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Without the Internet, we would likely still be living in the culture of the mid-20th century. It really is the invention that defines our era, separating it from the past.

Importantly, the internet may be more threatening than you think. It has properties that can entice you into a full-blown addiction. Some of you may already know this, and some of you may have had internet addictions in the past or may be experiencing it today.

Luckily for us, we have scientists and investigators looking into the root causes of internet addiction, and developing strategies to mitigate it going forward. It doesn’t look like we’ll be ridding ourselves of technology any time soon, so it’s important that we learn to manage ourselves in the presence of it.

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Internet Addiction (How to Beat Social Media)

We live in the greatest technological development era our species has ever witnessed. The Stone Age initiated our fixation with tools and tech. The subsequent Bronze Age and agricultural advancements of the Neolithic propelled us even further down this path. Fast forward to the scientific and industrial revolutions and we reach the foundation of our relationship to the current state of technology - the digital age.

We went from riding horses as our primary means of transportation to taking a rocket to the moon within a mere hundred years. Now, we each have more computing power in our pockets than the very rocket that got us there. Our phones are capable of ridiculous feats that would have been unfathomable to people who lived just 10 generations ago, let alone thousands. They transcend boundaries, allowing us to communicate with nearly anyone around the world with ease.

We can thank the internet for this. The internet and what it has done for our species in terms of improving global communication, giving us access to information, and providing education, entertainment, and job opportunities is something we should be proud of. 

Yet, we should be cautious of putting the internet on a pedestal. It is a tool, like anything else, that can be abused. We’ve seen this happen over and over again in human history. A new piece of technology created for some grand purpose is misused, leading to suffering.

Nuclear energy was developed as a clean and efficient alternative to fossil fuels for generating electricity. We now have nuclear weapons. Railroads were developed in the 19th century to improve transportation and facilitate trade and travel. But, they were also used to forcibly relocate Indigenous peoples from their lands and to transport slaves in the United States during the antebellum period.

The internet does not come without its precautionary tale either. We must be aware of its addictive properties, in particular. So welcome to the digital age - where the internet has become more than just a means of communication and information processing, but also a source of addiction.

Internet Addiction

By 2019, the number of people using the Internet surpassed 4 billion [1]. This marked the point where there were more people on the planet using it than not. This number has only been growing and is expected to reach 7.9 billion by 2029 [2]. The amount of time spent on the internet per person is also growing, now averaging about 6.5 hours per day.

Much of that time is spent voluntarily enjoying the amenities the internet has to offer - its entertainment and social connectedness. But how much of this time is the product of involuntary, impulsive behavior? Like a thief siphoning our precious time, the internet seems to be seducing our attention in ways that are not always productive or desirable. 

In a meta-analysis of over 53,000 people from 31 countries, researchers estimated that 7% of the human population is addicted to the Internet and that that number has been increasing [3]. The issue has become so globally severe that Korea has instituted a government-funded Internet Rescue camp in a forested region near Seoul to treat those with severe cases.

Defining internet addiction can be difficult because a.) it is such a new addictive device and b.) people often use the internet as a medium for other addictions (i.e., gambling) rather than being addicted to the internet per se. It certainly is important to distinguish what people are using the internet for, but we can still apply the general criteria used for other addictions to internet usage. These include “excessive use despite adverse consequences, withdrawal phenomena, and tolerance that characterize many substance use disorders” [4].

The literature suggests that within the sphere of internet addiction, there are three primary subtypes: excessive gaming (video games), sexual preoccupations, and email/text/social media. All three variants share the following features with substance and behavioral addictions:

• Excessive use - often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives.

• Withdrawal - including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible.

• Tolerance - including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use.

• Adverse consequences - including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue.

Like the alcoholic or gambling addict, the person who is addicted to the internet will have similar phenomenological experiences. They will likely increase their screen time to compensate for the tolerance needed to feel that positive emotion they once got from smaller doses. They will become irritable and moody when they cannot access their vice. They may also be in denial of their problem, even despite the onset of withdrawal symptoms.

Social Media Addiction

Recent advances in social media have only exaggerated the addictive properties of the internet. With public awareness efforts such as Netflix’s The Social Dilemma, more people are coming to grips with the negative effects of excessive social media usage. Many of us seem to have an instinctual understanding of what social media can do to one’s life, but some of us don’t.

Studies have repeatedly shown how social media is associated with a host of mental health problems [5]. These include things like low self-esteem and narcissistic behavior. But everyone knows that just because there is an association does not necessarily mean that social media is causing these mental health problems, though that is typically inferred. It could be that people who suffer from mental health issues are more likely to abuse social media.

To reconcile this, a 2019 study looked at the relationship between social media addiction, mental health, and academic performance [6]. The first half of the study consisted of a survey given to college students which confirmed that social media addiction was negatively associated with both mental health and school performance. 

Importantly, the second half of their study consisted of separating study participants into a control group and an intervention group. The intervention group was given protocols to raise their social media use awareness and reduce screen time, while the control group received no extra instruction. They found that reduced exposure to social media significantly improved the intervention group’s mental health compared to the control group. This suggests that social media was driving poor mental health, not vice versa. 

The authors of the study had this to say: 

The Addictive Properties of Social Media

So why does social media have such a strong influence on our mental health? Why is it so addicting?

This has become quite a contentious debate and there are many ongoing legal battles to get to the bottom of the problem. Whether or not the private companies creating these platforms have bad intentions is an even larger issue and beyond the scope of this article, but what we can recognize is the novel technologies themselves that are disrupting our attention and mental health.

The United States Surgeon General recently released a lengthy statement on the dangers of social media, saying “Social media platforms are often designed to maximize user engagement, which has the potential to encourage excessive use and behavioral dysregulation” [7]. 

The design features they cite as being optimized for increasing user engagement include:

• Push notifications

• Autoplay

• Infinite scroll

• Quantifying and displaying popularity (i.e., ‘likes’)

• Algorithms that leverage user data to serve content recommendations

Each of these makes it harder and harder to escape the trap of mindless scrolling. The push notifications grab your attention. Once you’re in, the autoplay and infinite scroll keep you there. The popularity metrics give you unpredictable positive reinforcement like you're gambling every time you open your app of choice. Finally, the algorithms learn what you enjoy the most (by studying the amount of time you spend watching it) and continue to feed you more of that.

This is one of the most pernicious technological combinations, creating an addiction feedback loop.

How to Treat Internet Addiction

says psychiatrist Anna Lambke [8]. She goes on to say,

Not only do we have immediate access to these digital drugs at our fingertips, but we now rely so heavily on them for typical day-to-day tasks. To live in the modern world, it’s almost a prerequisite to have at least a fundamental understanding of the internet. This complicates how we deal with its addictive properties.

It’s like food. Drug addicts can survive without their drug of choice, but food addicts can’t. Being a recovering food addict is like being a recovering alcoholic who actually needs to have “only a couple of drinks” to stay alive, while always being mindful of overconsumption at all times. 

Internet addiction is very similar in that quitting the internet cold turkey seems quite unrealistic in the modern world. It has simply proven to make our lives easier and more efficient in too many pragmatic ways. We likely have to take this challenge on in small doses. 

One way we can do this ourselves is through self-binding. In her book Dopamine Nation, Anna Lembke describes self-binding as a method to “intentionally and willingly create barriers between ourselves and our drug of choice.” So rather than ditch the smartphone completely, make it more difficult to access the particular apps that really pull you in. 

This takes three forms:

1. Physical Self-Binding - This is where we use the physical space around us as a barrier to our addictions. In terms of internet usage, this would look like keeping your phone out of your bedroom so you don’t look at it before you go to sleep, or literally keeping it in a lock box when it comes to work or spending the evening with your family.

2. Chronological Self-Binding -  This is the application of time limits and deadlines. For example, you can restrict your internet access to only certain times of the day. What’s promising about this strategy is that it allows you to still indulge but at more reasonable doses.

3. Categorical Self-Binding - This option is a little more extreme than the other two, but it involves eliminating an entire category of potentially tempting stimuli. For excessive internet users, this may include things like completely abstaining from phones, laptops, or video games for an extended period of time. This will be less achievable than options 1 and 2 for some people, but it may be exactly what others need - a period of complete abstinence.

Cal Newport is a productivity expert and a huge proponent of limiting screen time. Rather than using the term “self-binding”, he uses phrases like “digital minimalism” or “dopamine detox” when discussing this addictive internet realm. Briefly, he believes that we can use these great technologies in smarter ways that will reduce their negative consequences.

One tool he cites is internet plug-ins that remove the recommendation sidebar from websites like YouTube. This can help prevent you from falling down the algorithm’s rabbit hole of feeding you exactly what you’re looking for over and over again. Also on YouTube, is an option to turn off autoplay, which can help too.

The second tool of Newport’s that I like is to replace these highly distracting sources of dopamine with content that is less potent. For example, opt for listening to music and reading books as forms of entertainment instead of scrolling Instagram or TikTok. Introduce high-quality pleasures in replace of cheap, low-quality pleasures.

Lastly, is to create a technology budget. By this, Newport suggests starting from 0, and deeply contemplating what forms of technology truly matter to you. For most people, TikTok will not be what truly matters (unless you are making a living as an influencer). If you’re an artist, something like Instagram might make the cut, as a way to express and advertise your visual arts. If you’re a musician, maybe SoundCloud. If you’re in finance, maybe some finance podcasts. 

The key is to incorporate only the applications that support your life endeavors, creating a digital portfolio that acts like an investment rather than a distraction.

References:

[1] Hannah Ritchie, Edouard Mathieu, Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. 2023. "Internet". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/internet' [Online Resource]

[2] Pelchen, L. and Allen, S. “Internet Usage Statistics in 2024.” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/internet/internet-statistics/#:~:text=Key%20Internet%20Statistics&text=Out%20of%20the%20nearly%208,the%20internet%2C%20according%20to%20Statista.

[3] Pan, Y., et al. 2020. “Systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiology of internet addiction.” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 118:612-622.

[4] Weinstein, A. and Lejoyeux, M. 2010. “Internet addiction or excessive internet use.” The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 36(5):277-83.

[5] Marino, C., et al. 2018. “A comprehensive meta-analysis on problematic Facebook use.” Computers in Human Behavior 83:262–277; Shakya, H. and Christakis, N. 2017. “Association of Facebook use with compromised well-being: A longitudinal study.” American Journal of Epidemiology 185:203–211; Malik, S., and Khan, M. 2015. “Impact of Facebook addiction on narcissistic behavior and self-esteem among students.” Journal of Pakistan Medical Association 65:260–263. 

[6] Hou, Y., et al. 2019. “Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention.” Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 13(1).

[7] United States. Public Health Service. Office of the Surgeon General. 2023. “Social Media and Youth Mental Health.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General.

[8] Lembke, Anna. 2021. Dopamine: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. New York, NY: Dutton.

Fit Fuel Song Suggestion

The Fit Fuel song suggestions are hand-picked by yours truly to elicit the motivation (and possibly aggression) needed to initiate or persist through a grueling workout. They consist of heavy, brutal guitar riffs and gruesomely guttural vocals. Additionally, I timestamp what I believe to be the best riff of the song - one that will kick your nervous system into overdrive when approaching a personal record (PR).