Brittney Moore Professor Presnell English 1102 26 March 2014

Evaluative Work Cited: Social Network Addiction Brown, Lance. "New Harvard Study Shows Why Social Media Is So Addictive for Many." WTWH Marketing Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar 2014. This is the first article I found that was both creditable and provided a lot of information as to whether social media addiction is real. It discusses a study that was done at Harvard University on why social media is addicting. They discovered that when people talk about themselves they brain releases endorphins that cause pleasure. This produced the same pleasure as food, money, or sex. Even though its not the same amount of pleasure its enough to cause the brain to become addicted and want more. It was also proven that the larger the audience the more endorphins are released. Thats why people like to have a lot of followers, It makes them feel like more people care about what they post. That is also why people care about how many likes they get on Instagram and how many retweets they get on twitter. I didnt research Harvard because I know it is a very prestigious school. This article led me to many more experiments and research done on social media addiction. It also led me to the actual scholarly article about the study done at Harvard law school. Donley, Megan. "The Social Media Issue." Does Social Media Addiction Really Exist. N.p., 12 Feb 2011. Web. 28 Apr 2014. I really liked this source because it gave me a back ground on both sides of the spectrum. It gave points on social network addiction being real and it gave points on it not being real. It brought up that there is a major difference between social media over use and addiction. It also brought up how social networks are becoming the main source of communication with family and friends and that studies on this issue are very scarce and inconclusive. When I googled Megan Donley nothing came up because I believe she is a student. But since the school published her paper and finding on their website I think it should be credible.

Lowery, Tom. "Why Social Media Is So Addictive (And Why Marketers Should Care)." CMS Wire. N.p., 28 Aug 2013. Web. 16 Mar 2014. This article was kind of similar to the first one I mentioned because they agree social media can be addictive. The difference is that is says that the reason we use social media cites it to verify our existence in the world. It says its the same as how when you make eye contact with someone on the street you expect them to nod or wave at you to acknowledge your existence. It also went into discussion about how the only reason people are so into social networks right now is because they are relatively new. People are still trying to figure them out and playing with them because everyone likes new things. They say that the main reason why people are addicted to social networks is psychological problems, such as the fear of missing out. When I googled Tom Lowery, I discovered that he is an entrepreneur, writer, author and corporate training specialist. He is also the Founding editor of Vox Universe. He writes about life, people, business and interpersonal relationships. There is even an article about him in the Huffington Post. Sparkes, Matthew. "Twitter and Facebook 'addicts' suffer withdrawal symptoms." The Telegraph. N.p., 11 Apr 2013. Web. 16 Mar 2014. I liked this source because it showed that people have withdrawal symptoms from social networks. If you have withdrawal symptoms then you must be addicted the network. A study at the University of Winchester had ten people who thought they were addicted to Facebook and ten people who said they were addicted to twitter stop using their social networks cold turkey for four weeks. A lot of people reported that when they would pick up their phone their fingers would automatically search for the social network app. Others reported that they felt isolated from the world. When I googled Mathew Sparkes I found out that he was a journalist for the Telegraph and is the deputy head of technology. Apparently he is a very well-known journalist in the United Kingdom and conducts very thorough interviews. I believe this is a very credible source because it was published in a well-known paper in the UK by a well-known journalist. "This Video Perfectly (and hilariously) Captures our Social Media Addiction." Huffington Post

25 Feb 2014, n. page. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. I liked this video because it showed me that other people really see that social media is becoming a problem in everyday life. It is a video made by Coca-Cola that shows how people are always on their phone and missing out on everyday life. They miss out on interacting with family and friends, eating dinner with their loved ones, going on dates, and even simple things such as showing their pets attention. This video depicts in a funny way because to fix the problem red dog cones were placed on the people who were addicted to social media to prevent them from being able to look down at their phones. Then they were finally able to look up and experience the world around them. I didnt google Coca-Cola or the Huffington Post because no factual evidence was given in this source. It just showed how serious social media is becoming and how it is becoming a noticed problem