Are you Addicted?

Take a second to think about how many hours a day you use any platform of social media. Can you?

Addiction. CC BY-SA 3.0 NY

Spending countless hours on the social sites can divert your focus and attention from particular tasks. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students. We rely on technology and the internet instead of learning the practical knowledge and expertise of everyday life.

 Social Media Apps from Pixabay. CC0 Public Domain Image.

We all have our own reasons for using social media. Some like to look at other people's status updates and photos, while others use the sites as a way to vent their emotions. But one of the main reasons we use social media is for self-distraction and boredom relief. Social media is giving reinforcement every time a person logs on. The reinforcements keep coming in the form of supportive comments and likes, and we know that when behaviors are consistently reinforced and repeated it becomes harder for a person to let go of the habit developed.

Facebook Social Cigarettes poster by 2wenty, 2011 CC BY-SA 3.0

This behavior can lead to Facebook addiction. Research shows that more than 19 million Canadians log onto Facebook at least once a month (more than half of the population), while 14 million check their news feed every single day. That's only for Facebook, so imagine how the numbers change as other social media platforms such a Twitter or Instagram come into play.