A human being is a social entity and cannot live without communication. People use several ways to communicate. Nowadays, most people prefer social media to communicate with someone. Social media can enhance your life by allowing you to connect with old friends and share important moments in your life. However, if not managed properly, it can become an addiction that can consume your time and affect your work and relationships. Social media addiction is especially common among young people. According to children and teens, getting a life without social networking is like living in caves. Social media addiction has several damages on human life, but there are some simple ways to cope with social networking addiction.
The first way to overcome the social media addiction is to limit yourself. Many people spend too many hours a day on social media sites. You can reduce the time which you spend on social media by limiting yourself. Set a timer on your watch or phone, to limit the amount of time you spend on social media or use an app to block social media sites for a period of time each day. Choose a limit depending on the severity of your addiction – say an hour a day, which equates to seven hours per week – and whenever you check your accounts, start your timer going. When you reach your limit, be strong and don’t be tempted to add on extra time. This will be a strong test of your willpower, but it will be worth it in the end.
Another useful solution to curb social media addiction would be to create other obligations for yourself. You may have a lot more free time on your hands now that you are trying to cut down on your social media usage, so why not picking up a new hobby to fill your spare time? Anything that keeps you busy, and that you do not feel as if you can blow off, is ideal. You could learn a new skill or do something you have always wanted to do but never had the time. You will probably surprise yourself at how much free time you have when you stop mindlessly scrolling through your newsfeed. Plus, your new hobby will keep your mind and hands preoccupied when you are craving social media.
Finally, the situation could be improved if we tried to start connecting with people outside the cyber world. There are so many ways you can meet people in real life. For instance, you could join a club, attend a talk, and organize a get-together where all your friends bring a friend or embark on a single’s night. If you have a person’s home address, telephone number, or email, there is no need for social media to be your sole connection to them. If you establish communication channels that do not involve getting onto Facebook, you have, once again, one less reason to use social media.
To sum up, although social media addiction is a serious problem of human life, there are steps that can be taken to reduce its effects. To put it bluntly, social media addiction is a common disease of our generation. Therefore, we need to take immediate precautions to cure social networking addiction.