Social Media Addiction
If you’re addicted to social media, you’re not alone. These social media networks are designed to be as addictive as they are. Most people check, browse and interact on these networks constantly throughout the day, and they don’t even realize how much time it adds up to.
If you are addicted, the problem is going to get worse. These apps are constantly changing and updating to become more and more hard to resist.
The science department at Cornell did research on people’s attempts to quit Facebook and other social networks. They even called this research, “social media reversion.” The website 99daysoffreedom.com encouraged people to avoid Facebook for 99 days. Participants intended to not quit and really strived for their goal, but this was a real challenge because of their addiction. Many people did not make it past a few days, which was a real eye opener.
A way you can be drawn into an app is by the notification numbers. This is when you are not in the application but a red and white number appears on the top right corner of the icon to make you go into the app to see who followed or mentioned you. Seeing a red “3” at the top of the app is a way to draw you in. It’s as if it is saying “see what three people have said about you.” It’s compulsive that you have to open it and see, which then it becomes an addiction.
Youtube is another network that is extremely addictive. Once you watch one video or song, it immediately recommends videos that are popular, similar, or what is currently trending. This makes it hard to resist since the network is designed to have upcoming videos to appeal to you.
Some people consider this as "Internet Addiction Disorder," which is a phenomenon people first wrote about when Internet use was starting to spread. Even back then, people theorized that heavy use of the Internet might impair people's performance at work, in school and in family relationships.
Junior Nichole Ferro said, “I’ve realized my addiction to Instagram has gotten really bad. I just go on as a force of habit without realizing.”
Social media addiction can degrade life, harm relationships and damage careers. It acts as if any other addiction that takes over and consumes life. A way to kick the habit can be to monitor and schedule how much time you are on the app and slowly decrease the amount of times you’ve visited these networks. The best way is to gradually use these sites less rather than going cold turkey.
Junior Stefanie Walsh, after attempting to use social media less said, “ It’s actually a really nice feeling to not care as much about what’s going on the internet.”
Social Media is an aspect of life that has changed society forever. Not being drawn into these apps and networks is very important to your quality of life.