The Social Media “Suck”
Tags: Relationships, Human Behavior, Psychology, Social Media, Technology

Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. TikTok. Text messages. Pinterest. Tumblr. Snapchat.

The list could go on and on. And we keep getting on and on. Each and every day it’s reported we spend more time on social media than we do eating, socializing, grooming or socializing in person — with about two hours on social media platforms and a total of 11 hours every day in front of a screen of some sort.

What does that look like over a lifetime?

Image courtesy of socialmediatoday.com

Screen time

You’d think all that time behind the screen would make us get cabin fever but it’s worse. According to Psychology Today, too much time behind screens can literally change our brains! That’s right, overindulging in screen time is restructuring of the matter that makes up your brain. This can cause overall poorer cognitive performance as well.

Not enough reason to skimp on screen time? Just take into account that using technology excessively behind a screen may inhibit the emotional development of all us, young and old. Because let’s face it you don’t need to be empathetic, caring, or even listen to your computer or phone and it will start to show.

Are you pushing through the pain?

Strained eyesight, headaches, sleep disturbances, body pains, increased risk of heart disease and of course the most potent of all in social media suckage; Dopamine through addiction and reward seeking. The “feel-good hormone,” is part of the brain’s pleasure and reward circuits. Getting ‘Likes’ or ‘Loves’ on your content turns on similar brain regions as those linked to cravings for drugs and gambling — every time we see a new post or get a reaction to ours, it’s like a hit of brain high fructose corn syrup.

What would happen if you decided to spend even tiny amount of that time doing something productive? You’d be surprised how far that would go.

Too connected

However now, there’s even a proposed mental health condition ‘connected’ to being connected. It’s called Social Media Disorder and is similar to addiction and social (anxiety) disorders. More social media seems to mean more problems, many of which you may have exhibited or seen.

Think about these 10 questions…

Do you sometimes neglect other duties to use social media?

Are you using social media to get a feeling of escape from the troubles of your life at times?

Have you found yourself feeling anxious about your social media accounts when you don’t check them often?

Does looking at others social media sometimes cause you to compare your life to theirs or feel jealousy?

When you look closely at your friends on social media are many of them people you do not actually see in person often?

Do you interrupt conversations to check social media?

Currently is your social media usage more than you originally planned?

Is your average time on social media platforms more than three hours per day?

Have friends and family made comments about your social media habits?

Would you say that your social media persona is the image you want others to view you as?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to more than five of the questions above, you could be stuck in a social media ‘suck’.

How do you get out of a social media suck?