What is Social Networking Addiction?
Social networking addiction is a phrase sometimes used to refer to someone spending too much time using Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media – so much so that it interferes with other aspects of daily life.
There’s no official medical recognition of social networking addiction as a disease or disorder. Still, the cluster of behaviours associated with heavy or excessive use of social media has become the subject of much discussion and research.
Defining Social Networking Addiction
Addiction usually refers to compulsive behaviour that leads to negative effects. In most addictions, people feel compelled to do certain activities so often that these become a harmful habit, which then interferes with other important activities such as work, school and family time.
Sociologists and psychologists have been exploring the impact of social networking on real – world relationships, especially marriage, and some have questioned whether excessive use of social media could play a role in divorce.
A False Sense of Connection (The negative effects of social media on society and individuals)
Social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. By focusing so much of our time and psychic energy on these less meaningful relationships, our most important connections may weaken.
Cyber-bullying
Kids especially are vulnerable to the practice of cyber-bullying in which the perpetrators, anonymously or even posing as people their victims trust, terrorize individuals in front of their peers. The devastation of these online attacks can leave deep mental scars. In several well – publicized cases, victims have been driven to suicide. The anonymity afforded online can bring out dark impulses that might otherwise be suppressed.
Decreased Productivity
While many businesses use social networking sites to find and communicate with clients, the sites can also prove a great distraction to employees who may show more interest in what their friends are posting than in their work tasks.
Privacy
Social networking sites encourage people to be more public about their personal lives. Because intimate details of our lives can be posted so easily, users are prone to bypass the filters they might normally employ when talking about their lives. What’s more, the things they post remain available indefinitely. While at a moment a photo of friends doing shots at a party may seem harmless, the image may appear less attractive in the context of an employer doing a background check. While most sites allow their users to control who sees the things they’ve posted, such limitations are often forgotten and can be difficult to control.
Social Cheating: The increasing Influence of Social Media on Divorces
The internet has brought about many changes to modern society. Social sites have been very beneficial to society in many ways. We have heard the news stories about people being rescued from dangerous situations because of pleas for help via social sites. We have heard about medical breakthroughs coming from online brainstorming that would never have been possible 10 years ago. What you might not realize though is that these amazing advancements come at a price.
Social Media is Allowing People to Reconnect, Sometimes in Ways Damaging to Their Marriages
People now have easy ways to communicate with family and friends. They have also found a way to connect with old flames or “casually” meet someone new. Many people use these sites simply to “window shop” or flirt, not believing that it will lead to something intimate.
Divorce rates have increased by nearly 20% over the last 10 years due to social web site use. People, male and female, find these sites a great way to search for long lost loves, or to browse. Sadly, many of these people believe that this casual browsing and contact is not cheating because it is done on the internet.
It’s Not Necessarily Harmless Just Because it is Online
The truth is, many of these casual affairs lead to something stronger, and when the spouse find out about the relationship, the result is often a divorce. A spouse does not view social interaction on a website as casual friendship; they view it as a breach of trust.
Be Careful What You Post About Your Spouse
Another issue involving social media and divorce is when one spouse angrily posts about the other. This is becoming more prevalent as spouses use these sites to vent their anger. Cheating may not even be involved. It is discovered that 27% of divorces involve spouses saying hurtful and damaging things about each other on their personal pages. The fact that personal disagreements are posted “for the world to see” has been the root of many divorces.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE DISTRACTED BY SOCIAL NETWORK
Ask yourself the same questions that help define other addictions:
- Does it get in the way of other tasks or activities?
- Do you feel an irresistible urge to use social media?
- Has it had a negative impact on your job, studies or relationships?
- Have you tried to cut down and failed?
- Have others complained about your behaviour or suggested you might have a problem?
TIPS TO CUT BACK
- Close the social media screens/applications on your computer when you’re working on something else, same for email, if that’s what distracts you.
- Unless it’s part of your job, don’t use social media at work.
- Turn off the chat function on Facebook so you won’t be distracted by pokes and pings. Disable push notifications on your phone.
- Set a time limit for social media use.
- Establish times when you disconnect completely, especially when you’re on vacation.
Further reading: