Too Attached To Social Media? Here Are Three Signs You Might Need A Break

Do you currently use your personal social media accounts a little too much?

Countless hours are spent online by millions of people day after day using at least one social media platform.

How do you know if you are perhaps using your social media accounts too much?

ABC News reports that there are several signs that should be viewed as indicators of the need to take at least a short break away from the emerging world of social media and social networking.

Sign #1: You spend a lot of time on desserts and projects just to photograph them for Instagram.

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Ph.D, is the author of the book, The Distraction Addiction and a technology expert. In his professional opinion, Pang explains that this particular sign could lead to the average person struggling to stay true to themselves.

“Thinking about where you’ll go or what you’ll do with an eye to how it will appear on social media undermines your ability to be yourself.”

Sign #2: You spend a lot of time “stalking” your followers and online friends.

Even though you might spend a considerable amount of time working on your own status updates and posts, Pang explains that there is a danger when it comes to spending too much time searching and studying the posts and updates of others.

“The big warning sign to look out for here is when you start becoming compulsive about knowing the statuses of your social media ‘friends.'”

Pang further states that the ironic side of social media is that it can be very effective at keeping you posted on what is going on in the lives of your friends and family members. However, Pang believes that an excessive level of engagement can distort the overall picture and diminish a person’s ability to make sense of their own lives.

Sign #3: You become overly anxious whenever you don’t have access.

Perhaps you have forgotten your smartphone or tablet at home. Maybe you are even driving from one location to the next and can’t check your social media profiles and pages until you arrive at your desired destination. Becoming overly anxious and even panicky during those short periods of downtime is a major telltale sign that you should take a break from social media, according to Pang.

According to Pang, this type of unhealthy attachment to social media can also lead to a sharp decline in the quality of your verbal conversations.

“The more you’re on social media, the less material you actually have to talk about that’s interesting and worth having other people hear.”

What do you think about these social media signs?