You may be able to overcome a social networking addiction through doing a cleanse, establishing boundaries, removing applications or suppressing messages, and devoting time to other interests or activities.
Although you are not required to abstain completely from social networking, experts agree it is critical to establish boundaries to ensure that you are kept responsible.
Addiction is described by the American Society of Addiction Medicine as a condition that becomes compulsive or persists against negative effects. In 2024, 70% of Americans said that they regularly monitor social media, and 30% stated that social networking is a cause of tension.
Additionally, social network interaction will elicit a dopamine release in the brain, close to that elicited by opioid or alcohol usage. This answer will leave you desiring more and feeling dependent. This is how to combat it.
When you are not on social media, you sound as if you are not living in the twenty-first century. From companies to personal and professional partnerships, social networking has a sizable presence and with it, a seductive temptation to invest more time using its features.
As it continues to offer forums for communication with friends and relatives, it has evolved into an online version of the Las Vegas strip, with commercials, photographs, and connections beckoning us to focus on the new and greatest trend or product. According to a recent Forbes post, companies and customers alike must have a strong social networking policy. We make a sizable portion of our buying decisions dependent on content delivered to us via social networking platforms.
Similarly, when it comes to new patterns, innovations, design, and, sadly, even politics, we seem to “join the herd.” While the optimistic aspect of social networking is that we today have more freedom of speech, the negative aspect is also present: we will quickly lose our sense of individuality. It’s a precarious slope and one that often requires both time and consequence to recognize and alter. This explains why the word “social networking epidemic” has been entrenched in the fitness and wellbeing community as a contributing factor to mental health problems.
Social Media Addiction and Its Health Consequences
With the inception of platforms like Facebook, the way we use social media has shifted dramatically. Initially, Facebook’s website was intended to be a convenient means of engaging with friends and relatives and sharing cheesy pictures and status changes on the “wall” of Facebook.
However, with the advent of a more image-centric site like Instagram, we increased the ante. This is when the slippery slope began, and it is still there today.
Consider some of today’s most famous Instagram profiles. You’re sure to see a trend of manicured images and flawless interfaces that millions of people embrace. This has been a “Instagram target,” reinforcing the notion that gorgeous images equal a satisfied customer. We are well aware that this is not the case, but this attitude and urge to build a beautiful existence online for everyone to view is fueling depression, anxiety, and poor self-esteem.
Similarly, it is robbing us of our credibility and genuineness, since “real world” challenges do not lend themselves to pretty social networking messages. Rather than that, we conceal our sorrow, pain, or isolation behind the charm. We’ve moved out of our physical world through our carefully constructed online one. Social networking addiction is an example of this kind of escapism.
Thus, how can you reclaim control over your life and reduce your time spent on social media (and thus overcome social media addiction)?
To get started, follow these directions.
How on Overcome Addiction to Social Media
In 2018, citizens worldwide with internet connections invested an average of 144 minutes a day on social media. Nonetheless, study suggests that restricting social media use to 30 minutes a day is beneficial to mental wellbeing.
Although abstinence is often prescribed for curing opioid or alcohol abuse, the optimal therapeutic result for social media addiction is supervised internet use. It is not mandatory to completely abandon social networking, but it is critical to develop techniques for establishing boundaries.
Lin Stern Licht, a certified behavioral wellbeing practitioner with Family Addiction Specialist, advises the following measures for individuals worried about social media addiction:
1. Perform a social network purge:
Confront yourself with the challenge of doing an extended period of time without checking social media, whether it’s a couple hours or a whole week. According to a 2019 survey, some students who went five days without social media had a “sense of serenity,” while others were fearful of losing out.
2. Delete applications or uninstall social network notifications:
Since the majority of people search social media mindlessly, provide a slight buffer by shutting off alerts. If you don’t see a social networking button or notification on your screen any time you pick it up, you’re less inclined to waste time on it.
3. Create and adhere to boundaries:
The majority of smartphones and tablets enable you to monitor how much time you spend on specific applications. Set a time cap for social networking use and adhere to it, or use an app that automatically removes social media once you reach the limit. Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that social network use should not compete with family dinners, fitness, or “unplugged downtime” for adolescents.
4. Make time for leisure and activities:
A new hobby or exercise will help you resist the need to search social media. “The aim here is to fill your spare time with activities you love that are also beneficial to your health,” Stern Licht explains. “Naturally, you’ll spend less time on social media and more time being involved in reality, and ideally, socializing in person rather than via a phone.”
5. Consider Whether You Choose to Be on Social Media:
Everything we do in life is motivated by an intention: why are you doing something? What would it entail for you? Likewise, for social media use. Although it might seem ridiculous to ask this question when considering a Facebook or Instagram account, if you really want to monitor your social networking (rather than the other way around), asking this question may prove extremely beneficial.
Do you want to connect with friends or promote your business? Getting to the heart of why you’re online will help you better manage your time on social media and eliminate distractions.
6. Exercise Caution About Who You Follow and What You Read and Retweet:
Your most valuable asset is your attention. Reread it.
Anything you press or “want” becomes a thread in the tapestry of information that is returned to you through social media newsfeeds. You want to design a knowledge dissemination strategy that fits for you, your desires, and your schedule. As a result, we often imitate others impulsively that might not be acting in our best interests.
Permit yourself to wipe out those connections on a regular basis! It is appropriate to have a disagreement with others. Rather than falling down a rabbit pit of social networking thread debates, unfollow someone with whom you do not interact. It’s much more beneficial to your emotional wellbeing and assists you with overcoming social media addiction.
Similarly, exercise caution in what you share. Are you the one spreading misinformation? Just like you’re considering decluttering your contacts list, anyone who follows you might be considering the same. Make it a point to communicate and post items that are meaningful to you but still beneficial to others.
7. Modify The Notification Preferences
If your output is suffering as a result of repeated notification pings, there are ways to disable such alerts in your settings. And better, you should still uninstall the applications from your phone and other computers and resolve to search the social network alerts on your desktop computer. This way, you will resume your job without succumbing to the urge to search your texts.
8. Not Everything Must Be Shared and Publicized
When it comes to sharing on social media, it frequently seems as if we’re living in a permanent state of “FOMO.” Will the universe begin to spin if you didn’t write something after the Super Bowl? Naturally.
We owe no societal responsibility to our supporters to keep them informed of any detail of our lives. There are deliberate decisions that must be made in accordance with our wishes.
Consider the last concert you attended (in the pre-COVID era) did you automatically share clips from the show on social media or took and posted a selfie of you and your friends?
There are routine actions that we take without thinking about them, which takes me to my final stage of this addiction.
9. It’s Appropriate to Put Down Your Phone and Enjoy Life
Indeed, this one basic point might be everything you need to kick your social networking addiction. Your most precious opportunities are one in a million like watching a shooting star or seeing your beloved person’s expression. There are such fleeting experiences, that they never repeat themselves in your lifetime.
Avoid rushing to the computer to catch the moment. Instead, capture it with your eyes and heart. Allow it to become a pleasant memory. Take advantage of the moment you’re so eager to share with everyone and prioritize sharing it with yourself.
Accountability takes precedence over abstinence.
Going on a digital detox or abstaining completely from social media for a specified amount of time can be beneficial for certain people but not for others, according to Neha Chaudhary, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
“For others, it may interrupt a loop that has been dysfunctional or has had detrimental consequences,” she explains. “For some, abstaining entirely may result in a need for its usage and an inability to maintain the abstinence, or it may prevent anyone from accessing the positive aspects of social networking, such as a way to remain linked and reach out for help.”
Rather than depending on a complete detox, Chaudhary suggests establishing boundaries and enlisting the assistance of friends and relatives.
“Accountability is critical when attempting to effect improvement,” she notes. “Maybe you and a mate can agree to both limit your usage, or you can inform a family member about your ambitions so they can check up with you. Whatever it is, find a way to get others assist you with being on board breaking routines on your own may be challenging.”
Someone concerned with social media addiction should still recommend finding therapeutic treatment from a psychiatrist or behavioral wellbeing provider in serious situations.
Also read : 7 Most Effective Ways to Deal With Negative People
Final Remarks
When left unchecked, social networking addiction will result in distress, a loss of self-worth, and an inability to be honest. When we “join the herd” in pursuit of the ideal online existence, we take a risk away from being ourselves. This results in a cascade of effects that can snowball through time and create far more challenges in our lives. When we actually understand how to utilize social media effectively, to what degree, and for what purpose, we will regain control over it until it regains control of us.