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 addicting?

Great question. It is so addicting 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 a 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:

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 fuck? 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 found are the following:

• Truelist
• Addiction Center