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March 6, 2024
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Social Media Addiction: A Universal Concern
Social media addiction is the compulsive use of social media while neglecting real connections and other responsibilities. Social media sounds like it should improve sociability. It’s offered us an unmatchable opportunity to connect, communicate, seek information, get entertained, and innovate.
But today, its overuse could be pushing the world into an asocial or even antisocial mode. This has become a collective problem with no age or gender discrepancy. Researchers have coined the term ‘checking habits’ – repetitive checks made by people on phone applications that involve social interaction, commonly because they are addicted to likes or due to the fear of missing out (FOMO).
At average these might occur up to 80 times a day per recent research. Most people who engage in them agree that they don’t need or want it, but end up obsessing over it and do so compulsively and unconsciously. It just becomes a habit. Until a little while ago, the phone was a physical product. A means that helped cross sectional verbal communication that had purpose only when it was being actively used by two individuals to talk to each other. Today the story is a little different. Words like obsession and depression are now being used in connection with social media.
“Today phones are constant companions; ones we make use of in countless ways. In one survey more than half of the iPhone users said they could not imagine life without their phones.”
Social Media History Notes
In 1997, the first social networking site SixDegrees emerged as a result of the idea that all individuals are linked via six degrees of separation. Since then, society is becoming increasingly interconnected. In 2004, Facebook propelled itself as an online community for students at Harvard University and became the world’s most popular site within the next decade. By 2016, there were 2.34 billion social network users worldwide and nearly one in every 4 human beings was using Facebook. Simultaneously, we saw Reddit in 2005, Twitter in 2006, Tumblr in 2007, Instagram and Quora in 2010, SnapChat in 2011, TikTok in 2017, and a larger list beyond the scope of this article.
Far long before the Internet attacked the world, radios, telephones and television had taken several decades to reach the masses. The World Wide Web took a mere handful of years to penetrate the globe. Social media and networking applications on smartphones have taken even lesser. They’ve undeniably handcuffed us fast.
Social Media Addiction: Why?
Media scholars call addiction to social media and networking sites, a self-perceived need for connection, acknowledgement and appreciation. We like it too much. Our brain is stirred by the novelty of an email, an appreciative remark on our appearance, a ‘like’ on a photograph or post, or the potential opportunity of making a new friend. These little pleasures are accompanied by a burst of dopamine in the reward center of the brain. Similar to the effect of a drug, this creates feelings of wellness, accomplishment and enhances self-esteem. And one does not want to miss it if the opportunity presents (FOMO).
When the brain gets used to this, it craves the feeling all the time. Hence, the urge to check the phone repeatedly (like an obsession); in the hope of a drug like high, when one actually gets the much-awaited notification. And a low perceived in the absence of the same (depression). People are addicted to likes and notifications, oftentimes it becomes the single most important activity that they engage in all day.
Impact of Social Media Addiction
- Disrupts connections in real time
- Inadvertent use causes accidents
- It may be a waste of precious time
- Takes focus away from real tasks
- Lowers attention and concentration
- Damages life, work, relationships
- May cause situational mood swings
Signs of Social Media Addiction
- Excessive time on the mobile phone
- Trying but unable to control checking
- Asked by others to put phone away
- Fidgety or restless without the phone
- Busy but still feeling an urge to check
- Preoccupied with notifications (FOMO)
- Unable to keep the phone away at all
Social Networking: A Way of Being?
Social networking is not what we do, it has become who we are. We’re never ‘off’ social media. People peek into their phone frequently only on the pretext of checking the time, but invariably they do respond to one of the several notifications on their social networking and media apps. YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, FaceBook or TikTok aren’t making it easy for us to ignore them. They’re baiting us, and we’re biting.
We’re afraid of missing out and so we click, click, click. To stay up to date, to be in the game and to not miss out. This is truer for teenagers who have created virtual spaces owing to limitation in physical connection these days. The dopamine rush from excessive screen time in the evolving brain of children and adolescents makes the addictive potential higher. Children with greater social media presence have reported better mood states while those who’s media connectivity was absent or taken away, report loneliness and show signs of obsession and depression. Like a drug, withdrawal is imminent when consumption is reduced or restricted. Social media addiction is a serious disease.
How Can You Break the Addiction?
Social media is omnipresent. And yet everybody does not get routinely addicted to it. At the same time, if you are, it doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get out of it. Control it before it consumes you. Here are some tips that could help.
Mindful Screen Use
Are you really preoccupied with checking your profile and posts for likes, notifications, updates, messages or comments? Do you feel ecstatic when you get them? Do you feel low if you did not get what you expected? Admit it. So, you can take steps to do something about it.
Screen Free Routines
Make up your mind to not touch your phone for a specified time, come what may. Probably start slow and then extend this time period. Notice whether there is any anxiety while you try to do so. This will also be an indication of how severe the social media addiction is.
Screen Free Zones
Set up screen free zones in the house or outside too. Agree that the kitchen, bathroom, prayer room; any room of your choice will be smartphone free and attune yourself to this. Also, movie halls, shopping malls, restaurants or any other spaces. This conditions your mind.
Screen Sabbatical
Send your phone, laptop, tablet on vacation to a distant drawer for the weekend maybe, and make plans with real people. See how that feels for you. Of course, you might need to connect with them using the phone but be off the social grid while you’re with them.
People Rules
Courtesy, politeness, respect, whatever you call it; give the people around you more time, attention and importance than you give your phone. It doesn’t matter who it may be. It’s about choosing the person over the gadget for the moment. This helps build discipline.
Reward Yourself
Track your checking habit and monitor your progress. If it’s going well, boost yourself to do even better. If not, then modify your strategy. Set little rewards for yourself, anything that matters to you and that you can pleasure yourself with. A food, a treat, anything.
“It’s a beautiful world. Outside of that phone screen. And it’s easy to be a part of it. All you have to do is lift your head up and around.”
MindFrames Help for Social Media Addiction
Social media and social networking addiction are real world problems. They produce chemical alterations in the human brain, alter the reward circuitry and are associated with anxiety, depression and anger outbursts too. Repeatedly checking the phone for updates appears harmless but it can be an obsession or addiction. You can tackle the craving using mindfulness, as well as cognitive and behavioral techniques. Don’t hesitate to reach out. Stamp the addiction before it consumes you.
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