#SOCIALMEDIA: Let's be honest. You are addicted to social media. You can't quit it. You justify it. But the truth is, you've let it change you, and it has. Time to take you life back? Try some of these 16 steps AND these ways to break out!
#1 A lack of self-esteem. This can be for a range of reasons but it’s also possibly down to assuming that everyone has a better life than you do. It’s very easy to think this when you see everything that is being posted and how it’s packaged up to look like a perfect picture. This is rarely the truth – people just like to pretend their lives are great, usually to make others feel bad and them feel better. Sad, isn’t it?
#2 Needing validation from followers. If you feel you need to post a selfie for someone to tell you that you look good, or you need to tell people what you’re doing so that they say good things, you’re seeking validation and you’re seeking it in the wrong places. This is one of the major signs of social media addiction.
#3 Increasing amounts of isolation. Those who are struggling with social media addiction might think that using social media helps them to feel less lonely. But in reality, it’s actually one of the major factors in them feeling lonely in the first place. Spending time at home with your phone in front of you isn’t going to help you to live your life. You need to get out there and connect with people, face to face.
#4 Increasing anxiety related to social media use. Do you often feel panicky when you can’t check your social media platforms? Maybe there’s an Internet outage for some reason, or maybe your phone charge has gone. That means you can’t check your platforms – how do you feel? Do you feel a little anxious? That’s a key sign of social media addiction once more.
#5 Total and utter FOMO. In addition to feeling anxious when you can’t check your platforms, do you feel like you’re missing out on something? Of course, in reality you’re probably not missing anything at all. Well, apart from your colleague from your last job posting about the amazing dinner they’ve just made.
#6 Problems with sleep. We’ve all heard about the issues with blue light from phones and that if you use your phone before bed, it can disrupt your circadian rhythm – basically your brain thinks it’s daytime and keeps you awake. Using your phone to check social media too much in the hours before bed can cause you to have very poor sleep and that in itself can lead towards a range of health issues.
#7 Not really wanting to do anything other than checking your phone. Social media addiction can feel all-encompassing. When you’re using your phone and constantly scrolling and commenting, you might think you’re busy, but you’re actually busy with the wrong things. You don’t head out for exercise, you don’t eat in some cases, and you might find that you miss important appointments and plans.
#8 Total distraction, leading to problems at work. If you’re always thinking about what you’re missing out on, you’re not going to be focusing and concentrating so well. This could lead to mistakes and a lack of productivity at work. Over time, this isn’t going to put you in your boss’ good graces and your colleagues aren’t going to be impressed about it either.
#9 Being totally out of touch with the real world. Social media might appear to be quite real. But it’s very detached on so many levels. When you spend too much time checking social media platforms, you lose the ability to communicate face to face to the same level and you might find that you start to lack empathy because you’re not able to put yourself in the shoes of others as much as you could before. This is all because you’re totally out of touch with the real world.
#10 Assuming that everyone has it better than you. This particular issue comes from comparing your life to the lives of others as a result of reading their social media posts. I mentioned earlier that this can cause low self-esteem. But it can also cause a huge dissatisfaction in life because you’re reading things and believing them to be true. Remember that people only post what they think looks good, and there’s nothing wrong with your life.
#11 Happiness depends on likes and shares. If your post receives a lot of likes or shares, you’re happy. If it doesn’t, your day doesn’t go as you wanted it to. When the performance of your posts matters more than the things you’re doing, that’s a huge pointer towards social media addiction.
#12 Checking social media first thing when you wake up. Many of us reach for our phones when we wake up. But if it’s the first thing to cross your mind, that’s an issue. You should be thinking about the night’s sleep you had, the dreams you had, and the things you need to do throughout the coming day, not whether you received any likes whilst you were sleeping.
#13 Post pre-planning. Do you spend part of the day planning what you’re going to post? Unless you are an influencer or a blogger and you need to use social media in this way, there’s really no need to put this much time and effort into thinking about what you want your followers to read. It points towards social media addiction more than easy use.
#14 A need to totally over share. There are things people would like to know and things they really don’t need to know. If you’re totally over sharing on the personal details, it’s time to take a step back and remember that some things should remain private, or at least away from the virtual world.
#15 Rather than experiencing life, you feel the need to share it. In addition to over sharing, you feel the need to share every single part of your day, including breakfast, dinner and lunch. Followers don’t need to know everything and you’re missing the good stuff.
#16 An inability to be present in the moment. If you sit there on your phone, rather than being present in the moment, your friends are quickly going to become tired of it. Again, you’re not living in the moment and you need to wake up and look at what’s around you.
How to break out of social media addiction...
Firstly, if you’re struggling with social media use, you should reach out for help. Your doctor will be able to give you advice on mental health care and help you to understand whether you’re struggling with social media addiction, or perhaps something else.
In addition, give these tips a try.
· Delete social media platform apps from your phone
· Log out of websites, so it is more hassle to log on to a computer desktop site
· Try a social media detox – start small if you really do have an addiction problem and build up the amount of time you avoid using platforms
· When using social media, give yourself a time limit
· Try new things and distract your mind away from social media
· Try mindfulness – this can be fantastic for helping you to stay firmly in the moment.
Social media addiction is a very real thing and it’s not an issue you should take lightly. Perhaps it’s time to step away from the virtual world and try living in the now for a while?
HT: Love Panky