Digital Addiction and Its Reflections on the Individual and Society

Introduction

Post-industrial societies have emerged with the realization of production by digital technologies. For this reason, the current era is also called the digital age (Yengin, 2019). The digital technologies used in this era were introduced into individuals’ lives with the development of the computer in the 1940s and the discovery of the internet in the 1970s. (Çakır, 2005). The spread of digital devices like computers, internet, smartphones and tablets in areas such as access to information, communication, education, health, socialization and entertainment has created digital culture (Biricik, 2022). Digital technologies greatly affect many aspects of our lives and make life easier in every way (Joseph & Joy-Telu Hamiliton-Ekeke, 2016). As digital technologies facilitate life more and more, are easy to access and are present in almost every field (such as education, health, communication, socialization, entertainment), their use is constantly increasing. According to the Digital 2022 Global Overview Report published in partnership with We Are Social and Hootsuite, more than half of the world's population is a digital technology user. Of the approximately 7.9 billion people worldwide, 67.1% use mobile phones, 62.5% use the internet and 58.4% use social media. The number of internet users has more than doubled in the last 10 years. It is also estimated that the number of internet users will continue to grow at an average rate of 4.8% per year until 2030 (We Are Social and Hootsuite, 2022).

As of January 2023, there are 5.16 billion internet users worldwide, equivalent to 64.4% of the world population. Among the regions of the world that use the internet the most, Northern Europe ranks first in terms of population in 2023. In Ireland, Norway, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, 99% of the population used the internet as of January. North Korea ranks last worldwide (Statista, 2023b).

Digital technologies occupy a large share of time for people all over the world. The Digital 2022 Global Overview Report states that the daily internet usage time in the world is about 7 hours. So, if a person sleeps on average 7 to 8 hours a day, they spend more than 40% of their waking time online. The report also states that a person with internet access spends an average of 2.5 hours on social media every day (We Are Social and Hootsuite, 2022). According to Statista 2023 data, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide increased from 90 minutes in 2012 to 147 minutes in 2022 (Statista, 2023a). In a study conducted in the US, it was reported that participants looked at their phones 80 times a day (Deloitte, 2018).

The use of digital technologies has increased today compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, more people have spent more time using the internet, social media and mobile than ever before. The fact that the number of people using the internet worldwide increased from 4.3 billion in 2020 to 4.9 billion in 2022 with an increase of 12% during the pandemic period is an indicator of this (We Are Social and Hootsuite, 2022). The prevalence of internet use among women worldwide is 63% and 69% among men by 2022 (Statista, 2023b).