How to overcome social mediatis: a wave of the 21st century
Being an addict is no longer limited to drugs, alcohol, sex, or even being an obsessive cleaner. In this 21st century there is a new phenomenon that is growing day by day as technology expands its reach around the world. Creeping so stealthily, one may not even notice or acknowledge its grasp until it is too late. What’s that?
Social media!
OK… it’s not a word or is it? But by definition (or my definition) it means the inability to refrain from using social media at any given time, whether day or night, away from home, inside or outside the home or workplace. We may even want to expand the definition even further to include the inability to leave the dreaded cell phone anywhere. Forbidden heaven!
I remember once a good friend of mine in the US was on her way to a very important meeting. She was already running late after getting up late, dressing late, drinking her coffee late, and running out of the house late. While she was on the subway she slapped him that he had forgotten her phone at home. Now, instead of continuing to the meeting, she went home. Snatching her “priceless” phone from the coffee table, she realized that she would not only be late but ridiculously incomprehensible. So she, instead of calling and saying that she was incredibly late, she called in sick, coughing and babbling into the phone like she was having a seizure. Fortunately for her, the meeting was rearranged and her business finally got the contract.
The kicker… the first thing he checked when he got his phone back was Instagram and Facebook. I’m still not sure if he was entertained on YouTube, Snapchat or Linked LinkedIn… but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that.
Social mediaitis is so prevalent that we don’t even recognize it for what it is as we have become so addicted to having our phones that we even walk around with them in our hands or in our back pockets as a necessary fashion accessory, a welcome to our true life Matrix of the 21st century. I guess Neo knew what she was talking about!
Just think, ten, twenty years ago, people spent time talking to each other. However, today, technology has provided a variety of ways that we can communicate with each other at the click of a button or broadcast live. Imagine, there is a choice of digital options for people to send and receive text messages, photos and videos, or browse online, every day, anytime, anywhere. And remember, age is not a factor. Babies today can figure out and use a tablet much faster than their own parents. Go figure.
But what is worse is that these distractions, especially in the workplace, can affect the results of a company and cause a breakdown in social relationships, at home, on the street and in the workplace or even in the workplace. school. While these interruptions create ineptitude at work and add cost to a company’s bottom line, the widespread and growing use of smartphones is creating a much more serious problem of disrupting social interaction. Can you imagine a scenario where we all stop talking to each other and do it only through a device?
I was in a meeting a few years ago and in the middle of the team discussion, a phone vibrated somewhere. We all looked around as it was loud and annoying and the main director was about to say something of value and importance. Now, all the members of that meeting had received the memo that the senior director himself had written about not using phones in team meetings. So what fun it was when, red-faced, she pulled the guilty contraption out of his own pocket, vibrating as if there was some kind of unknown pleasure associated with it. We are still laughing to this day.
So how does one know they have Social Mediaitis?
According to psychologists Mark Griffiths and Daria Kuss, answering “yes” to any of these six questions means that it probably is, and that one would greatly benefit from a digital detox:
• Do you spend a lot of time, when you are not online, thinking about social networks or planning to use social networks?
• Do you feel the need to use social media more and more over time?
• Do you use social networks to forget about personal problems?
• Do you often try to reduce your use of social media without success?
• Do you feel restless or worried if you can’t use social media?
• Do you use social media so much that it has had a negative impact on your job, relationship or studies?
If you have Social Mediaitis where it interferes with competition or value, then a digital detox is required. This means being aware and living in the moment, getting rid of all devices, especially those that allow easy access, experimenting with leaving devices at home or in a bag, and as with any addiction, the first step to change is awareness. , so being in the present will help recognize Social Mediaitis for what it is.
Still, you should also be aware that as bad as social media can be, it’s also a phenomenal tool for doing business that facilitates advertising, so a paradigm shift in mindset and focusing on that aspect will help. Drive addiction by creating streams of income. and thus live real dreams. So, to overcome the negative side of Social Mediaitis, it’s all about taking small steps, starting with an hour and moving on to longer times of detachment, especially when around spouses, lovers, friends, or co-workers.
And according to Griffiths and Kuss:
“While most of our behaviors on social media may be annoying rather than dangerous, they are indicative of a social problem. Action must be taken now, while the number of social media addicts is still small. We should not wait.” to see if it becomes an epidemic.