“I admire addicts. In a world where everybody is waiting for some bline, random disaster, or some sudden disease, the addict has the comfort of knowing what will most likely wait for him down the road. He’s taken some control over his ultimate fate, and his addiction keeps the cause of death from being a total surprise.” Chuck Palahnuik
Social Media Addiction!
Whether or not we choose to admit it, each of us has, or at least is prone to having, a certain addiction at some point in time or another and for a specific substance, object, concept and so on. Recently though, the hot topic which everybody seems to be talking about is the sibling of Internet addiction; the one and only: social media addiction!
Yes, I know what you are thinking now: “Social media addiction is overrated.” Some might even say: “It is a joke!“. I have to brutally disagree! Just as any other addiction has the power to eventually end up disturbing and disrupting your lifestyle, social media is capable of causing the same damage!
Quick therapy is key to effective recovery!
Previously, I wrote a couple of articles discussing the negative outcomes of social media addiction and stating the effects of social media on our overall mental health. Back then, I was simply stating the problems and the consequences that I observed through my humble experience with social media. However, the goal of this post is to give you the top 10 pointers and tips on how to cure yourself, with the help of others, from your social media addiction.
Denial!
- Avoid Denial: Do you spend over 5-6 hours surfing and clicking around different social media channels, or maybe even just one? Do you ignore doing other tasks or spending time with others? Is the first thing you do when you wake up is tweet and do you tweet right before you close your eyes? Yes? Then admit it: You are addicted! Accepting this will be your first step towards finding a cure!
- Educate Yourself: Do you think social media is just like a green meadow filled with beautiful roses and butterflies? Do you really know everything you need to know about the negatives brought about by social media? The second step towards getting rid of your social media addiction is reading more in order to be well educated about the different privacy concerns and security harms associated with the utilization of social media channels.
- Schedule Your Time: If you haphazardly spend hours using your preferred social media channels, you should definitely change this approach! Schedule certain hours, every day or once every two days, and commit to them!
- Honor Your Plans: Sometimes, and I know this from personal experience, we choose to ignore some plans we have with friends in order to spend more time tweeting or mixxing! This is a big no, no! Social media should never interfere, replace or substitute your plans at any time!
Social Media Addicts Association!
- Don’t Mix Work with Pleasure: When your work involves social media utilization, try, whenever possible, to stay away from social media after your working hours are over! You can be watching a movie and yes, it will be more rewarding than you might think!
- Listen to Advice: If your friends tell you that you are shying away from their company and becoming isolated due to social media, they are most probably right – unless if you are hiding something! :) Listen to them, take a step back and reevaluate your social media habits.
- Pick Up a New Hobby: If you find yourself spending too much time using social media channels, think about picking up and adopting a new hobby, preferably one which you can practice outdoors and away from your computer!
- Avoid Too Much Trust: Just as the case is in face-to-face relationships, the same applies to virtual relationships as well. Once you trust someone too much, you want to be around him/her all the time because you put your guard down and allow yourself to feel weak or fragile. Never do that when using social media and caution will eventually steer you away from your addiction!
- Keep it Clean: Especially in the case of teens, the more the doors to adult related material social media opens, the more their use and abuse will be.
- Don’t Compensate: Whether you are trying to get over a bad break up, avoiding something or running away from a family situation, do not compensate by using social media!
So, do you think you can be cured?
There is a cure for almost everything. Therefore, and in conclusion, do you think recovery from social media addiction is possible? And do you have any other tips and advice which you can share with your fellow social media users to help them recover from their addiction?
I’m looking forward to reading your feedback below regarding this topic.
