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The way we use interactive mobile technology everyday is changing the human cognitive landscape and how we are dealing with reality. In our daily life, SnT (Social-networking technology) has become something we cannot avoid using, as the need of being constantly updated and virtually connected to our social and working circle has prominently emerged. In this Interaction design thesis, I intend to explore the possible ways in which digital users, physical people in the first place, can prevent addictive loops of being constantly connected to such services and smartphones. Ethnographic research methods were performed along with iterative prototyping phases, leading to the development of speculative design interventions. Altering different responsiveness rates of a mobile user experience led me to design six bodystorming concepts and enact relative roleplay activities supposed to prevent SnT addiction and eventually help people being in control again of their spent digital time.

The rise of social media has led to an increase in social media use and social media addiction. Research has found that social media addiction is influenced by various factors, and this study looks to examine the relation between social media addiction and users' life satisfaction, personality type and age group; and whether the type of social media platform moderates this relationship. This study dispersed survey questionnaires and conducted an ANCOVA to analyze the results. Results found that life satisfaction and social media addiction are negatively related, but the negative relation is larger for Twitter users. Results also found a positive correlation between Extraversion and Twitter users, and a negative correlation between Extraversion and Non-Snapchat users. There was no relation found for non-Twitter users and Snapchat Users and Extraversion. Additionally, this study found that Neuroticism and social media addiction are positively related. However, this relation is stronger for Twitter users. Finally, this study found that younger generations report more social media addiction across social media platforms except Facebook and TikTok. Suggesting that there is no relation between social media addiction and one's generation for Facebook and TikTok users.

The concept of weakness of will, or Akrasia, relates to questions regarding the rationality of our choices. Philosophers such as Richard Holton and Alfred Mele have spearheaded the debate since the turn of the century, but quite recently arguments put forth by Nick Heather and Edmund Henden have catapulted the question into a subgenre between the medical, psychological, and philosophical fields. N. Heather argues that it can be useful to categorize addiction as a certain weakness of will meanwhile E. Henden argues against this point. In discussions around topics such as addiction and behavioral psychology, a natural part of the conversation surrounds questions regarding freedom of choice. What constitutes addiction and how does it begin? Do those who are addicted have free will, and in turn, can they be held accountable for their choices? These are some of the questions that materialize when delving into this topic that feasibly might get answered in this paper. However, a lot of the discussion regarding addiction seems to rely quite heavily on the clinical aspects of substance dependency, which can be counterproductive to the discussion as it diverges from philosophy into neurobiological medicine and clinical psychology. Furthermore, substance addictions tend to have a direct effect on habituation and motivation which bypasses certain cognitive systems. To avoid falling into these pitfalls, this paper sets out to examine a rising phenomenon through the same lens: Social Media Addiction (SMA). Since that would fall under behavioral disorder within the spectrum of addiction and therefore not have the same properties as a drug-induced addiction, this article aims to investigate if it exhibits the defining characteristics of akratic action and investigate if SMA fulfills these. In this paper, a comparison between SMA and regular addictions is made in order to identify the differences and similarities. There is a larger discussion around the topic of what acratic core action is and when it is applicable in the case of addiction but also recent arguments for and against classifying addiction as akrasia are presented. Finally, the findings suggest there are cases where addictions can be classified as a form of akrasia which has its own implications and interpretations that are brought up. Limitations of the discussion are brought up and further research is suggested.

Background:          Social Media are part of everyday life so much so that a new disorder has been observed. The disorder is Social Media Addiction and is still not officially acknowledged as a non-substance addiction by APA. There are a lot of studies that examine the symptoms and causes of Social Media Addiction. A relief to Social Media Addiction is taking a break for a period from them. There are a few studies that investigate the benefits of a Social Media Break but not the side effects of it in relation to Social Media Addiction. Purpose:                  The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between a Social Media Break and Social Media Addiction among Millennials in Sweden. This study aims to understand how Millennials in Sweden that are addicted to Social Media are affected by a Social Media break.  Method:                  The Bachelor Thesis uses Case Study as the methodology to discover how a Social Media Break affects a user that is addicted. The participants are Millennials that reside in Sweden and the Social Medium application is Facebook. Conclusion:             The findings from the Case Study show that there is a strong relationship between a Social Media Break and Social Media Addiction. The Millennials in this study expressed that Habit, Accessibility, Socializing and Fear of Missing Out were the reasons that made them return to their problematic Facebook relationship while taking a Break, or in other cases did not take a Break from Facebook.

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Sociala medier har förändrat männskors sätt att interagera, uttrycka sig och dela information. Det har integrerat sig som en naturlig del av många individers vardagar men trots alla fördelar som det medför, kommer det med en del problematiska aspekter. När någonting används frekvent på en massiv skala så kan det leda till ett beroendebeteende som sedan kan leda till ytterligare svårigheter. En av dessa svårigheter är att man utvecklar missanpassad emotionell reglering. Utifrån detta var studiens syfte att undersöka problematisk användning av sociala medier i relation till emotionell reglering. För att besvara syftet gjordes en enkätundersökning genom en webbenkät baserat på skalorna DERS-16 och BSMAS. Urvalet gjordes så att webbenkäten skickades ut på författarnas privata instagram, facebook och reddit sidor och deltagarna fick en vecka på sig att svara (n=50; 58% kvinnor & 42% män; M ålder = 35). För analys av resultatet utfördes två Pearson's korrelationskoefficient och ett oberoende t-test. Resultatet visade ett signifikant positivt samband mellan socialt medieberoende och emotionell reglering och samtliga fem dimensioner som uppgör emotionell reglering. Dessa fem dimensioner är klarhet, mål, strategier, icke acceptans, impuls. Antal timmar på sociala medier och socialt medieberoende hade ett signifikant positivt samband men det existerade inget signfikant samband mellan emotionell reglering och timmar på sociala medier. Det oberoende t-testet visade ingen signifikant skillnad i män och kvinnors emotionella reglering. Slutatsen är att det finns en stark relation mellan socialt medieberoende och emotionell reglering / Social media has changed people's way of interaction, self-expression and sharing of information. It has integrated itself into a natural part of many individual's daily lives. Although there are many benefits, social media can come with some problematic aspects. When something is frequently utilized on a mass scale, it has the possibility of leading to behavioral addictions that can lead to additional difficulties. One of the difficulties is developing maladaptive emotionel regulation. The purpose of this study was to examine problematic use of social media in relation to emotional regulation. To answer the purpose, a questionnaire webb-survey was developed based on the scales DERS-16 and BSMAS. The selection was done through sending out the webb-survey on the authors instagram, facebook and reddit pages. The participants had a week-long deadline to answer the survey (n=50; 58% females, 42%males; M age = 35). For analyzing the results, two Pearson's correlation coefficients and an independent samples t-test were done. The results showed positive correlations between social media addiction and emotional regulation and between social media addction and the 5 dimensions of emotional regulation; clarity, goals, strategies, non-acceptance, impulse. The number of hours on social media and social media addiction had a positive significant correlation but no significant correlation between emotional regulation and time on social media could be found. The independent samples t-test showed no significant difference between males and females in relation to emotional regulation. In conclusion there is a strong relationship between social meddia addiction and emotional regulation

Helicopter parenting has emerged as a prevalent phenomenon in families with adult children. Due to its developmentally inappropriate nature, helicopter parenting sometimes serves as a risk factor for children. In addition, culture and parents’ gender shape parenting and adult children’s outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to identify multidimensional constructs of helicopter parenting among college students and describe how latent classes of helicopter parenting of mothers and fathers are related to college students’ game and social media addictive behaviors in the United States and China. Using a three-step latent class approach, data from 1402 mother and young-adult child (MC) and 1225 father and young-adult child (FC) pairs in the United States and 527 MC and 426 FC pairs in China were analyzed. Four helicopter parenting latent classes (strong, strong but weak direct intervention, weak but strong academic management, and weak) were identified among MC and FC pairs in the United States, but three latent classes (strong, strong but weak direct intervention, and weak) were identified in China. In addition, college students whose parents were in the strong helicopter parenting class reported a higher level of game and social media addictive behaviors than those in weak and weak but strong academic management classes in the United States, but not in China. These findings indicate that helicopter parenting is multidimensional in nature in both American and Chinese families, but the impact of helicopter parenting on college students’ game and social media addictive behaviors differs between the two countries.

The pervasive presence of cellphones in the lives of urban young people around the globe has led to widespread research to evaluate the impact that this device has on young people’s overall psychosocial development. This relationship is often characterised as “addictive”. This research study presents a unique South African youth perspective in a field of research that is predominantly conducted in the United States, Europe and Asia. It explores the relationship that students (ages 18–21) at Rhodes University have with their cellphones in order to understand how this device informs their experience of social participation online and offline. Central to the design of this study is a “social media detox” which involved the research participants volunteering to restrict their social media and cellphone use for an agreed-upon period of time. The study employs interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to uncover key themes from in-depth interviews before and after the detox. Eight respondents were interviewed twice; once before and once after their detox. This study provides insights into the integral role of a cellphone as reported from a young adult’s perspective. Communicating on social media platforms using a cellphone has become normalised among this age-group and the respondents described how the cellphone feels like “a part of you”. Unlike interacting face-to-face which is potentially awkward and involves effort, socialising on a cellphone offers the respondents a sense of companionship, control and instant access to their peer groups. The respondents in this study seemed unaware of their own agency in social situations until their participation in the social media detox. By participating in this study, the participants became more aware of how their cellphone use influences social behaviour, both online and offline. The study proposes that the term “addiction” undermines the positive association young people have with their cellphones. Instead, this study suggests that “social fitness” would be a more relevant construct through which to encourage and support young people to exercise agency in their social lives. This exploratory study raises new questions for researchers, programme developers and educators to take up in future studies and programme development

Hur den psykiska hälsan kan påverkas av användning av sociala medier är omdiskuterat och väl studerat. Forskning kring vilka faktorer som kan predicera vilket typ av innehåll och hur frekvent individer publicerar på sociala medier är dock, till författarnas vetskap, sparsamt undersökt. Därmed ämnade denna studie undersöka om publiceringsvanor på sociala medier kunde prediceras av beroende av sociala medier, självkänsla, tendenser till depression och digital ålder vilket motsvarar den tid individer haft ett konto på Instagram och/eller Facebook. Studiens data samlades in via en enkätundersökning där 268 individer deltog varav 207 var kvinnor och 61 var män. Den genomsnittliga digitala åldern var 12.59 år för kvinnor respektive 12.62 år för män. Den beroende variabeln publiceringsvanor delades i två faktorer; intern källa - publicering av bilder kopplat till den egna individen, exempelvis “selfies” och extern källa - publicering av inlägg från en extern källa, exempelvis innehåll av politisk karaktär. Resultatet visade att den starkaste och enda statistiskt signifikanta prediktorn för intern källa var beroende av sociala medier. Detta innebär att ju högre grad av beroende av sociala medier, desto mer frekvent publicerar individen inlägg på sociala medier i form av t. ex bilder på sig själv och närstående. Slutsatsen för denna studie är att beroende av sociala medier har betydelse för vad individer publicerar för typ av innehåll på sociala medier. Vidare forskning krävs för att mer djupgående identifiera riskbeteenden och mönster genom publiceringsvanor, för att möjligen kunna förebygga beroende av sociala medier.