Social media is the new addiction. It’s worse than smoking or doing drugs because we don’t believe it’s causing any damage. We are consuming it without a thought on our mental and physical health. It has turned us into dopamine junkies.
In the last two decades, human interaction and interpersonal relationships have undergone a massive shift. There is practically no need to get out of your house.
You can stay at home, don’t go out for days or weeks at a time, keep in touch with your friends, text them, post on social media. You don’t have to go out. Everything, right down to your toothbrush can be delivered at your doorstep. All sorts of knowledge is available on the internet. You can study and work from home. You don’t have to hassle in the outside world.
Sounds like a dream. But is it?
A lot of people who like to stay indoors have social anxiety. They can’t make small talk. They have difficulty interacting with strangers. But staying inside is not helping this anxiety. The more you want to stay at home, the more isolated you become. Sure, you can talk to your friends all you want on video calls but virtual hangouts tend to be less fulfilling and leave you craving for physical interactions more than before. Our loneliness should make us reach out to people but it is shutting us out. We stay in a digital comfort zone, shut out from the real world. We are becoming anti-social creatures which goes against human nature.
Social media apps like Instagram, Twitter or TikTok are designed to be addictive. The second you open Instagram; your screen is filled with visually pleasant content. You crave for likes, comments and notifications on your phone. Not receiving them makes you irritable and you start questioning your self-worth. It has become a compulsive habit because you fear missing out on everything. Like any addiction, it has long-term risks. It impacts your mental and physical health and creates habits that are hard to break.
Social media is not a social place. It has increased anti-social behavior. How people behave on social-media is not how they will behave in real life. Comment sections are full of hate speech, cyber bullying is common. All because there is a digital wall between the creator and the consumer. People forget all civilities while using social media because they are protected by anonymity. It’s a safe-haven for the bullies and haters. It makes you wonder if this is their true nature. If there weren’t any rules or restrictions, that’s how people will behave.
Your phone is your window to the outer world. Ironically, it is also the barrier between you and reality. It is not a simulacra of real life, it is real life. After the pandemic, this situation escalated. It made people socially worn-out and panicky about crowds. People got used to staying at homes. When they got out, depression sank in as they didn’t have anything to talk about, or add anything to a conversation because their lives had become so dull.
We try so hard to lead social lives, it’s almost unhealthy. We care what people think. We curate a perfect life on Instagram masking all the ugliness of real life. We need assurance and validation. Social anxiety feeds on this behavior. But all this is temporary. The more we try to fill this void, the deeper it becomes.
Think about this, we are living in a time when everything is available to everyone. Every source of information and knowledge is on the internet. We can do anything. We can talk to people living on the other side of the world. It’s doesn’t mean it’s not hard but at least, now everyone gets a chance. But how many of us actually do it? How many of us are following our passion or being productive in our use of it?
Getting rid of your anxiety and fear does not have to be a Herculean task. Start small. Go for a walk. Make that a habit. Nothing kills anxiety like nature. Make small talk with the people you know, your neighbors or acquaintances. Put your mental health first not your Instagram. you need real-life experiences in your life.
Here are some tips to reduce your social media usage:
- Set app timers– Limit your usage by setting timers on your apps and stick to them. It will keep mindful of your usage and automatically close down the app
- Turn off notifications- Stop checking your phone the second you get a notification.
- Fix a schedule- Fix a specific time of the day you want to be active and engage on your socials.
- Find alternatives- Find something to do for recreation other than your social media. To be healthier, pick something physical. A sport or a hobby will be great choices.
- Be accountable- Ask a family member or friend to keep you in check. Don’t deny if you are not getting better. Being in denial has not helped anyone.
Are you experiencing social media addiction? What are you doing about it? Share your thoughts in the comment section below?
Leave a Reply