Social Media Addiction

Instagram and Snapchat have taken over my free time. I keep obsessing over my posts and constantly look for likes and comments. I would like to get over this addiction. Please help. - Ananya Jaju, Jaipur Well, the first thing that I would mention is that you are not alone. In the era of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, X, etc., we are all facing two realities- actual and virtual. Gone are the days when all of the above social media channels were merely a way of connecting with people. Now they are channels of constructing another type of world where we can create and recreate different realities, and because of their nature of instant action and reaction, all of us in some way have become extremely used to that, if not addicted. But growing dependency, if not checked, becomes an addiction. So you are already at the first step of change, which is to become aware that you are getting addicted to it. However, only awareness without any follow-up action will not generate results. So, the next thing to do is act in a manner that takes you away from this need to constantly be active in the virtual world. Below are a few steps that can help to do so.1) Since you mentioned it's during free time, that means only when you are not doing anything else are you then looking at engaging on the various social media platforms. Pick up a hobby or activity that will be constructive engagement during your free time, like reading, pursuing creative arts or playing a sport or musical instrument. Something that you enjoy doing.2) Restrict your access to your phone or laptop when not using them for work. Like, keep your phone away on a table or on your shelf, and not by your bed, at night. Set an internal time log and limit which alerts you when you hit that duration on the app. 3) Create a self-detox week where you log out of all social media accounts for the whole week.4) Keep a deterrent action for engaging in social media. E.g., keep the phone in a drawer in a cupboard when you are not attending to work. So the act of opening the drawer every time to check on likes and comments, etc., will itself help reduce the frequency of checking. Alternatively, turn your phone to greyscale as it reduces the dopamine from colourful media.5) Lastly, let's keep in mind that life really happens in the non-virtual world. And so connecting with people and events there is a lot more important than doing it virtually.

Social Media Addiction

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