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Are you addicted to social media?

Discussion in 'Other Substances' started by Deeishere, Mar 2, 2016.

  1. Deeishere

    Deeishere Active Contributor

    I was wondering is it possible to be addicted to social media, so I decided to google this question and I found this interesting link-- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/social-media-addiction-peak_us_56ab9360e4b0010e80e9c71e.

    I had a slight suspicion that my daughters were addicted because they would get on their phones when we would go out for dinner, until I told them to put it away. They still had to grab it to take pictures of their meal. LOL. When we lost power, they seem to suffer from withdrawal symptoms since they could not get on the internet. I find myself constantly using my tablet, phone or laptop. I have these items in my hand more than a book.
  2. Tsky45

    Tsky45 Community Champion

    I think it can be addictive if not used in moderation. Social media can be used for networking or increasing productivity in business. Most of the time if it's for fun it can be like texting on steroids. When people were just texting they used to be obsessed with it. Social media can work for you or against you depending on how you use it.
  3. JerPostr98

    JerPostr98 Member

    Social media can be "addictive" although perhaps not in the traditional sense. I will admit though it can be easy to fall into the trap of uploading your entire life online via multiple social media platforms. A lot of time is also wasted on there that could be more wisely used elsewhere. If you become dependent on it for your source of entertainment, then yes you can experience withdrawal when you don't have any after being used to it for so long. Social media is definitely a double edged sword.
  4. ReadmeByAmy

    ReadmeByAmy Community Champion

    In our world today where most people young and old are using this kind of social media sites sometimes can be alarming already if they are not using it for a good cause already. Like the young children it can interfere with their studies and for the adults it can be a waste of time if they will use it for non sense things. We are living in a high technology today for a fast phase of life and it is just okay to use this form of social media sites but be sure that we will be using this in moderation and will not affect what we are doing in our daily lives.
  5. Deeishere

    Deeishere Active Contributor

    True true. One thing the article did state was if we are addicted, we should try to curb our use by scheduling only to be it at certain times. I try to do this. I try to focus on work during the day, but set time aside in the evening for my favorite media which is You Tube. I think another downside to all the gadgets we own is the lack of being able to communicate with each other face to face. My girls basically text their friends and communicate via their gadget.
  6. SashaS

    SashaS Community Champion

    I guess you can classify that as an addiction and it is very common with younger individuals.
    The problem is that it's not one of those things where you can go to counselling or somehow stop becoming addicted as you always have and always will have access to it as the means of accessing social media are everywhere. I see many of my friends that are girls uploading their entire life, from where they go to what they eat and it's rather annoying sometimes because they are oblivious to the fact that nobody is really interested in whether their eggs where in a smiley face pattern this morning!

    I guess scheduling it is one thing you can do. Going camping and getting away from it completely for a certain amount of time is great. The thing is, social media is a wonderful thing and you can interact with people, have fun and learn a lot along the way, it's just one of those things that are good in small quantities and bad in abundance.
  7. zaerine

    zaerine Community Champion

    I believe that being addicted to social media is real or there are really these cases especially the youth who were exposed to gadgets ever since they were born. Parents or guardians are allowing kids to spend lots of time on their gadgets or internet to be busy on it.
  8. explorerx7

    explorerx7 Senior Contributor

    Some persons do easily become addicted to social media, it's mostly the younger generation that is involved this way. Once it was video games addiction, however, social media has now become the main attraction. A major problem with social media usage is that many of persons may interact through the use of slangs, which is now restricting their capability to communicate in a proper form when it's necessary to.
  9. Nancy D.

    Nancy D. Senior Contributor

    I probably would have said yes a few months ago....but now I have been tested and proven not to be. I actually went through this with my husband and we challenged ourselves to a social media fast. We could not access any social media sites for a whole week. It was proven that we need it for business purposes and it may look like we are addicted but it is essential for business growth. So I would say no for now.
  10. JohnBeaulieu

    JohnBeaulieu Community Champion

    Not an addiction. Plain and simple. A compulsive behavior maybe, but clearly not an addiction.
  11. Coolkidhere

    Coolkidhere Community Champion

    Hmmm... For me, we have definitely become dependent not just on social media, but on the internet and our gadgets as well. With regards to social media, we had become victims of it, wanting to know the latest gossip or even just wanting to post photos that will obtain the most likes. In a way, it's like wanting society to approve of our actions. We post the most pretty pictures we can take, we post everything we do and we post what we think.

    In a way, it's fine to be honest with who you are. But sometimes, it also paints a picture of perfection. Like when you see a family constantly posting pictures of their happy family. But in reality, there are issues there that we don't know of. So don't take social media as it is, chances are, there are more to it than people post. Don't let yourself becomes victims to it as well. There are lots more important things in the world than social media updates and gossips.
  12. morgoodie

    morgoodie Senior Contributor

    I am not addicted to social media, but I do like being online. I am on it more now that I am trying to work from home and trying to find some online work with decent money. I am always on my laptop, phone, and tablet for various reasons and it is hard when we lose power since I need to be online to make some money. I probably should have a book in my hands more as well but sometimes I just need to work. Interesting article though.
  13. innaf39

    innaf39 Member

    It is possible of course, and social media addiction is such a new case pf the problem. That often we don't recognize it as one, or the person who suffering finds hard to recognize it on themselves.

    We should talk about it more in media and not as a funny subject, and one side of the selfie generation but as something we should really keep an eye out for.
  14. JohnBeaulieu

    JohnBeaulieu Community Champion

    No it isn't. Show me a clinical study that establishes a link between social media being overused and an addictive response in the brain. A compulsive behavior isn't the same as nor does it automatically qualify as an addiction.
  15. kassie1234

    kassie1234 Community Champion

    I definitely think that social media can have addictive properties. Would I say that I am personally addicted? I wouldn't think so. I've had times where I have stepped away from social media for several months and only reactivated in order to get in contact with people who I can't get in touch with outside social media - that's where it's hard!
  16. JohnBeaulieu

    JohnBeaulieu Community Champion

    Why would you say that? It clearly isn't an addiction. A compulsive behavior at most.
  17. vegito12

    vegito12 Community Champion

    The younger generation of today's world do try and spend more time on their phone or computer to communicate with friends or family more and have seen some people who use that more then actual conversations and since it is easy to do and it is important to have a balance of this. When a person spends more time on this they may not talk more to people and just use the phone to do it by text or facebook or any other site, which lets them converse with people and also am surprised how some people can spend more time on it. I hope that people who do this a lot try and see what they are doing when engaging in social media on a daily basis as it can affect their normal life and they need to balance things in life so they don't get stressed.
  18. SashaS

    SashaS Community Champion

    I'd like to add that it can sometimes feel like a responsibility. If someone sends you a message, you will have an inclination to instantly answer it, if someone makes a post that you have something to say about, you will feel inclined to quickly comment your opinion. Its that constant craving to want to add more, express your opinion with the world. Especially since the internet consists of no physical or personal interaction, there is more anonymity and you can therefore say anything you want without facing as many consequences as you would in real life.

    Its hard to kick it because, especially if you have thousands of followers on Instagram or a phone-book of friends on Facebook, there is always something to answer, someone to message and some news to read. Always.
  19. JohnBeaulieu

    JohnBeaulieu Community Champion

    I agree that balance is needed, but I'm sure you can see this is a compulsion and not an addiction. If you modify the behavior so that you can continue using something without problems you aren't addicted and contrary to popular belief not everything is addictive.
  20. Belovedad

    Belovedad Active Contributor

    I used to be.( I think). But the older I got is the more I drifted away from the scene. I think I'm more addicted to the internet (being in the know) that social media per say. I think this because I do freak out when I can't access it and I do waste a lot of time on it.