Andrei Clinciu
Are you addicted to social media? The final parts of this article contain a simple test to determine if you’re addicted. However, what’s more important is finding a solution to this addiction.
In this article I’ll explain the problems with social media addiction, this is a non exhaustive description as it would probably fit in a whole book.
1. Why is Social Media addiction a problem?
As a teenager I was addicted to the then available social media networks. Therefore, I decided to NO longer be active on any social media system. IRC was the hype. Fortunately for me, this addiction led to me learning how to program by creating my own interactive bots. Something which actually benefited me in the long run since I even program bots to this day for various tasks
The sad part is, that most people nowadays are addicted to these big closed platforms that they don’t even realize their addiction.
2. Social Media Problems
There are many problems with modern social media networks, I won’t go into all of them. I’ve written extensively about the fact that your ideas are not your own and how social media influences your thinking.
I think that the Social Media Dilemma documentary is not going to wake up people any soon. Even though it pointed out some of the problems, if you point fingers at a drug addict or an alcoholic they aren’t going to change, no matter how much you explain the drawbacks of their actions. The only moment when an addict changes is when they go from a state of being to death.
It’s the same as with the rest of the population. What I found funny, and hypocritical of the documentary was the fact that it’s been created by Netflix, a company which wants you to spend as much time as possible with their systems. Just like social media.
The problems of social media are numerous:
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It destroys your attention and ability to work uninterrupted on tasks. This leads to a variety of problems
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By disturbing your flow state you become a slave to those more powerful in society. Instead of becoming irreplaceable you are a just a peg, a cog which has no value.
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It perpetuates conspiracy theories in such a way that people rarely stop to think critically. They just believe what they see. It’s called manipulation.
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It creates psychological problems in individuals by comparison
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It divides the world and it’s dangerous to freedom and democracy
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It makes people dependable
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It plainly makes people stupid.
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You disconnect from nature
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It creates shallow connections
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You never trully learn the value of friendship
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People who once would be slapped or punched in the face for being rude, can now become evil enough and get a way with it on a daily basis
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It lets every idiot post his/her ideas in a non verifiable manner, leading to fake news spreading worse than wildfire or a virus(hint)
Welcome to the dark ages of modernism. Where people have access to an abundance of information yet refuse to research the truth and prefer to believe in idiotic things.
Welcome the world of the Brainwashed. It’s a Brave New World. If you haven’t read the book, read it, the 90 year old book will probably wake you up even more since it portrays a similar society, except for the fact that we'
2.1. The social media addiction states
If you’re addicted, you may have any of these states
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You have notifications turned on and your wifi/internet connection is on for more than 1 hour a day on your mobile phone
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You continually reach for your phone whenever you get a notification
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You share things without verifying if they’re true or not. Because the system caught you in, you rarely realize that the perfect bubble it shows you is fake.
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You rarely talk to people who aren’t on social media, even if they try to contact you via other forms like e-mail, phone calls etc
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You tend to get hyped up about various things which are happening in the world yet do nothing about it except share, like and comment
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You can’t seem to concentrate for more than 10 minutes without feeling the need to do something else
3. The Test
Here’s a simple test see if you’re addicted or not. This will prove if you have any sort of willpower and if you can think on your own.
Are you ready? Close your phone and disconnect from any form of internet usage for 1 full week
This is the ultimate test, if you pass it you have a chance to become irreplaceable in the world we live in. If you fail, then you might just as well accept the fact that you’ve become a slave in today’s world and there is no chance you can ever surpass the system.
Either way, it would be a good idea to disconnect from the internet and any form of technology for 1 day a week. Something I;ve been doing on and off since 2013.
4. The Alternatives
People like me which have understood the problems with social media have sought out alternatives and solutions.
Other systems like the Federation and platforms like Mastodon or Pleroma try to solve some of the problems of a centralized social media. Creating a decentralized system can in theory solve the problems of ads and of centralized manipulation. There is a lot to say about this topic and these systems have their benefits, however they also have some flaws.
5. The Solution
Quit Social Media
Really. Quit social media. If you can;t imagine life without it then you’re too addicted to do anything about it and it’s game over. You’re still in the rat race.
I quit social media because of the fact that I saw no benefits for it in my life. Why see all the stupidity being shared? Why waste my valuable time explaining to people that they should do research before posting something? Why would I interrupt myself every 5 minutes when I can enjoy the world and social interactions as they were truly meant to be
If you want to talk about this, hit the contact page and send me an e-mail.
Ideas and comments
Andrei Clinciu
I'm a Full Stack Software Developer specializing in creating websites and applications which aid businesses to automate. Software which can help you simplify your life. Let's work together!
