Nancy Tirthani
Etawah. Have you heard about addiction..? Addiction is a word that should not be used lightly to describe a set of behaviour. Addiction is related to the compulsion to consume something or engage in a set of behavior, to the point that it significantly interferes with a person’s life. One of the greatest signs of social media addiction is that you are no longer able to concentrate on your studies due to constant distraction provided by social networking sites. We all know that online communication is easier for a number of reasons. We can take as long as we need to respond and our facial expressions will not give away our true emotions. You may want to spend your time on Face book or Whats app than going out or playing out with friends in real life. Spending hours in front of the computer screen or mobile phone, especially at night will definitely affect your emotional and physical well being. Fatigue and irritability can be the signs that social media interactions are getting out of control. Social media can become a source of stress and even cause a phenomenon called ‘Face book depression’. Most of you must have involved in multiple social networks like Face book, Linkedin, Messenger, Whatsapp..etc. In case you have not heard, student face book users share not only a sound network of over 200 million but also significantly lower grades in studies than their non- member classmates. You may think, “I m not addicted, I can quit any time!”. Well if you have more online friends than real friends something must be done. If you spend more time working on status updates or changing your profile pictures its time for an intervention. Regardless of your excuses, this is not ok.
Tips to solve social media addiction :-
◆ Track your online time – check how much time you are spending online. Set a limit limit it once in a day for half an hour or once in a week. When time is up, log out, regardless of what is left. There is always next time. Use the net work only when your planned study for the day has been done.
◆ Limit your memberships. Don’t go for friend requests from unknown persons. Dont visit unfamiliar sites. There is no need of subscription to different net works. In fact there is no need for even 2 memberships of sites which do the same thing.
◆ You are not the only one who suffers when you spend countless hours in social media. Your family and friends don’t see you, because you are too busy to take crazy pictures from all different angles to post in social media.
◆ Remember that these sites are built to make money, not to increase your productivity. Nobody is looking out for you, except you. Live life in the real world and work hard to achieve your dreams, instead of wandering in the e-world. Believe me, its mor fun this way.
◆ Most of you say I use social media when I am bored (or lazy). If you are so bored with your studies, go and pick up a book, talk with your real friends and family, watch a good programme on Television or discover a hobby – but don’t switch on your screen.
