note however that in this case the iCloud system itself is not called into question, it is the "Find my iPhone" function that is the heart of the problem, the hackers found the passwords by brute force (more information on the brute force attack here). You don't have to be paranoid either, just keep in mind that you shouldn't put anything on the internet, even in a place where no one else should have access to it.
Internet, a media accessible to all
The information available on the internet is written in an "accessible" language because anyone can post on the internet. It is not just journalists trained in writing, with a varied and sometimes somewhat complex vocabulary, you can find everything. This is what opens the door to the diversity that forms the web today. One question still remains, what makes us start posting on the internet? In most cases, it is because someone advised us to or to "do like the others". However, there are a few people who started the "fashion", was it the opening to the whole world, or almost, that motivated them or had they smelled the possible multiplication and improvement of this network? This question will surely remain unanswered.
A feeling of importance and freedom
Being able to express yourself easily gives a feeling of importance and sometimes superiority to those who do so. They partly influence the thoughts of other users, so we can easily feel that we exist. I am not criticizing people who give their opinions, on the contrary, it is what makes the internet live. You are generally free on the internet, you can choose to post or not, to be active or passive, you can search for all the information you want, there is an impressive amount of it and this notion of data, almost infinite, also attracts a lot of people.
A constant occupation
Human beings are now accustomed to always doing something. There is not a moment when we do absolutely nothing, if we have to wait, some will take out their smartphone to see if there is a notification, others will turn on the television to distract themselves or anything else that does not leave us inactive. This occupies the brain and is a way of not thinking and not thinking about our personal problems and those of society. Of course, sometimes we have to empty our heads and not think about our problems, but if we never do anything, it will not improve.
Survey and results
I conducted a small survey regarding technology and internet usage but unfortunately I was unable to have more than 20 participants due to a restriction of the site on which I created this questionnaire. The results therefore do not accurately represent the average user but it is always interesting to see what it gives. I still had participants in several age categories. Unfortunately, some did not complete the survey.
There were 17 men and 3 women who participated, all aged between 15 and 50.
More than half of these participants spend more than 16 hours per week on the Internet, which is equivalent to more than 2 hours per day.
During these hours, the top 3 favorite activities of these people are social media, reading articles and/or news, and watching videos.
Most respondents check their smartphone between 5 and 7 times per hour, however the activities remain almost the same as on the computer. In first place, tied, social networks and reading articles, then in third place, also tied, messaging (WhatsApp, etc.) and music complete the list.
Finally, 10 participants consider themselves to be addicted to the internet, but only 5 of them would be willing to put measures in place to limit their use.
You will find the detailed and illustrated results of the survey here.
Conclusion
I realize every day how dependent we all are on the internet and technology, it disgusts me sometimes because it is very advanced. However, I am a big user of these services and I do not want us to completely stop the use of these very practical tools but I would still like a little awareness to be made, without necessarily seeing measures resulting from it. Try to spend at least one day without touching your electronic devices to see how much you need them, you might be surprised.
So there are several factors at play, but the main ones are, in my opinion, the fascination with computers, simplicity and the brain. It is difficult to define exactly what attracts us so much without doing a scientific experiment, and even if one were done, the results would be interpreted differently by specialists, depending on the era and the discoveries made.
What do you think are the factors that make us addicted to the internet?
