Are you addicted to social media? There are some tell-tale signs of addiction, and this includes addiction to social media. Go through the list, check off what applies to you, and if you decide that you are addicted, you may want to challenge yourself to get off social websites for 30 days to see how it goes.
1. You Are Denying That Anything Is Wrong
If other people are calling you out on your addiction to social media, and you are denying it, then there’s a good chance that you are addicted.
If you find yourself downplaying your social media use to others and yourself, this is also a sign that you are addicted to social media.
Watch your thoughts and words as you reflect on your possible addiction and look for words that justify or deny your over-usage of social media.
2. You Are Unable To Control Yourself
This is perhaps the biggest sign that you are addicted to social media. Addicts have a hard time controlling themselves when it comes to their addiction. In other words, if their addictive substance (social media, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, etc.) is in front of them or accessible, they will not be able to help themselves.
Maybe you’ve tried to challenge yourself to get off social media for a month, week, or even day, and couldn’t last 10 minutes.
If you can’t control your usage, then you are addicted.
If you cannot physically keep yourself off social media, then you are addicted.
3. Social Media Has Lost Its Appeal, But You Still Get On It
Social media can lose its appeal despite our urgent need to be on it.
If you find yourself pissed off with social media or growing tired of it, but still find yourself constantly checking in to see what’s going on, then you’re addicted.
If something pisses you off and you grow tired of it, you should be able to just let it go and do things that make you happy instead.
4. You Are On Social Media During Inappropriate Times
If your best friend has come to visit you for the first time in years, and you can’t put down your phone and get off social media long enough to fully enjoy their company, then you are addicted to social media.
When you need to check what’s happening online more than you need to live and enjoy your life, addiction has got a hold of you.
Other inappropriate times include:
- During get together with friends or family.
- When watching a movie.
- While playing games with others.
- While catching up with someone you haven’t seen in a while.
- During work.
- During a vacation.
- While you are supposed to be meditating.
- While you are supposed to be sleeping.
- While you are cooking.
- While you are walking.
5. You Aare Incapable Of Doing Anything Without Social Media
If you can’t function without social media in your face, then it’s time to work on breaking your addiction.
For instance, if you find yourself checking social media while brushing your teeth, then you are addicted.
Moreover, if you can’t do something like drive a car or ride a bike without looking at social media, consider yourself addicted.
In short, being incapable of staying off social media while you do something that requires your attention is a huge sign that you are addicted.
6. Social Media Impacts Your Life Negatively
If your social media obsession is impacting your relationships, work, health, leisure time, or any other area of your life, then it’s time to admit that you are addicted to social media and work on breaking that addiction.
For instance, if your friend is complaining that you are always on your phone when you are together, then social media is impacting your relationship with your friend.
Think about the lockdowns that have been happening. It’s a time where we can really focus on ourselves and our self-improvement, and many people bought items and courses to help them do that. But, many of those people never worked on their personal development at all – they just spent all their time on social media and wasted their once in a lifetime opportunity to focus on themselves like never before. Does that sound like you?
Lockdown could go two ways : everyone gets super fit, healthy and reads a lot
Or
Everyone becomes a social media addicted alcoholic
— Brigid Delaney (@BrigidWD) March 20, 2020
7. You Feel Frustrated When You Are Not On Social Media
If you feel a sense of agitation when you are not on social media, that’s not a good sign.
You should be able to do other things in your life without needing to be on social media. You should be able to enjoy a bath or walk or car ride without looking at your phone and checking the latest posts.
Feeling frustrated or agitated is a sign of withdrawal, which is a part of addiction.
If you feel frustrated when you are not on social media and better when you get on it, then that’s a huge sign you are addicted to social media.
8. You Live Your Life According To The Latest Trend
If your life always seems to closely resembles the latest trend on a social website, then you may be living other people’s lives and not your own.
This is why I recommend taking something like Lifebook where you understand who you are without the posts from other people influencing and telling you how you should be.
Getting clear on who you are and what your life is about can help you see social media in a different light, and your addiction to it will start to wane.
9. You’re Not Able To Picture Life Without Constant Social Media
I wonder what it’s like to not be addicted to social media…
— beep bop (@AdelaineMorin) April 18, 2017
If you can’t even imagine what it’s like not to be on social media all the time, then you are addicted.
Again, it’s a good idea to challenge yourself to get off it for a while so that you can experience life offline – without constantly checking in and updating your status.
10. You’ve Lost Touch With The Real World
If you don’t have a good concept of how the real world works, then you’re spending too much time online.
When you don’t look up from your phone and engage in real-life relationships and don’t understand that social media portrays lives that are created and molded for you to see (not real), then it’s time to put down the phone and start engaging with more than the profiles, pictures, and posts you see online.
- It’s time to use your senses and taste, touch, look, and listen.
- It’s time to engage with the world that it’s in front of you, not out in cyberspace somewhere.
- It’s time to learn and grow your skills.
- It’s time to learn and experience a life that doesn’t mimic other people’s lives.
- It’s time to experience a life that has nothing to do with the things that are constantly being talked about on social media.
You won’t regret it breaking your addiction to social media. It will make your life feel richer and more worth living.
