Since the dawn of social media we have seen these platforms greatly help so many. Thanks to the likes of Facebook and Instagram we have seen people become famous, we have unearthed talent from around the world, we have connected people and in some cases even saved lives. Unfortunately however, social media is not always a positive, far from it in fact, and there are some very real dangers with spending too much time on social media. We have to remember that these sites are designed in such a way to keep you on the hook, and that is why we all have to be careful. Social media guru Stephen Stapinski Andover has been speaking about this recently, and he has detailed some of the signs that it is time to get off social media, let’s take a look.
Jumping to Share
One of the saddest things about social media is the need to instantly share moments with the wider world instead of just enjoying them. This happens at restaurants before people enjoy their meals, it happens when they get off the plane or enter a hotel and it happens when people are at incredible landmarks. This is not normal and whilst sharing a nice photo or experience with friends is great, when this becomes the first thing on your mind, it is time to ease up on social media.
Failure to be Present
Another common issue which people who spend too much time on social media have is that they completely misunderstand the idea of presence. So many people claim to be having a great time with friends and then they are only focused on their social media, so much so that they can’t actually enjoy any time with them. Speak with your friends and see if this is how they see you when you’re with them, if so, give it a rest for a while.
Obsessed With Likes
It is nice for people to like and comment on your content but if this becomes the be all and end all then you are in trouble. This is how social media is created, a reward system which is what keeps people so hooked. If you find that you are disappointed when a post doesn’t get as many likes as you want, or if you are over the moon because of the volume of likes that you got, then this is a sign that you need to ease up.
Screen Time
Ultimately the biggest indicator that you need to give social media a rest is the amount of time which you spend on there each day. This is something which you can easily monitor from your phone or your computer. Ultimately if you are spending more than 2 hours per day across all platforms then it is certainly time to reign things in a bit.
Social media can be helpful and fun, just make sure it doesn’t go too far.
Leave a Reply