Are you addicted to social media?

Thoughts_Arrive

I am.

I spend all night and most of the day on my phone or laptop.

It's quite sad.

Struggling to break my addiction and it's getting in the way of doing other things like reading a book, watching television, doing something creative like painting and guitar playing.

CROJAM95

It’s not your fault, I watched 60 minutes a few months ago and this guy who left Silicon Valley pretty much says we are all being trained like lab rats

which isn’t a big secret, but to hear him say it was disturbing 

Thoughts_Arrive

Interesting article

https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/she-threw-her-iphone-out-the-window-and-has-never-been-happier-20190917-p52s2c.html

"We are lured into staying online longer by the autoplay feature on Netflix and YouTube videos, the ‘Likes’ we repeatedly return to Instagram and Facebook to check and the compelling way Twitter reloads when we pull-down the screen, a feature that has no technical purpose other than to keep people pulling the handle just like they do on slot machines, where the idea originated.

“Addiction to technology involves the neurochemical dopamine being released,” explains psychologist, Marny Lishman. “Dopamine is responsible for the positive 'hit' we get when we get a 'like', get a positive comment on a post or if a notification ping goes off. Much like drugs, sugar and other addictions, it’s the same feeling that arises as we are being rewarded for our behaviour. The more we feel it, the more we want it (dependence) ..."

Gern Blansten

My wife and I get in fights over our phones.  It drives me nuts when we decide to watch a movie or a show at home and she's got that phone in her face.  I admit to having mine in my face too much but she just can't put that fucker down.

Merkin Baller

I've been deleting Twitter from my phone for my work days, as I've been spending too much time on it.

The funny thing is, when I go home at night and download the app & catch up on what i missed, I don't find that I've missed much of anything, and it's easier to stay off it for the night.

The more I'm on it, the more I want to be on it, but the less I'm on it, the easier it is to stay off... weird, right?

I don't want to quit entirely, as I do get a lot of enjoyment out of it, but it can definitely be problematic.

Luckily it's my only social media vice, I think FB is garbage, I never got into Instagram and Reddit is as much a cesspool as twitter, if not worse, so I'm not too worried about getting sucked into that.

Gern Blansten

I probably use FB more than twitter but I have unfollowed anyone on my friends list that posts frequently so most of my feed is news (and ads now unfortunately).

I love twitter for news....I mostly just follow news feeds and journalists.  

I'll get on instagram every once in awhile but I rarely post anything.  When I do post pictures though it is generally to Insta because I don't like sharing much on FB.  

Part of my obsession with social media is breaking news.  I just always feel like I'm missing something.  Like I'm going to put my phone down for an hour and pick it up to find tRump resigned or something great like that.

Merkin Baller

Gern Blansten said:

I probably use FB more than twitter but I have unfollowed anyone on my friends list that posts frequently so most of my feed is news (and ads now unfortunately).

I love twitter for news....I mostly just follow news feeds and journalists.  

I'll get on instagram every once in awhile but I rarely post anything.  When I do post pictures though it is generally to Insta because I don't like sharing much on FB.  

Part of my obsession with social media is breaking news.  I just always feel like I'm missing something.  Like I'm going to put my phone down for an hour and pick it up to find tRump resigned or something great like that.

I hear you... if I hadn't been on Twitter within minutes of the Temple of the Dog tour announcement in 2016, I almost certainly wouldn't have scored tickets through the presale, as I didn't get my Cornell email until that night... if that won't instill the fear of missing out, I don't know what will.

Thoughts_Arrive

I only post my artwork on Instagram. I check other people's posts often.

Part of wanting to keep Facebook is to post my artwork there in artists groups I'm in

Thoughts_Arrive

And yes, I too keep checking news pages

Merkin Baller

I keep my facebook account active, as it's the best way to keep in touch with family overseas, but I don't keep it on my phone, I only pull it up once a month or so to check notifications.

The ads, and what's even worse, 'Facebook TV' are awful... I checked FB Tv's feed for me once, and a Charlie Kirk video was the second video queued up... nothing about my profile would suggest that I would be interested in anything he has to say, so why would they spoon feed that stuff to me?

It's creepy AF, and even more concerning.

Thoughts_Arrive

It's 12:22am and I am still on Facebook.

I hate irrelevant ads, they drive me mad.

I'm thinking of deleting it from my phone and limiting my use to when I am on my laptop

F Me In The Brain

Unchop some fucking wood.
Delete the apps and go outside.
Dump your phone in the toilet.
Walk around.
Feel the grass between your toes.  (Be reminded to cut your toenails.)
Life is good, yes/no?

Sorry, had to get Chadwickian there.

lastexitlondon

No i am not  and its for the best. I dont use any. And im proud of it

lastexitlondon

F Me In The Brain said:

Unchop some fucking wood.
Delete the apps and go outside.
Dump your phone in the toilet.
Walk around.
Feel the grass between your toes.  (Be reminded to cut your toenails.)
Life is good, yes/no?

Sorry, had to get Chadwickian there.

This haha

Gern Blansten

I grew up in Darke County Ohio.  There is an FB group called "Busted in Darke County" that is pure comedy gold.

My old hometown has about 25,000 residents.  Drugs (meth, heroin, etc.) are prevalent and the admin of this group posts about everyone who gets taken to jail.  She will post mugshot, offense, etc.  Many times the family members, friends or the perp themselves will get on the FB post and argue with other posters.

Great stuff.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen old high school classmates on there.  Unreal.

bootlegger10

The PJ board is my only social media that I post on.  I don't have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc....  None of our lives are important enough to document on the internet but I get how it must be nice to keep in touch with family and friends that are not local.   I just pick up the phone every once in a while.   I'm not the norm though.  

I do check my Ebay account for feedback updates often so that is like "likes" on a post I guess.  And I'm visiting this site all the time. 

HesCalledDyer

I turn off notifications on all my apps except calls, texts, & sports scores, and also turn off auto-play on Youtube. It makes walking away much easier and it's less tempting to check things so often.

bootlegger10

HesCalledDyer said:

I turn off notifications on all my apps except calls, texts, & sports scores, and also turn off auto-play on Youtube. It makes walking away much easier and it's less tempting to check things so often.

turned off email alerts.  that was huge.

MayDay10

I was teetering a few years ago, but snapped it for the most part.  I still stalk on facebook, but post like 1x every 4-6 months or so.... other than a couple private groups where I participate every now and then.  Never got into twitter.  I post here and a couple forums, but not a wild amount of posts/day.

I would like to cut down even more though.  

HesCalledDyer

bootlegger10 said:

HesCalledDyer said:

I turn off notifications on all my apps except calls, texts, & sports scores, and also turn off auto-play on Youtube. It makes walking away much easier and it's less tempting to check things so often.

turned off email alerts.  that was huge.

Yep, I only use the icon badge for email and even that's annoying because it makes me want to open & clear it out.  I should probably just turn off email on my phone all together.  I never even look at most of it, just goes straight to the trash.  And GMail is the fucking worst!  Every god damn iteration of my name, I get ALL the emails.  (e.g. mine is "c.a.dyer@" but I'll get emails for cadyer, c-a-dyer, c.adyer, cady.er, etc because 15 years later Google still can't figure out how to differentiate character registers.)

Indifference71

I definitely spend way too much time on Twitter.  Probably too much time on Instagram as well. I did deactivate facebook like 6 years ago...that place is an absolute cesspool.