Media Innovation Circle #12
May 27 @2pm-3pm (Lisbon Time)
Always on – Lessons learned from research into social media addiction
Speaker: Dr. Daria J. Kuss, Associate Professor in Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Moderation: Liliana Costa, University of Aveiro
Dr Daria Kuss is a Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Scientist and Associate Professor in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University, UK. She has an international reputation as Internet addiction expert, and is an award-winning author, with her books Internet addiction – Evidence-based practice in psychotherapy (Hogrefe) and The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology (OUP) having been published in 2019. Her research has been covered in international news outlets, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the BBC. She has published prolifically in peer-reviewed journals and books, and her publications include over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, three authored and one edited book, and over 100 national and international conference presentations, including regular keynote talks. She has worked with the World Health Organization, the European Parliament, and the Government Council of the Czech Republic. Her work has been featured in the House of Commons Select Committee reports.
@Dr_Kuss
Abstract
In this talk, I will introduce the concept of being ‘always on’ as a demarcating sign of today’s technophilic society. Social media use has become the status quo, with most people in the Western world being connected to each other via their portable devices most of the time. Constant connectivity has led to concerns about users’ mental health and wellbeing, and social media use has been associated with a number of psychosocial and health problems, including anxiety, depression, stress and addiction.
Following 15 years of research in the area, I will address the issue of social media addiction by outlining the state of the art of research in this new and emerging field. I will discuss what the empirical research on social media addiction has taught us, and will provide suggestions for future research, as well as public policy recommendations.
