Faced with the voices that are dedicated to demonizing social networks, there are all those people who have seen many aspects of their lives improve thanks to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. In the middle we find ourselves ordinary people who adapt as best we can to current times without knowing the consequences very well, and addiction to social networks is one of them. Are you hooked on social networks?
How to know if you are hooked on social networks
There is a very fine line between use and abuse when we talk about new technologies. For some time now there have been warnings about a growing addiction to social networks, a dependence on new technologies and an indiscriminate use of the Smartphone that can jeopardize our physical and emotional health.
But using social networks today is almost inevitable. Find love, restore family ties, meet friends from school, get a job contact or simply meet new people. Also gossip among our acquaintances, compare lives, criticize and envy. And in this broad group of people who use social networks there is no shortage of those who have made them their livelihood.
Are you hooked on social networks? These are the signs that prove it.
The first thing you do when you wake up is look at your profiles on social networks. Coincidentally it is also the last thing you do before going to sleep.
You get frustrated when your posts don’t get many interactions or you’re watching every time you upload something how many reactions it gets. Always looking for the ‘like’, always looking for approval.
You upload photos of everything you cook, eat, drink. Also the music you listen to and that sunset that is beautiful. And the photo in the gym, let it not be said that you don’t have ‘influencer’ material.
You register all the places you are, whether they are natural parks or discos, beaches or restaurants, for the record.
You look at the notifications at any time and it doesn’t matter if your friend is crying to you about her recent breakup or your nephew is asking you for a snack. The first is the first.
You worry if you don’t have an Internet connection or you’re running out of battery, even though you know you’ll be connected again shortly.
You do not rest from social networks at any time, much less on vacation. Beach photos are a must.
Your life is recorded on social networks step by step: your partner, your friends, your parties, your trips, your children…
There is not a single day that you do not enter your social networks.
Is it possible to disengage from social networks?
If you see yourself reflected in the above signs, it may be time to disconnect for a moment. No, we are not going to ask you to close your accounts on social networks, but we do ask you to make moderate use of them. It is not about disappearing from the virtual world, but about paying a little more attention to the real world.
Establish one day a week in which you do not upload any posts to Facebook, do not retweet anything and do not take any photos for Instagram.
Limit the hours of use on the networks. You can’t enter Facebook during work hours, for example, but neither when you’re with your friends.
When you are in front of a fantastic ice cream, remove the mental image of how good that photo would look on Instagram and keep the secret enjoying the flavor of the ice cream in your privacy. Just to try.
Eliminate from your social networks all those contacts that you do not know and they do not contribute anything to you either. Having many friends or followers on the networks is not going to make you happier.
Silence notifications from your mobile phone. The world doesn’t end because you don’t immediately respond to that comment.
When you meet friends, at family meals or at social events, keep your mobile in your bag and do not take it out even to take photos. Let others deal with the proofs for posterity.
Do not miss a conversation with your partner because you are aware of social networks.
Also dedicate a moment every day to be alone with your thoughts, thinking only of you, without a phone, without a computer, without company.