Social Media Addiction

I like social media. I know people say that it is evil, but I learn a lot and connect with friends. I do not overdo it. Is it still a problem?~ Aradhya Kashyap, Bhopal.Dear Aaradhya, Your answer is in your question. Social media by itself is not evil. It is an instrument to help connect and network with others globally. It is a powerful tool of communication and can benefit greatly.The problem is when it starts to become an addiction that consumes most of our time, energy and focus. Like any addiction, it starts affecting us mentally, emotionally and even physically. We want to constantly have access to our social media channels and want to monitor and respond to every single happening there. Such a constant need to be on social media hampers our current responsibilities, making us easily influenced by happenings in the social world. It can even have a physical impact on our health through sleep deprivation, bad posture, constant viewing of screen etc.Sometimes reality can be different from its portrayal on social media, and we must be alert to its influence on our expectations and ideas so as not to get trapped in a world of fantasy that takes us away from the world of reality.Once we are aware of this possibility of getting addicted to social media, we can set up check measures for ourselves to help as an alert. A few suggestions can be used as follows:To keep your phone locked in a drawer for a few hours incase you find yourself checking social media channels aimlessly.Activate digital wellbeing options which allow setting a time limit after which the app fades and is not accessible.In case you feel you have been browsing channels for over an hour without realising it, do a 24-hour detox by logging out from all channels and keeping a negative consequence in case you log in again before 24 hours. These are just some suggestions that can be used to avoid excessive social media usage. You can come up with your own if you realise you are indulging in excessive usage.Healthy and controlled use of social media is fine and can be a good resource.

Social Media Addiction

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