What Is a Social Media Addiction?
Social media is as popular as never before. Mindlessly scrolling through
TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or other sites is something you can see
everywhere. In the bus, train or heck even while you are walking down a
street?
Important to note: I am not saying that a normal use of social media is bad.
In my opinion it’s unnecessary and a waste of time. But that is only my
personal opinion. Normal use of social media can be completely fine in
your life.
It begins to get problematic when you are one of the 5-10% of Americans
which meet the criteria for a social media addiction.
Social media is a behavioral addiction. This means that you are concerned about
the current social media state and get an uncontrollable urge to log on / use
social media, and devote so much time that it impairs other important areas of
your life. Note: This does not mean than you’re staying home doing nothing
else and are close to getting homeless.
You may also feel a discomfort when you are not able to check your social media
(e.g. Your battery is empty and / or you have no charger).
Those Are Some Scary Statistics to Get Your Attention
- Estimates suggest that more than 210 million people worldwide suffer from
addiction to social media and the internet. (Science Direct) - Symptoms of depression are twice as likely to appear in teens who
spend five to seven hours a day on their smartphones. (NPR) - Not being on social media causes the fear of missing out in 34% of young
adults. (CBS) - Checking social media while driving happens to 55% of drivers. (Shop Owner
Mag) - 43% of teenagers feel bad if no one likes their post. (Statista)
- 71% of all Americans log in to check their Facebook on a daily basis. (Pew
Research Center) - By 2025, the monthly number of active social network users is expected to
reach 4.41 billion - Social media is currently home to nearly 58.5% of the world population
- Social media sees some teens spending more than seven hours each day
logged in.
But Why Is Social Media So Addictive?
Great question. It is so addictive because the sites you use provide you with
dopamine. Some platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and
TikTok produce the same neural circuity that is caused by gambling and
recreational drugs to keep consumers using their products as much as
possible.
Those sites cause your brain’s reward area to trigger the same way as it would
trigger when you consume cocaine as an example.
Social Media and Mental Health
Researchers have found out that there is an undeniable link between social media
use and negative mental health. Using social media frequently can make
people feel isolated and unhappy. (Especially woman) Some people also compare
themselves with some social media stars. This can lead to the wish to look
like them. But what those young kids don’t know: They are using filters,
effects and editing to look like this. This causes a brain development
where you think that this is the new natural. Some people even go as far as
getting some beauty surgeries done just to look like the ideal human.
Excessive social media use can not only make you unhappy but can also cause
anxiety and depression. If you are constantly comparing yourself to
someone who doesn’t even look like this in the real life makes you feel bad.
Personal Opinion: Wasted Time
This is something which bothers me personally. Imagine yourself like this:
| Where | Doing what |
|---|---|
| At Home | Using social media / your phone |
| In the bus / car | Using social media / your phone |
| Before / after sleeping | Using social media / your phone |
And maybe sometimes you even sit with others and instead of talking you use your
phone.
Your entire life’s content is just social media. When was the last time you took
yourself like 10 minutes and did nothing? In a world where everything gets
faster and faster? Or when was the last time you talked with some people and
had a great time without looking at your smartphone every 10 minutes?
This is just sad in my opinion. Here is the thought which changed my way to
think about this:
When at some point all the people you love are gone. What will your memories
be? The times you and them spent at the phone? What was the last nice memory you
had?
Thinking about this reminded me of what is important.
Today the only social network I sometimes use is
Mastodon (and YouTube / Twitch if that
counts as a social network for you ;))
For me it was really shocking. In the past I used my phone while I was sitting
in the bus / train. But since I stopped using social media, I looked around
while sitting in the bus. And this is insane. Maybe the next time you are
sitting in the bus take a look around. (At least where I am living at) nearly
everybody (I would say 93%) are holding their phone. Isn’t this insane?
This feels so weird when you look around and are surrounded by these people
looking like some robots doing the exact same thing over and over again.
Recently it also started that I noticed (possibly only recently because I
started looking for it) more and more people walking around with their phone in
their hand. What the f*ck? You are missing so much beautiful stuff? I mean
I love looking around when walking. There is so much stuff to see and to
miss.
I also saw someone every day doing the same. Walking to their school with a
phone and headphones and back, too. This is so weird.
In my opinion this entire phone stuff is really scary and creepy once you really
get your head around it. No I’m not saying get rid of your phones!! I
personally have a phone. It is a really awesome tool. But what I would love
to see is more people thinking about what they do. For most people their
entire life only consists only of getting the most likes. This is sad.
But What Can I Do About It?
Simple answer: Just use it less.
Complicated answer: You maybe need some help. Getting rid of an addiction is
not easy. Don’t be ashamed to talk about it and get help.
What can help too (to reduce usage) is to make your Phone a non-social-media
Phone. Simply delete every social media app and thing you don’t need.
Then only use it on your Computer (But not as much as on your Phone before,
obviously). Basically you make your Phone a “minimal” Phone. This is also what
I have done. As an example those are the things I have on my Phone:
- Web Browser
- Flip Card learning application
- Messaging
- E-mail (But no spam / public E-mails. This means only one E-mail maybe every 2
weeks) - Calendar
And that is basically it. You don’t need your 3-5 PAGES of apps.
An advantage of “debloating” / making your phone minimal: Your battery will
last much longer.
Sources
The sources I used are: