"Just a minute, let me go on Facebook." With this phrase, many people around the world are absorbed for hours on the internet, watching cat videos on YouTube, commenting on photos on Instagram, googling for useless information, and of course chatting on Facebook.
If you are one of the people who behaves like this, don't worry, because according to experts, this behavior is completely normal given the structure of the Internet.
Humans are programmed by nature to seek out – almost compulsively – information that can contribute, in an unpredictable way, positively to their psychology. Given the universal presence of the internet and the lack of boundaries it possesses, it is very easy for any person to become absorbed, losing track of time surfing without easily finding the mental strength to stop.
Tom Stafford, a psychologist at the University of Sheffield, says that the internet is not addictive in the same sense as drugs, but it clearly compels you to use it thoughtlessly.
You have new email
People are social beings and as a result of this sociality they like the social content information found in emails and the internet in general. According to Stafford, email and social networks have a similar psychological reward structure to that of casino slot machines. As a rule, you lose your time (and your money) but every so often you hit the jackpot and in the case of the internet a hot gossip topic or a heartfelt email. It is precisely this instant psychological gain that strengthens the attraction to the internet. The unexpected psychological gains that one finds on the internet train people in the same way that Ivan Pavlov trained his dogs, who had managed to make them salivate at the sound of a bell that they had associated with the presence of food. In the same way, we humans react to hearing an audio notification for an incoming message on a social network or email. We don't naturally produce saliva, but we feel a sense of pleasure when we hear the audio notification.
Fight or flight response
According to researcher Linda Stone, who has studied the psychological effects of internet use, reading an email or a “social information” can trigger the so-called fight-or-flight response. This evolutionary response of mammals to environmental dangers assesses the degree of danger and accordingly the mammal stays to fight or flees.
Stone says that in one study, 80% of people temporarily stopped breathing or were breathing shallowly when checking their emails or staring at a computer screen. She calls this phenomenon “email apnea.”.
The internet often offers content that requires some action or reaction from the user, such as an assignment emailed by the boss or photos of a close friend's wedding, so the user unconsciously holds their breath while looking at their computer screen. However, this apnea activates a series of psychological defenses that prepare the body to face possible surprises or threats.
The constant activation of this process, according to researcher Stone, can have negative effects on health.
Without limits
According to Tom Stafford, another reason the internet is so addictive is that it doesn't allow you to set boundaries when performing a task using it as a tool. That is, someone can start looking for something on Wikipedia and after a while get carried away and end up on another article or site that might interest them but isn't of the moment.
Research shows that willpower is like a muscle: It can be strengthened, but it can also be exhausted by overuse. Because the internet is always available, staying focused on the reason you’re using it is like constantly exercising your willpower muscle, which can lead to a depletion of your self-control. “Temptation is always there, you can’t escape it,” Stafford says.
Setting Limits
For those who want to loosen the "noose" of the internet from around their necks, there is some advice.
There are software tools for the computer that can block internet use after a predetermined period of time, allowing some people to gain better control over their time. However, there is another method that is not as technical but quite effective and involves establishing time limits where someone must remain focused or until a part of a task is completed, so that the user is then "rewarded" with five minutes of free internet browsing.
One such method is the Pomodoro technique, which was developed in the 1980s and divides work time into 25-minute intervals, giving a 5-minute break after each 25-minute work period.
