Seven signs that you’re a social media addict

IT is 9 a.m and you’re yawning at work. No one but you knows that your weary eyes are not as a result of a crying infant or take home assignments. You spent all night watching funny videos on instagram, and reading through one interesting post after the other on Facebook.

Now you are sleepy. You can’t lay your head on your desk, but at least you’ve got internet access to keep yourself awake. It is for that reason that you begin the cycle again; photo after photo, video after video, comment after comment, switching tabs as soon as you see your supervisor approaching. You already know that too much of everything is bad, but you don’t think it applies to you in any way. No more living in denial, if one or more of these applies to you, then you’re a social media  addict!

*It’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning

Forget prayers and saying good morning to the person next to you, your first order of the day is to reach out for your phone and click away.

Virtual friends

If that’s you, then you’re an addict.

*You spend more time communicating with people online than in person

Do you maintain eye contact with your spouse when he or she talks to you? Or are your eyes constantly fixed on your smart device? What about your children? Are you a present yet absent parent communicating more with your virtual friends than your real family?

*You always spend more time online than you planned to

You’ve already told yourself that you just need five minutes to check your messages on Facebook. You weren’t banking on being ‘hynoptized’ into staying online for two hours. It might not seem so bad if this happens once in a while, but when it’s time after time, then you got it…you’re an addict.

*It’s the main thing you use the internet for

Lots of people make a lot of money on social media. If you’re one of them, it’s fine if you spend a lot on data. But if social media is simply a hobby and you’re  spending a lot on data, then you should know that you’re an addict.

*You use hashtags and social media jargons unnecessarily

You’re an addict if you use hastags unnecessarily and can’t seem to get rid of short forms such as ‘lol’ and other social media jargons when writing.

*You’re behind schedule at work or school because of social media

If tasks that should take you a few minutes are taking you over an hour because of social media, then you’re probably an addict.

*You want to post everything that happens in your life

You must have heard over and over again that nobody cares what you had a breakfast. That could be quite debatable, but you can be one hundred percent sure that no one cares what you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner.