How to Beat Your Social Media Addiction

Social media has become a major part of daily life for most people. It's influenced pop culture in profound ways. It has led to the addition of new words to the dictionary. Most people use social media multiple times throughout the day. Some people even have a social media addiction.

According to Statusbrew, more than half of the world’s population currently uses social media (1). In fact, there are 4.55 billion active social media users (1).

There are many different social media platforms. Each of which has a different purpose. For instance, people use Instagram to post pictures to their friends and family. But people use Twitter to write short messages that are 280 characters or less. Most people use multiple social media platforms.

The goal of most social media platforms is to draw people to the platform. The more users on the site, the more money the platform makes. After all, social media platforms are businesses.

Each platform updates with new features to keep users engaged.

Why is social media addictive?

Social media affects you in different ways. First, let’s talk about how it affects your brain.

Social media affects the same part of the brain that addictive substances do. The reward centers of the brain. Dopamine receptors in your brain get activated by both social media use and addictive substances.

Dopamine is the “feel-good” hormone. It makes you feel pleasure. As you scroll through social media, your brain releases this hormone. And with each like, comment, or notification, you feel a rush of this dopamine.

Then, your brain feels this rush of pleasure. It thinks “This feels good… I want more of this!” And so, you keep scrolling and coming back for more.

Social media is also addictive because of how it affects you psychologically.

The "social" in social media

Humans are social creatures. We evolved by relying on other people for our survival. We formed groups to protect ourselves and distribute tasks. Socializing helped us survive as a species. And to this day, we need to socialize.

Social media plays on this psychological need to be social.

You want to feel a connection with other people. Social media gives you a window into other people’s lives. Your friends, family, coworkers, celebrities, etc. But, this window gives a distorted view into their lives. It doesn’t represent reality.

You see, most people only post the best things in their lives on social media. They carefully craft their social media profiles to paint themselves in the best possible light. So, your social media feed becomes a highlight reel of the lives of everyone you follow.

This hurts your mental health. Using social media causes you to constantly compare yourself to other people. This lowers your confidence and self-esteem. This can make you feel negative feelings such as anxiety, depression, inadequacy, envy, jealousy, and more.

These negative feelings are then intensified by FOMO: The fear of missing out. You feel as if great and wonderful things are happening in other people's lives. This makes you feel like you’re missing out on pleasurable experiences that other people are taking part in. You feel excluded.

How to tell if you have a social media addiction

The first step to knowing if you’re addicted to social media is awareness. Addictions are harmful to your physical and mental health. Your quality of life is worsened when you have a social media addiction.

There is no official diagnosis for social media addiction. But, recognizing if you are addicted to social media can help you take the steps to end your addiction.

Here are 10 signs that you may be addicted to social media:

You open your social media right when you wake up each morning
It interferes with your job, schoolwork, etc.
You use it as a replacement for spending time with friends and family
You constantly think about it when you aren’t using it
It is your only “hobby”
You become angry or frustrated whenever your social media usage is limited
You use social media to cope with your “real-life” problems
Social media is the only thing you talk about
You spend hours every day on social media
You can’t go a short amount of time without checking it

Don’t worry if a few of these signs resonated with you. Although you may use social media on a routine basis, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re addicted.

If most or all of these signs resonated with you, then that would likely be a sign that you’re addicted to using social media.

How can you end your social media addiction?

Now that you know the signs of social media addiction, you can now decide if you want to lower your social media usage. Whether you have a social media addiction or not, lowering your usage is a good idea.

Lowering your social media usage improves your mental health.

Here are a few ideas to help you reduce your social media usage:

Turn off notifications to all of your social media apps
Set timers on each app
Install a productivity app or computer extension
Leave your phone in a different room when doing work or going to bed
Delete social media apps from your phone
Create a dedicated time to check social media once or twice each day
Spend more time on a hobby, or find a new hobby that doesn’t require your phone
Spend time with friends and family without using your phone

In general, reducing your time on your phone is a great way to reduce your social media usage. Being addicted to using your phone only increases the likelihood that you’ll be addicted to social media. I wrote more about beating smartphone addiction in a previous article. Check it out here.

Keep what's important in mind

Most people throughout the world now use social media. It has become an important tool for communication due to its convenience and popularity.

Social media affects you physiologically and psychologically. Dopamine hits keep you coming back for more because they feel good temporarily.

Social media is a major time suck that distracts you from more important things in your life. If you recognize this fact, then you’ll be well on your way to ending your social media addiction. This is because you developed a priority. Priorities are an important tool to keep you focused on what truly matters to you.

Chances are that those 20 posts you would have scrolled through aren't going to benefit you. You probably won’t remember any of them by the end of the day. But you could use that time for better things.

I wrote an article about why priorities are important, check it out here if you’re interested.

Wrapping up

Social media promises us instant communication and connection with anyone in the world. But this connection is superficial. People craft their social media profiles to only highlight the best sides of themselves.

However, life isn’t so great all the time. Life is mostly boring and mundane.

Seeing this endless highlight reel hurts your mental health. But you keep coming back because your brain releases dopamine. It’s a cruel cycle.

First, you open a social media app. Dopamine floods your brain. Then, you scroll through your feed of highlight after highlight. You then feel negative feelings about yourself. So, you close the app. Then, your brain starts to crave dopamine again, so you open the app again. And the cycle continues.

Recognizing the signs of social media addiction is the first step to beating it. Taking small steps to reduce your social media usage adds up quickly. And don’t forget to celebrate the small victories in defeating your social media addiction!

For more information on the signs and consequences of social media addition, please check out the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) at https://socialmediavictims.org/social-media-addiction/.

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