That said, I cant (or wont) just delete my account.
Facebook isnt just a time suck.
Facebookrecently surpassed two billion users.
Are we addicted to social media?
In some extreme cases, the answer is yes.
But for most, its less dire.
How can social media cross the line into addiction?
Its when all else becomes irrelevant.
The former arebehavioraladdictions, and they can be powerful.
Whats more, they can be just as challenging to deal with.
You cant tell workaholics not to work again or sex addicts to never have sex again.
Likewise, you usually cant tell online addicts to stay offline.
How do you tell if youre truly addicted to Facebook?
Griffiths provides some insight:
It becomes the most important activity in your life.
Usage conflicts with other activities.
You use it for mood modification.
You do it to get a buzz or to make yourself numb.
You develop a tolerance, needing more and more to get the same mood modifying effect.
To determine addiction, its about severity, with the first two being most important.
Is social media truly themostimportant thing in your life?
So much so that everything else goes to hell?
Im just wasting a couple of hours a day.
I still get work done, get lots of exercise, eat properly, and care for my family.
And Ill choose sex over Facebook any day.
Ergo, not addicted.
It helps to understand what might be causing it in the first place.
And high FOMO is correlated with high social media use.
Why does FOMO drive us toward a platform such as Facebook?
Questions like how much do you use Facebook dont provide accurate answers.
I answer yes to those three for most of the past seven days.
Im writing this article as therapy to control my use because it bothers me.
And I am not the only one aggravated by overuse.
To get additional anecdotes about Facebook abuse, I of course went to Facebook to ask fellow users.
Note the language: her jobgets in the wayof draining hertwophones using social media.
She also admitted to using Facebook while she drove, and that this comment had been provided while driving.
That is … not good.
Jenni added, Im bad, but nothing compared to my partner.
Suzanne said of Facebook: The biggest time wasting platform in my life that I continue to use regardless.
Risk vs.
Reward
But its not all bad information.
Because of Facebook Ive learned how to be a better writer.
If by better I mean more popular.
Are you addicted to Facebook?The answer will shock you!
To reiterate, Im not recommending people delete their accounts.
Therearereasons to stay connected.
The study examined 235 English adolescents to test the veracity of the Goldilocks hypothesis.
Is there an amount of social media use that is just right?
Make it so you have to use a internet tool and dont let it stash your password.
Make it so that each time you check its a conscious effort of having to access.
2.Create your own rules for social media use.
The thing about Facebook is, we dont pay attention to how much we use it.
Afterwards, I get 15 minutes of non-work-related Facebook time.
When Im finished working for the day, I will spend another 15 minutes on non-work related Facebook use.
And no more mealtime scrolling.
But there is no law saying you must engage or fight back.
But if you desire to say at leastsomething, the Sir Winston Churchill method might serve.
I once wrote a piece aboutDark Chocolateand its allegedly super qualities.
In response to one persons rectally discomforted tirade I responded only with, Eat a Snickers.
Even then, with the sarcastic quip you risk being sucked in.
If someone is spewing vitriol, nothing insults better than pretending they dont exist.
There is no end of scrolling it’s possible for you to do.
So Im going to limit whom I scroll.
My friend Kathleen consistently provides great information about the state of both American and Canadian politics.
Im going to get my fixfrom herandDan Rather, and skip the rest of it.
Another tip Mark had was going public with your intention to spend less time platforms like Facebook.
Thats why I wrote this article.
James Fell writes health and fitness columns for the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.
His first book,Lose it Right, was published by Random House Canada in 2014.
He lives in Calgary, Canada with his wife, two children, and an elderly bearded dragon.
His blog,www.BodyForWife.comis full of profanity and should not be read by anyone, ever.
