I’m sitting in Starbucks with calm, ambient piano music playing in my ears, and I am prepared to check out for the next two hours and write my seven-page long research paper that has been looming over my head all week. But before my brain can process what my hands are even doing, I have somehow scrolled through Instagram and Pinterest for an hour and am concerned with the fact that there are six new "Gilmore Girls" T-shirts that have been released, and I have yet to purchase any of them for my drab wardrobe. How did I get here?
I have heard from countless friends, almost as a chorus of affirmation between all of us twenty-somethings, that we have our brain set on a track to do one thing, and have somehow not noticed that our thumbs reached for the Facebook app after we are already consumed by it. I have heard that social media is an addiction, and I’ve seen the effects of the addiction within my own life but have never sat down and looked at the actual statistics. So here it is folks, why the heck do we keep going on social media when we have much more important things to be doing?
Harvard University’s Psychology Department conducted a study to see why we continue to scroll and like for hours and hours, what satisfies us as humans about continually scrolling through images without even realizing it? According to the study, we get a sense of comfort when we self-disclose to others, we receive positive responses within ourselves when we self-disclose in any format. Therefore, when we post a picture and someone else likes it, every time we get a like; we feel affirmed within our own self-disclosure. Hence why I check every five minutes if I have any notifications on my latest picture.
According to this CBS News article, there has not been a diagnosed social media addiction, although internet addictions have been noted. Huffington Post suggests that our “addiction” to social media is more of a habit than an actual addiction. Most sources will side with the statement that there is not enough evidence to confirm that there are “social media addictions,” however there is one notable study that was created. According to Promises.com, a study was done at the Children’s Hospital of Boston to see if there were any links between patterns of addiction and social media usage. The results of the study concluded that there is a link between the two, however, those that did exhibit these addictive tendencies towards social media most likely had more addictive tendencies throughout their behaviors as a whole.
In conclusion, I may not be clinically addicted to social media, but it is definitely something in my life that takes up way more time than it should. Therefore, if you can’t find yourself parting with your social media completely, here are some ways that you can disconnect: leave your phone in your room and go for a walk, look at the trees, listen to the birds, and resist the urge to run back in your room and take pictures of everything you see. Invite a friend out to coffee and leave your phone in your car, you’d be amazed at how intentional conversations can become with distractions completely removed. Finally, read a book cover to cover, expand your mind, take a break from obsessing over the perfect caption and analyze the themes of a great writer. There are plenty of ways to kick the social media habit! You can do it!
