Fact About Social Media Addiction

How Do You Detox From Social Media

We cant say that protecting ourselves from social media addiction is a manageable task based on the fact that millions of adults suffer from social media addiction each year. Social media addiction, as its name suggests, is a psychological condition marked by an unhealthy preoccupation with online networking sites.

This is a result of a persons insatiable desire to log on to or use social media, causing them to neglect other aspects of their lives in the process. Here are some strategies for disconnecting from social media and reducing your desire to check your timeline regularly.

Social Media Platform Statistics

People use different social platforms for different purposes. Some are even designed to be more addictive than others. Here are the numbers behind the top social media platforms today.

The average internet user has 8.5 social media accounts

Between 2013 and 2018, the number of social media accounts owned by the average user nearly doubledfrom 4.3 to 8.5. Today, users assign different purposes to each platform: Facebook for messaging, Instagram for following brands, and TikTok for entertainment. And with new social media networks popping up all the time, that number is sure to go up.

81% of Americans use YouTube

Despite the rise of platforms like TikTok, YouTube is still the #1 social platform in the US. Over half of internet users visit the platform at least once per day, and 36% use it several times per day.

49% of adults use Facebook more than once per day

Facebook is the most popular platform for multiple daily visits among American adults. By comparison, 45% of adults check Snapchat more than once per day and 38% scroll their Instagram feeds multiple times daily.

WhatsApp has over 2 billion global users

In terms of the total number of global users, WhatsApp ranks third overall across social media platforms. But in terms of users favorite platform, the messaging app sits at the top of the list. 16.4% of global adults consider WhatsApp their favorite social media platform.

Search interest growth for WhatsApp over the past 5 years.

Thats over 11 full days per year.

% Of Millennial Social Media Users Experience Symptoms Of Withdrawal When Offline

When surveyed, 35% of millennial social media users said they sometimes or often experienced symptoms of withdrawal, such as stress or paranoia, when away from social media. Many of these users have tried to cut back and failed: per this study, 59% were unable to cut back as much as they would like.

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Warning Signs Of Social Media Addiction

Once you have reached the point where your social media or internet use is interfering with your daily life, it might signify a social media or internet addiction. However, problematic social media use can involve other features even if it isnt necessarily impacting your daily life.

Other additional warning signs of social media addiction include:

• Having the urge to constantly check your social media accounts
• Problems in your personal life as a result of social media or the internet
• Negative impacts on your physical or mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Trying to cut back or stop and being unable to
• Experiencing physical or mental discomfort when not using social media
• Replacing hobbies and other activities you enjoy with social media usage
• Using social media in unsafe conditions
• Reduced real-world social interaction
• Experiencing one or more of the above warning signs and refusing to cut back o your social media use

According to the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual , someone experiencing two or fewer warning signs suffers from a mild addiction. In contrast, a person suffering from six or more signs has a severe addiction.

Statistics On Internet Addiction Treatment

Unfortunately, research on internet addiction treatment is particularly sparse. Even a large study that pooled data from all existing research was only able to reference a few small studies.

However, these studies show that antidepressant medications may play a role in treating internet addiction. Results also show that psychological therapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy and a specific type of CBT known as multi-family group therapy , may be particularly beneficial.

Recovery from internet addiction is possible. Professional treatment can help. If you or a loved one lives with co-occurring internet addiction and substance disorder, consider reaching out to The Recovery Village. to speak to a representative about treatment options.

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Comparing Social Media Addiction To Gambling Addiction And Drug Addiction

Studies about social media addiction often compare it to gambling and drug addictions. It makes sense to do so because these behaviors each revolve around achieving pleasurable feelings. When people are not feeding their addiction, they experience withdrawal that makes them want to go back to social media, gambling or drugs.

Social media is similar to gambling because they can both provide instantaneous rewards. On sites like Facebook, you refresh your news feed and are given more information. When you post a story or picture, the notifications that roll in give you a pleasurable feeling.

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A place we cant live without, well not comfortably at least.

It is a place where people feel safe to share but then again people feel free to bully too.It is place of networking and communications. So much so that the people feel better speaking out on the Internet rather than speaking in public or face to face

Virtual communication is on the top of its game in the field of Millennial and Generation Z, the iGeneration if you will. Social media addiction is taking a toll on the youngsters the most. It is controlling their minds in a way that is subtle but very alarming too.

Social media statistics 2018 show how the addiction of social media has had a negative effect on peoples daily life. People are short on temper, shortening their attention span, irritated and agitated at the same time.

The wave of trends that people have started to follow that state that anyone, and I mean ANYONE can become an influencer, has made the young ones believe that they can get easy money by just posting a few clicks of their life, slap them with filters, and account that with an inspirational quotes.That is SO NOT the case!

One starts to procrastinate, leaving everything behind to either post on the internet or catch up on all the shenanigans that the others have been up to. This leads to getting late to work, or not submitting your assignments on time, or delaying things that needed to be done!

• 4Chan: 22 million

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Some Facts About Social Media Addiction

Posted by Dr. Maegan R. & Life Coach Francois B.B. | Oct 18, 2020 | Social Media Addiction | 0 |

Social media addiction is becoming an increasingly common occurrence in the 21t century. Platforms such as , , and are nigh ubiquitous in their usage among the populace. As such, a growing number of people are finding themselves unable to function in the various aspects of their day-to-day lives due to their usage of social media.

Various statistics show that social media addiction is increasing yearly at a steady rate. As of now, excessive social media exposure has not gained acceptance from the WHO as a mental disorder.

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Social media addiction is often linked to such mental disorders as social anxiety and depression. The signs of social anxiety include : a feeling of insecurity, trouble maintaining eye contact, speech problems, difficulty communicating and interacting with others, and even physical symptoms such as an increased heart rate, nausea, and excessive perspiration.

• List of Social Media Addiction Facts:

Why Do We Need To Be Concerned

One study found that on average, 10% of Americans have social media addiction, which is concerning as social media is not that old, yet has grown at exponential rates.

As the use of social media and like-minded platforms continue to grow with modern day needs, researchers are finding more deficits this may cause to overall mental and physical health. Remember when social media didnt even exist? Now we are so reliant on it for social, professional, and business needs it would be hard to fathom how to operate without it.

Technology develops at a rate well beyond human potential, which means if we dont understand and adapt to its impact, we will not be able to set the appropriate boundaries and resources needed to manage it.

Social media addiction shows to be linked to disorders such as anxiety and depression, has proven to show dramatic drops in self-worth, decreased average number of genuine relationships in ones life, more disruptive sleep patterns, less physical activity, and overall disruption to immune health.

While the research is still considered young, consistent findings suggest the need for humans to interact differently with social media its no coincidence youre seeing social media platforms switch to emotional expression versus like/dislike. We are also learning a great deal on how social media addiction is being reinforced, and also mistreated.

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Social Media Addiction: The Impact On Mental Health

Reviewed by Michael Espelin APRN

Social Media became part of daily lives in the new millennium. As of mid-2020, approximately 2.7 billion people are using Facebook around the world. Other popular platforms are Youtube, Instagram, Linkedin, TikTok, and , with millions of active users.

Medias creates a network of people around the world. It provides a platform for people to share information, career interests, and other interactive forms via virtual communities. While all of this is seemingly positive, there have been developments especially in more recent times that raise questions about possible social media negative effects in peoples lives.

This is not to say outrightly that public networks are bad. However, the purpose of this review is to take a closer look at social medias negative effects, signs and symptoms to watch out for, and common treatment approaches.

Teen Social Media Addiction: A Cause Or A Symptom

Research shows that teenagers use of social media goes hand in hand with increased teen depression and lower levels of life satisfaction. The frequency of a teens use of social media has a clear correlation to how they feel. A CNN study of 13-year-olds and their relationship with social media, called #Being13, found that participants who checked social media 50 to 100 times a day were 37 percent more distressed than those who checked just a few times a day. Those who checked more than 100 times a day were 47 percent more distressed on average.

But is social media a catalyst for depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues? Or, is teen social media addiction a symptom of a mental health disorder? Experts agree that it can go both ways.

There could be many reasons a teenager would become depressed, anxious, or experience social phobias while using social media. In addition, there are just as many reasons why social media is enticing to a teen with an existing mental health issue, Kristin says. Most teens have difficulty regulating and expressing emotions, and also have a huge susceptibility to peer pressure. This puts them at risk for experiencing anxiety or depression as a result of social media, or for existing mental health issues to get worse.

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% Of Americans Check Their Phone Before Getting Out Of Bed

For many Americans, checking a smartphone is the very first thing they do before getting up. 46% of those surveyed and 66% of younger millennials check their phones while in bed in the morning. And thats not even counting the 9% of those surveyed that kept a tab on their smartphone throughout the night. All told, 83% of Americans check their smartphones before theyve finished breakfast.

People Who Visit Social Media Site At Least 58 Times Per Week Are 3x More Likely To Feel Socially Isolated And Depressed

A study from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that heavy social media users were three times as likely to feel socially isolated. They found that people who used social media for more than two hours per day were twice as likely to feel socially isolated than those who only used social media for under half an hour every day. In addition, study participants who visited social media platforms 58 times a week had three times the risk of perceived social isolation, compared with those who reported fewer than nine visits per week.

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Possible Solutions To Social Media Addiction Or: Decreasing Your Use Of Social Media

This is probably gonna be helpful, whether or not youre a full-fledged social media addict. Read on to protect yourself from addiction, or to combat addiction if its already gotten you.

The World Association for Social Psychiatry, shows us that under lockdown conditions, one plus one indeed equals two: in a special edition of their journal we come across an article with the revealing title:

Digital burnout COVID-19 Meditates Excessive Technology use Stress.

The authors of this article show how the use of digital technology has raised drastically in the first few months of 2020 in leisure time as well as for work and that this indeed has a direct effect on stress and burnout-related symptoms.

It seems obvious that finding balance in the way we use digital technology in general, and social media specifically, will be beneficial to most of us by far and especially those of us who are at risk of truly becoming addicts.

What can we do? How can we use technology and specifically social media less, and still feel a sense of connection?

Social Media And Self

Showing off ones best traits on social media should help you feel better about yourself, right? Thats not necessarily the case. According to psychologists, consistently focusing on oneself actually reduces self-esteem. One study showed that increased Facebook activity was related not only to symptoms of low self-esteem but also to narcissism.

Comparing oneself to others is a frequently cited cause of discomfort and low self-esteem for social media users. In , researchers found that frequent Facebook users often compare themselves with others, which leads to overthinking and rumination. Therefore, this in turn leads to feelings of depression. Teens tend to compare themselves to their peers frequently, both in real life and online. Hence, social media addiction can negatively impact self-esteem.

Its important to realize that low self-esteem is an underlying cause of many mental-health challenges, including:

Programs

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What Are The Downsides Of Social Media Addiction

There is no harm in using social media platforms every now and then, even every day, but the more time spent on it the more likely you are to experience the negative aspects. Some possible negative consequences from overusing social media include:

• Low self-esteem and comparing yourself to others

• Increased isolation and loneliness

• Anxiety or depression

• Exposure to negative people, trolls, or bullies

• Disrupted sleep patterns when using at night because of the effects of blue light

• Poor academic performance

• Ignoring the relationships in your real life

• Reduced ability to empathize with others

• Exposure to fake news and misinformation

• Developing more extreme views because of one-sided customized content

• developing an overall internet addiction

• Feeling withdrawal symptoms when not using social media websites

Facebook Is Third Most Visited Site

According to social media addiction statistics, Facebook has the third-most complete website traffic, coming in 3rd only after YouTube and Google.

During October of 2021, there were 11.2 billion visits to Facebook, and the average amount of time spent on Facebook was 21 minutes and 52 seconds.

Comparatively, YouTube received 14.1 billion visits, and the average time spent was 30 minutes and 56 seconds per visit.

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Children Are Developing Concerning Social Media Habits

The biggest growth in social media is with young children.

On average children spent 76% longer on social media apps in 2020 than they did in 2019. The more time children spend on social media now the more likely they will be addicted to it in their teenage years.

27% of children who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media display poor mental health. This means that your child has a significantly increased risk of developing mental health issues if they use social media for more than 3 hours per day.

Videos seem to be the most engaging thing for children on social media.

These platforms prioritise video content significantly and are very good at working out what content engages the user most so they can simply show more of it.

Americans Check Their Phone 46 Times Per Day

A recent survey released by Deloitte found that, on average, Americans check their phones 46 times per day. Collectively, thats a whopping eight billion daily phone checks in the country. The number of times you check your phone appears to be related to your age. For example:

• People aged 18 to 24 checked their phones an average of 74 times per day.
• People aged 25 to 24 checked their phones 50 times a day.
• People aged 35 to 44 checked their phones 35 times per day.

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