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By Tham Shi Wei

Are you a social media user? Many people all over the world have at least one personal social media account. We use social media for various purposes and this includes keeping in touch with family and friends. We even update and upload pictures of ourselves on our social media to share the happy moments of our lives with our friends and family. 

However, do you feel insecure or anxious if you have to spend time away from your social media account? If you have felt that way, you are not alone. Many people, especially youngsters use social media and it could be considered as a hobby. Some people would spend most of their free time on social media and this would interfere with their daily activities such as neglecting chores or important tasks that they need to complete in a day. 

Social media users generally will feel thrilled or get a rush of dopamine surging to their brains when they log on to their page. This occurs when they receive “likes” on their posts or when someone provides a feedback or positive comment about the topic they posted. 

Addiction happens when we rely on social media to make us happy or excited. Therefore, we would be logging into our social media accounts more frequently compared to other activities that should be prioritised. Some people would also use social media networking as a means of socialising and this would lead them to not want to talk to people in real life. 

There are also people who get envious or depressed when their friends are constantly uploading photos of themselves having a good time. This is an incorrect perception and comparison shouldn’t be made based on what we see on social media. Some addicted users would also experience sleep disruption as they would spend the night lying awake just scrolling through social media. 

If you experience anger or irritability when you are not using social media, you might want to try to take some steps to reduce your usage of social media. You could try taking up a hobby or make new friends in real life. These would act as a distraction from continuously logging into your social media account. If you are still unable to cut down social media usage, you could consult a professional to help you with your addiction. 

** The views expressed on this opinion are of the writer and not the publisher.