Addiction to social networks How and why can we become addicted to RRSS?

Social networks are becoming more and more involved in the lives of human beings every day. more and more of them are coming onto the market and end up becoming the daily life of their users.

Studies have been carried out where it is determined that at least 80% of the community of a social network happens at least between 8 and 10 hours daily reviewing their different social networks, which becomes a big part of your day.

All those tools that these applications offer can make a person get too involved in them, reaching the point of get addicted to a specific place, either because they get a place of comfort or a distraction from what is the real world.

How and why can we become addicted to social networks and who are most vulnerable to this addiction?

Initially, these types of applications have been created to provide a space for entertainment and fun for each of its users. However, it also has your negative spaceand it is that, with the passage of time and the creation of different programs such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagramamong others, has been causing many people to get involved in them much longer than they should, thus leaving aside their daily responsibilities or physical coexistence with other people.

This occurs mainly because the RRSS little by little they have been getting involved in the life of each one of the people, either by work reasons or simple entertainment. One of the main causes of the addiction to the RRSS It is due to the mental effects that this type of application can have on its users, especially today when we can not only use it from a computer, but from our mobile device or tablet, which allows us to interact with it at all times.

To all this, we have to add your notification noticeseither through a sound or vibration where the program is constantly warning you if one of your friends uploaded a photo, status or video, if someone you have added or writtenall this means that the mind is always thinking about said social network, which is gradually becoming a mental obsession.

Within the area of ​​psychology, all this is known as a learning process that ultimately translates into always think about social networkssince all those types of notifications will always be reminding you that they are there.

Who are the most vulnerable to this type of addiction?

It can be said that the people most affected by this type of addiction are the young especially those aged between 15 and 24 years old, since at this age one goes through a process of impulsivity and need which makes the young man want to constantly interact with this type of application.

Also, at these ages there are many young people who interrelate through these social networks, either using chat services, commenting on photos, using the app’s games, video calls, among other functions. All this makes the young man only think about said platform during his day, since in it he finds a place where he can spend long hours without getting bored or tired.

It is also worth mentioning that these RRSS they have not only become a platform to be able to interact with someonebut also is considered by the majority of young people as a fundamental requirement to be able to be integrated into a group of friends or simply be someone outstanding within a community. Especially today when a large part of society lives from these types of sites.

What are the symptoms that warn us that we may have addiction to social networks?

It is important to mention that any type of pleasant behavior or action can easily become a psychologically addictive behavior. In addition, all people of all ages can suffer from this type of addiction. Get addicted to a social network can be very similar to addictions by alcohol, drugs, gambling, among other.

All of this causes a mental disorder in the person who leads him little by little to move away from his obligations, as well as from society, losing your physical contact with your friends and family. So, a person who is presenting symptom of addiction to the RRSS can present problems compulsive anxiety or a need to always want to be connected and active to said platformeither through the computer or mobile phone.

In many cases, the person leaves their home, either to their work or home of study, and their mind is always aware of what will be happening within the application, for example Instagramwhere you feel the need to know if your friends have uploaded a photo or status, what news has come out, among many other reasons why you feel the need to review.

All this type of actions makes the person begin to experience changes in your personal life, start to have a more distant social lifeY prefer solitude since he enjoys living in a virtual world.

These types of actions make or cause the person to begin to become addictive more quickly, since being alone and finding a shelter on said platform will make you want to spend more and more time on ita. Even, every 30 seconds they update the platform just to see if there is any new news.

What kind of consequences can we suffer by becoming addicted to social networks?

In general, all types of addiction tend to cause problems in the affected person, be it problems of loneliness, deterioration of his personal life, abandoned his obligations, among many other consequences that all this brings with it.

It is noteworthy that a person addicted to social networks is usually very active in them, but in real life it is the opposite, is usually quiet and maybe shy to be able to interact with other peopleeven does not have any kind of knowledge or topic of conversation to be able to establish a conversation with another person.

In this way, here we present some of the consequences that this type of psychological problem can cause:

Difficulty staying focused

A person can be physically in one place, but his mind is in another, in this case it can be a specific place, either Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. A person suffering from symptom of addiction to the RRSS he is constantly reviewing said program, seeing all its details, thinking about it at every moment, even, he is usually reviewing the mobile or tablet to see if you have any app notificationleaving aside his real life for being attentive to what happens behind the screen.

Disorder in sleep and rest habits

Constantly checking social networksespecially in those moments of rest or before sleeping can begin to alter your rhythm of life, thus causing greater fatigue in you and sleep during the next day. On many occasions, many users tend to spending long hours at night checking your social media over and over againThey even spend entire nights using their mobile either to chat with other users or simply to see other users’ publications, thus interrupting something as delicate in a person’s life as sleep and your night rest.

The mobile phone becomes a part of your life

In these cases, the person spends a lot of time using their mobile deviceon many occasions paying much more attention than to other people, thus treating the Smartphone as one of the most important parts of their life. This kind of behavior is causing the person to move away from society little by little, reaching the moment in which said person lose any kind of communication with your family or friends. This happens especially because the phenomenon known as “I am happier if I share it with others.”

An emptiness inside the person

In the case of social networks, everything that is published in them has Date of Expiry, in general, this can be from two to three days, and it is that after publishing some comment, a photo, a video or a status, in a period greater than three days nothing will be heard of it again, thus remaining in the past. In other words, everything that is published in them goes to the surface Plane, leaving like this a feeling of emptiness in people before the emotional demand for recognition from others.

Infographic: Reasons why social media addiction occurs

How to prevent and/or solve the problem of internet addiction to social networks?

Being able to prevent this type of addiction is extremely important, especially since it is something that we can easily control. Being able to prevent or solve this problem It is not about applying a specific treatment, nor about a medicine that will prevent this from happening. On the contrary, it is about starting to take preventive measures

To do this, here are some recommendations that will surely help you prevent and solve this type of addiction:

• Try to maintain daily face-to-face relationships and conversations. Being busy and in constant physical contact with other people will prevent you from feeling the need to be using any social network or using your mobile phone.
• Try to enjoy each of your moments in complete freedom. In other words, when you go out for a walkavoid using your mobile device to capture every single details, much less to upload them to Instagram or Facebook. It is recommended that you enjoy as much as you can that day and keep it in your memory. Keep in mind that the time to use your mobile should be one of your lowest priorities, about to make a balance in your life and take pictures only when they are really necessary.
• It is recommended turn off the mobile device at least three hours a day, or in that case leave it in another room. This will help you disconnect from technological devices and give you time to be able to train new practical ideas for your life. It is also recommended set a usage schedule for social mediawhich do not affect your rest or sleep routine.
• It is recommended that in schools and universities talks are given on the proper use of this type of problem, especially since Young are the most likely to fall into this type of addictions.
• Try watching TV shows TV, series or movies, In other words, try to do what you did with your life before the arrival of these social networks.