I would like to confess to you all of my serious addiction to social media. Yes, it is a thing. Yes, you may have this as well. At first, I thought it was all fun and games when my family brought this somewhat serious issue with me. I blew them all off and told them they were being ridiculous. I mean, no one likes to admit to addiction. It just makes you look like you lack control of yourself and that you're helpless and vulnerable. Well, I am here to officially announce that I am a social media addict. How did I come to this conclusion? And how do you know if you are a social media addict as well? Here are just some few signs that you may be one.
1. You find yourself constantly scrolling through your Instagram feed every few minutes
I find myself doing this all the time. Scrolling through my Instagram feed pretty much consumes all of my free time. I don't know the exact reason as to why I do this—it's just a thing that happens. I guess I got so use to doing it all the time that it doesn't occur to me how frequently I do this until I sit back (like what I am doing now) and reflecting upon my life choices...
2. You frequently check every social media app on your phone one after another
Open Facebook: scroll, LIKE, scroll, scroll, LIKE, comment, scroll *opt out*
Open Twitter: scroll, scroll, LOVE, scroll, LOVE, RETWEET, scroll *opt out*
Open Snapchat: check feed, watch snapstory, watch next snapstory, watch next snapstory, take selfie, send *opt out*
Open Instagram: ...You get the picture (pun intended). You open one social app after another and then make one more round by doing it again. Who knows, maybe something new might pop up in those accounts that you haven't seen yet. What a sad, sad life... But hey, it's pretty much how the world is now. A lot of you are guilty of doing this. Don't lie—it's OK, fam. *cue High School Musical's "We're All In This Together"*
3. For Facebook, you constantly refresh the timeline to see if anything new pops up
There have been many sayings that go in the line of: Facebook is for old people now, everyone young has moved onto Twitter and Instagram... NO... No. We're all pretty much still alive in our Facebook accounts. Facebook is STILL a thing. It's literally the only app you go to every time you meet someone new--you want to go "friend" them or they go and "friend" you. Don't ask me why because I don't know, but it's just a thing we're all going to have to accept. Capisce?
4. For Snapchat, you pretty much are that ONE un-watched snap story on everyone's Snapchat feed until they HAVE to watch it to get it to disappear from their feed
I know, I know, frequently posting snap stories becomes annoying to some people. But you know what? I honestly couldn't care less. It is your Snapchat fam, you do whatever you want and don't let anyone tell you how to do your own life. Snap stories are there for a reason: for you to post whatever the heck you want. You have a 50 second-long snap story of your dog? Cool. Sweet. Your dog is friggin' cute and the world needs to see it—nothing wrong with that!
5. You pretty much check your social media accounts while walking around the house
I am super guilty of this one. You wanna go to the kitchen to see what's cookin'? Don't forget to take your phone with you just in case someone posts a new snap story! Wanna just walk to the living room and turn on the TV? Don't forget to take your phone with you to check for any Facebook notifications! Wanna just go to the bathroom? Oh! Don't forget your phone!
For those who aren't guilty of this: give yourself a pat on your back. For those that are guilty of this: again, it's OK fam. It's just a thing you can't help yourself doing.
Sure, in the future hopefully I'll break this bad habit of mine. Then again, we are living and growing up as adults in this generation where social media is everywhere. Heck, even news stations are beginning to have their own Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. Why do they do this? Simple answer: they know most of us are always on our phones checking our social media accounts. So if you are like me, suffering from social media addiction, just know that there are millions of other people out here in this world that are experiencing the same situation and that it's OK... For now.
