Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter- most of us use them every day. It's a part of our daily routine now. Many people wouldn't be able to live without it. Generally speaking, social media aren't bad and can be pretty useful with many activities such as meeting new people, communication, work, school, discovering new passions, and entertainment. Thanks to them you can feel like a part of a bigger community, and you don't feel alone. But there is one condition - you need to use them wisely. Otherwise, you can get addicted. Maybe you are already? To see if it is so, answer some simple questions.
How often do you use social media? If your answer is "everyday", it doesn't automatically mean you're addicted. The problem is when you're stuck to your phone and spend every minute of your free time on it, constantly scrolling and checking what's new. You wake up and the first thing you think about is using your phone. It is also the last thing you think about before going to bed. That's the first symptom of an addiction.
What do you use social media for? Do you spend time using social media because nothing else is happening in your life? Do you need attention, to be attracted to everything you do and let people know you have an interesting life, while they're just sitting in their room consuming your content. Both of these types of people need to find an actual life and get real hobbies in the real world.
How do social media make you feel? All of us had our ups and downs while scrolling. Sometimes we get to see funny and entertaining videos, however, the content we see makes us also insecure and ashamed about our lives and ourselves in general. At least once, all of us have seen somebody with a grand mansion, multiple foreign cars, private jets, expensive clothing, dream figure and somebody who is just perfect. Looking at a fake image of another person and their lives can make us feel disappointed with ourselves. There can also be another problem - in reality, you're very self-conscious, anxious, lonely, but social media "help" you to feel the opposite- you are confident, smart, a part of something. They help you to feel better about yourself, and you can't get that feeling without it, which makes you prone to get addicted.
Can you live without social media? The answer seems to be easy, but it's not.
In today's society it would be hard living without them, you'd get pushed away and you wouldn't fit in. You get addicted when you can't stop thinking about using your social media, you spend most of your day in them; they bring you the most of joy, you think you would be nothing without Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat etc. Using social media nowadays is a natural activity, but there is difference between just using them and overusing them. Most of us couldn’t truly live without social media, because of the way we live now.
Just as most addictions, it's hard to detect, however with media addiction it's even worse, considering we're all surrounded by the addiction factor. That is why we all have to be careful and ask ourselves from time to time those questions. This addiction is too normalized to see the negative effects of it, but it's just as bad as the others. There's nothing wrong with using social media- the majority of us do it, but we shouldn't overuse them. Live here, at the moment and for yourself- not only in a virtual reality for a virtual community.
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