Gelisim News

The "Digital 2021 Report", which sheds light on the use of the internet in the world and the relationship of people with the internet, was published recently. Data for Turkey in the report drew attention. According to the current data in the report, the number of social media users in Turkey increased by 6 million only last year reached 60 million. This numbers mean that 70 percent of the Turkish population is a social media user.

WHAT WE DO ON THE INTERNET?

According to the data a person in Turkey averagely spends 7 hours 57 minutes per day on the internet.3 hours and 13 minutes of the total time spent on the Internet is reserved for online TV, 1 hour 33 minutes for reading news and 1 hour 35 minutes for listening to music.

The average time a person spends the day in social media in Turkey were found to be 2 hours 57 minutes. The most used social media platforms in Turkey ranks as follows: 1st Youtube (% 94.5), 2nd Instagram (% 89.5), Whatsapp (% 87.5), Facebook (% 79), Twitter (% 72.5).

Mehmet Başcıllar, lecturer at Istanbul Gelisim University, said: “Internet addiction can be defined as the inability of individuals to control their computer, tablet, smartphone or internet usage. In the light of the data in the digital 2021 report, we can say that we spend about half of our daily life on the internet except sleep. On the other hand, we spend a significant part of the time we devote to the internet on social media platforms. Accordingly, we need to question again whether we really have enough control over internet usage. The World Economic Forum recently announced the skills it considers will gain importance in the future. It does not seem surprising that self-awareness and self-management are among these skills. I consider that in the near future the human-internet relationship will gain a new dimension and that human well-being will be at the center of this new dimension.”

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

Başcıllar continued as follows: “In addition to public institutions and organizations, non-governmental organizations have important responsibilities in combating internet addiction. In order to raise social awareness on internet addiction, it is necessary to provide training to large segments of the society under the leadership of social workers under the coordination of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services. There is a need to develop projects on internet addiction in coordination with public institutions, universities and non-governmental organizations and to realize these projects as soon as possible. Considering the negative effects of internet addiction on children's well-being and academic success, school social service should be implemented by the Ministry of National Education.”