Information Effect: Internet Procrastination slide

1. Internet Procrastination and What is it?

2. You sit down and you finally decide to start a project you were supposed to do
over the weekend, it is due the next day and you don’t know where to start. Some
time goes by, so you decide to look for some references so you can at least get a
clue. You pull up your phone to look up how to start but notice you have an unread
notification, you decide to check it out since it’s only one message. It’s a funny
meme so you react, cause it’s rude to leave someone hanging, so you send one
back. But one thing leads to another, and now you’ve been having a full-blown
conversation for at least an hour and the only thing written on your assignment is
“The”.

3. Internet procrastination is a form of procrastination where people are distracted by internet usage that hinders their efficiency in
an academic or workplace setting, via computers or phone screens. It's a problem in today's generation and continues to grow,
mostly affecting young adults and adolescents. According to the Digital 2024: Global Overview Report, the average online user
spends about 6.4 hours on the internet a day, and that number seems to only be increasing. A far cry from a decade ago,
which makes some think of it as a generational difference, since after all most online users seem to come from early millennials
and late Gen Z-ers and younger.

4. The Demographic of high internet usage is mostly seen in adolescents and is relatively high during preteens with a peak
when they reach the teens. This is probably because of two factors, for preteens don’t necessarily have school work or
many responsibilities, so they would spend the majority of their time with entertainment like watching television or playing on
their tablets. For teens, the causation of this spike could be related to the age when most children are given a phone. This
would replace their entertainment with a more convenient alternative, which they could also use to look stuff up, make calls,
and chat with friends. But that isn’t the only factor, according to The CommonSense Census 2021: Media Use by Tweens
and Teens report, race, gender, and social class could influence internet usage. In the lower class internet usage is mostly
used by preteens and younger, however as you go up the social ladder in the middle class it is predominantly teens. Race
and gender did also play a role, those of Hispanic or Latino heritage seemed to also have a significantly higher screen time,
along with boys using devices more than girls.

5. Other factors influencing online usage include social peers and free time, however outside sources could also be a
component in play. Between 2019 and 2021 there is a noticeable increase of screen time in those years. This was apparent
in the 2021 Common Sense Census Media Use by Teens and Tweens Report, stating that “These increases in the use of
entertainment screen media in the two years between 2019 and 2021 are far greater than the increases we saw from 2015
to 2019. In those four years, total screen use among teens increased by an average of just eight minutes a day; in the past
two years, it increased by an average of 49 minutes a day. Among teens, the average screen use ticked up by 42 minutes a
day between 2015 and 2019; over the past two years, it increased by an hour and 17 minutes a day, on average“. This was
all possible in part by the COVID-19 virus, which forced people to stay in their homes. Since people couldn’t go outside they
had to find entertainment in the confinement of their own home, which led them to spend more time with online services.

6. However, even after the pandemic's “drop” the increasing rate of internet usage is still considerably higher compared to the
years before the pandemic. This build up in screen time could be in part contributed by the effects of dopamine tolerance.
According to an article from Yale Medicine, when our body
creates dopamine it “ releases a jolt of satisfaction” which
encourages you to continue to do it again since the brain
remembers this surge. However, with chronic use of the
substance, over time the brain’s circuits adapt and become
less sensitive to dopamine. A repeated pattern can make
your brain build some tolerance which requires the body to
either keep up or increase the amount of dopamine received
to be entertained. A situation like the pandemic resulted in a
spike in internet usage, their brains adjusted to having a
longer screen time, however after it was over, the use of
electronics lowered but still had to remain relatively high
because of this new adjustment. When the brain finds
patterns it can build an addiction creating further tolerances,
these addictions can also cause problems with focus,
memory, and learning, not to mention decision-making and
judgment.

7. This excessive online usage not only creates fatigue but can
also lead to a broken sleep schedule, bad social development
as well as mental and cognitive problems. From constant
social media use the brain may as well be always on edge,
whether it's anxiety or anticipation, being constantly put on
strain as if it is always multitasking.
For the younger generation multitasking has eased its way
into our lifestyle, whether it's washing the dishes, eating,
folding clothes, or using the restroom, our everyday chores
and activities may as well have a phone involved. Though it
does make our daily lives less boring, it doesn’t make us
efficient, something that usually should take about ten minutes
at most, can basically be doubled when an electronic device is
introduced, whether it's television or earbuds. You may have
heard the myth that multitasking is a good ability to have,
however, in practice, it may not be as effective.

8. In a study conducted by Rurélie Bidet-Caulet, a neuroscientist studying sustained attention, he experiments with the effects
of multitasking. In this clip a woman is presented with a computer showing a vast array of numbers in a sequence that is
supposed to click the computer mouse every time she sees the number two, while at the same time having to count the
number of times her name is spoken. https://fod-infobase-
com.libprox1.slcc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=239532&loid=620571&tScript=0 (24:07-28:48)
At first, she is attentive to accomplishing the two objectives at hand, however, as soon as she misses one of them, she then
focuses solely on one of the tasks, completely ignoring one of the objectives or snapping back. It is pointed out in the video
that the computer inputs a sound every time the numbers are changed, and it appears that this is distracting to her. This is
because a sound like that would usually be toned out when focusing on sight, however since she also has to listen for her
name, any sound can’t be ignored in this setting, since there is now greater emphasis on hearing, thus she hears these
beeps which interrupt her flow. Leaving her in a perpetually distracted state failing both tasks until the experiment was over.

9. Ways to reduce time online
Though it does take some dedication. The main problem stems from the ability to not “give into” the gratification of using your
phone.
● Reducing screen time: Whether creating restrictions on your phone, not using it during chores or the bathroom, or just
turning it off before bed, either way, it helps reduce an overreliance on your device.
● Keeping yourself organized: Whether it's your living and work space or your schedule, a messy environment leads to a
messy mindset. Procrastination sets in when you think you have time to spare and gets off when you realize it's almost due
and panic kicks in. You can counteract this by writing down and setting any objectives for the day, setting more urgent things
on top, while also including deadlines.
● Creating deadlines: Deadlines offer the lead-up to an incentive, by creating deadlines you can trick yourself into completing
things earlier. It also works on things that don’t have deadlines, things like getting a job, a license, or scholarships, which
can get caught on the back burner since there is not necessarily any urgency to complete them. But setting these deadlines
will force you to complete them faster, and gradually build a sense of responsibility.

10. Sources
DataReportal, and We Are Social, and Meltwater. "Average Daily Time Spent Using The Internet by Online Users Worldwide from 3rd Quarter 2015
to 3rd Quarter 2023 (in Hours.Minutes)." Statista, Statista Inc., 31 Jan 2024, https://www-statista-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/statistics/1380282/daily-time-
spent-online-global/
We Are Social, and DataReportal, and Hootsuite. "Daily Time Spent on Social Networking by Internet Users Worldwide from 2012 to 2023 (in
Minutes)." Statista, Statista Inc., 26 Jan 2023, https://www-statista-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/
Dedyukhina, Anastasia. “Understanding the Distracted Brain.” TD: Talent Development, vol. 77, no. 11, Nov. 2023, pp. 44–49.
EBSCOhost,https://www.td.org/magazines/td-magazine/understanding-the-distracted-brain
Kokoç, Mehmet. “The Mediating Role of Attention Control in the Link between Multitasking with Social Media and Academic Performances among
Adolescents.” Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 62, no. 4, Aug. 2021, pp. 493–501. EBSCOhost, https://doi-
org.libprox1.slcc.edu/10.1111/sjop.12731.
“Brain Overload.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2016, https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=102595&xtid=239532.
Frontiers | I’ll Do It – After One More Scroll: The Effects of Boredom Proneness, Self-Control, and Impulsivity on Online Procrastination
(frontiersin.org)
“How an Addicted Brain works, Yale Medicine, May 25, 2022, https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/how-an-addicted-brain-
works#:~:text=However%2C%20with%20chronic%20use%20of,level%20of%20high%20you%20crave.
Rideout Victoria, Peebles Alanna, “The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens”, Common Sense, 2021,
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/8-18-census-integrated-report-final-web_0.pdf