Question

Answer the following question in detail (in 150-200 words).

Why is internet addiction a social problem? How can it be solved?

Answer 1

i. Ordinarily, accessing the internet is not a problem. It becomes addiction when there is a compelling need on the part of an individual to have to continuously access specific internet sites for very vested and personal needs or obsessions.

ii. Internet addiction is a social problem since it:

1. Increases stress or anxiety in individual 
2. Causes stress to other people 
3. Affects one’s physical health 
4. Diminishes value of interpersonal relationships 
5. Leads to personal neglect
6. Leads individuals to inaccurate, prejudiced, titillating, unreliable and exploitative data

iii. The problem can be solved with the help of following measures:

1. Creating awareness about adverse effects of addiction with the help of educational programmes and mass media 
2. Arranging counselling session or seminars by professionals regarding long-term impact of addiction and ways to overcome it 
3. Encouraging group activities amongst addicts so that they build positive social experience and stay away from addiction 
4. Stimulating development of strong social connections so that addicts do not use internet to overcome feeling of loneliness