Most persons tend to reply in the negative when asked if they are addicted to social media. But before you answer, take your time to answer the following questions. How often do you go online to view, drop, like and comment on posts? Do you have much more friends online than in real life? What do you do first in the morning? Go online?
Social media has gone a long way in redefining connectivity and socialization for the better. Now, one can be in Abia state and still get in touch with another who is in a different state.
During the 119th Annual American Psychological Association, it was discovered that adolescents who are introverts can be able to gain social skills by using social media. But then, social media addiction is now a major problem facing the younger generation. It is a type of a form of addiction known as ‘Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) which was discovered as a psychiatric disorder in the year 1996. However, people don’t see social media addiction as a serious disorder.
How do you know you are addicted to social media. Below are some signs of social media addiction:
- You’re always losing track of time from spending endless hours on social media.
- It interferes with your daily routine like school, work, etc.
- You prefer virtual friendships to physical or real life friendships.
- You’re always snapping photos of everything in order to post.
- You’re online first thing in the morning.
- You isolate yourself from others to use social media.
- You negatively multitask e.g being on social media while cooking or driving.
- Being part of those that create social media accounts for their teddies and pets.
Read also: 10 Things you should never post on social media
Being addicted to social media has so many effects on you as a person. These effects include:
- It poses as a threat to your self-esteem since your sadness and happiness is tied to the number of likes and comments you receive in your posts.
- It makes you to look for outward appearance instead of building your self confidence.
- It can lead to depression especially when you don’t get the desired amount of recognition and admiration on social media.
Social media addiction does not only make you less productive, it also makes you less effective in real life.
Just like being addicted to smoking, social media addiction makes one unable to function without it.
Read also:Smoking : You need to stop now
Below are few strategies on how to get rid of social media addiction.
1. Invest more time in building relationships with people physically. Meet people and get real friends.
2. Do not multitask. Turn off or keep your smart phone aside while carrying out any assignment.
3. Engage in physical exercises and get hobbies that will fill in your time and are not screen based.
4. Seek for professional help when it becomes extreme.
I hope you’ll find this extremely helpful.
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