Social media has become so normalized in our society. Almost everyone that we know has some form of social media. Who can blame us though? Social media has everything. The latest news, our favourite brands, our favourite influencers, and the list goes on.
However is that really a good thing?
How is Social Media Addicting?
Social media has become a source of entertainment for us. Many of us use it more than we socialize and interact with people in person. According to Common Sense Media, some teenagers used social media for over seven hours on average daily in 2023. That is way too much time for a teenager to be spending on social media. They should be socializing more with their friends, hanging out more with their families, etc.
The reason why the numbers spent on social media are so high is because social media is so wide and contains a variety of different content. It is constantly being added to. Influencers and brands post almost 24/7 and people want to keep up with what is happening. Whether it is the latest album coming out, two celebrities dating, or even a new post from your favourite influencer. People want to know. They don’t want to be left out.
Our social media is also filtered to our own liking. The algorithm is different based on each person. Based on whatever post we interact with, the algorithm will pick it up and show us more of that content.
Have you ever wondered why your feed is filled with so many posts that you like and why you feel like it’s hard to leave?
Think back to all of the posts you have liked in the past. Are you seeing a pattern?
The algorithm floods our feed with similar content that we have liked in the past. And when we are constantly seeing content that we like, it becomes hard for us to leave social media and it becomes easier to stay on for ‘a little bit longer’.
According to McLean Hospital, a chemical called dopamine is released into our brains when we use social media and view all the stuff that we enjoy. Due to that chemical, it makes us feel happy and entertained and those emotions and feelings are what also keep us returning back to social media.
How is Being Addicted to Social Media Bad For Us?
- It takes up so much of our time leaving us with barely any time left to do whatever we want.
- It decreases our productivity.
- It creates FOMO (fear of missing out).
- It decreases our socialization with people.
- It creates anxiety.
- It causes stress.
- It drains your energy.
- Sleep deprivation.
How to Know if You Have a Social Media Addiction?
Ask yourself these questions:
How many times a week do you go on social media?
How many hours do you spend on social media a day?
Are your numbers too high?
According to Harvard Health, you should limit your social media usage to 30 minutes on average daily. This change has many benefits for our mental health.
What can be done to Overcome Social Media Addiction?
You can start off by setting a certain time limit for how much time you should spend on social media every day. Depending on your usage average right now having a 30 minute time limit may be difficult. Start off by giving yourself more time than 30 minutes and slowly start decreasing that number until you hit the 30 minutes over time.
Be strict with yourself. Once the time is up, close your social media and don’t open it again. Even if it’s later on in the day.
Come up with a list of things that you want to do and do them once your time is up. This will keep you distracted and get you to do the things that you wanted to do but never had time for before.
To learn more, about how to overcome your social media addiction, visit https://hbr.org/2018/10/i-ran-4-experiments-to-break-my-social-media-addiction-heres-what-worked
Conclusion
Don’t let your social media take over your life. It can be addictive, but you can overcome the problem and experience the many benefits from this one change that you have made. Take control of your life and limit your social media usage.
References:
Jeremy Nobel, M. (2018, December 21). Does social media make you lonely?. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-a-steady-diet-of-social-media-unhealthy-2018122115600#:~:text=Working%20with%20143%20undergraduates%2C%20researchers,to%20their%20social%20media%20diet.
The social dilemma: Social media and your mental health. Here’s How Social Media Affects Your Mental Health | McLean Hospital. (2024, February 14). https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health#:~:text=Social%20media%20has%20a%20reinforcing,%2C%20food%2C%20and%20social%20interaction.
Social Media Addiction Statistics 2024. TrueList. (2024, February 18). https://truelist.co/blog/social-media-addiction-statistics/