Information Addiction
The New Age of
Digital Substance Abuse
By Jorge Castorena
Basic Statistics: always connected.
 1 in every 5 people in the world
own a smartphone.
 58% of smartphone users don’t
go 1 hour without checking their
phones.
 23% of Facebook’s 1 billion
users check their accounts more
than 5 times a day.
 400 million Tweets are sent every
day.
Percentages of Users
Emotions When Checking
Social Networks
(by percentage of users)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Social Network
Excitement
Curiosity
Source: International Data Corporation
http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10459/7-in10-smartphone-owners-accessfacebook-via-device
LinkedIn
The Information Drug: a real addiction.
 Internet Addiction Disorder:
compulsive Internet behavior that
interferes with normal living
(family, eating, sleep, work).
 1 in 8 Americans show
problematic Internet usage.
 Release of dopamine when logged on is the cause of addiction.
 The first Internet addiction program in the U.S. opened Sept. 2013 in
Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Bibliography
Images:
 http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=116398885
 http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs201/projects/personallives/addicts.html
Research:
 http://www.brmc.com/programs-services/internet-addiction-bradford-pa.php
 http://blog.digitalinsights.in/social-media-facts-and-statistics2013/0560387.html
 http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-and-tablet-penetration-2013-10
 http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10459/7-in10-smartphone-ownersaccess-facebook-via-device
 http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/07/health/internet-addiction-treatment-center/
 http://www.idc.com/about/about.jsp