Being an addict is no longer limited to drugs, alcohol, sex, or even being an obsessive cleaner. In this 21st century there is a new phenomenon that is growing day by day as technology expands its reach across the globe. Creeping up so stealthily, one might not even notice or acknowledge its grip until it’s too late. What’s that?

Social media!

OK… it’s not a word or not? But by definition (or my definition) it means the inability to refrain from using social media at any given time, be it day or night, outside the home, inside or outside the home or workplace. We may even want to broaden the definition even further to include the inability to leave the dreaded cell phone anywhere. Heaven forbidden!

I remember once a good friend of mine in the US was on her way to a very important meeting. She was already running late after waking up late, dressing late, drinking her coffee late, and running out of the house late. While she was on the subway she slapped him that he had forgotten her phone number at home. Now, instead of continuing to the meeting, she went home. Snatching her “priceless” phone from the coffee table, she realized that she would not only be late but ridiculously incomprehensible. So she, instead of calling and saying that she was incredibly late, she called in sick, coughing and babbling into the phone as if she was having a fit. Fortunately for her, the meeting was rearranged and her business finally got the contract.

The trick… the first thing he checked when he got his phone back was Instagram and Facebook. I’m still not sure if he was entertained on YouTube, Snapchat or Linked LinkedIn… but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

Social mediaitis is so prevalent that we don’t even recognize it for what it is, as we have become so addicted to having our phones that we even walk around with them in our hands or in our back pockets as a necessary fashion accessory, a welcome to our true life Matrix of the 21st century. I guess Neo knew what she was talking about!

Just think, ten, twenty years ago, people spent time talking to each other. However, today, technology has provided a variety of ways that we can communicate with each other at the click of a button or live stream. Imagine, there are a selection of digital options for people to send and receive text messages, photos and videos, or browse online, every day, anytime, anywhere. And remember, age is not a factor. Babies today can figure out and use a tablet much faster than their own parents. Go figure.

But what is worse is that these distractions, especially in the workplace, can affect the results of a company and cause a breakdown of social relationships, at home, on the street and in the workplace or even in the office. school. While these interruptions create ineptitude at work and add costs to a company’s bottom line, the widespread and increasing use of smartphones is creating a much more serious problem of interrupted social interaction. Can you imagine a scenario where we all stop talking to each other and do it only through a device?

I was in a meeting a few years ago and in the middle of the team discussion, a phone vibrated somewhere. We all looked around as it was loud and annoying and the head director was about to say something of value and importance. Now, all the members of that meeting had received the memo that the senior director himself had written about not using phones in team meetings. So how amusing it was when, red-faced, he pulled the guilty contraption out of his own pocket, vibrating as if there was some kind of unknown pleasure associated with it. We are still laughing to this day.

So how do you know you have Social Mediaitis?

According to psychologists Mark Griffiths and Daria Kuss, answering “yes” to any of these six questions means that it probably is, and that one would greatly benefit from a digital detox:

• Do you spend a lot of time, when you are not online, thinking about social networks or planning to use social networks?

• Do you feel the need to use social media more and more over time?

• Do you use social networks to forget about personal problems?

• Do you often try to reduce your use of social networks without success?

• Do you feel restless or worried if you cannot use social networks?

• Do you use social networks so much that it has had a negative impact on your work, relationship or studies?

If you have Social Mediaitis where it interferes with competition or value, then a digital detox is required. This means being mindful and living in the moment, detaching from all devices, especially those that allow easy access, experimenting with leaving devices at home or in a bag, and as with any addiction, the first step to change is consciousness, so being in the present will help to recognize Social Mediaitis for what it is.

Still, you should also be aware that as bad as social media can be, it’s also a phenomenal tool for doing business that makes it easy to advertise, so a paradigm shift in mindset and focusing on that aspect will help drive the addiction to create streams of income. and thus live real dreams. So, to overcome the downside of Social Mediaitis, it’s all about taking small steps, starting with an hour and moving to longer times of detachment, especially when around spouses, lovers, friends, or co-workers.

And according to Griffiths and Kuss:

“While most of our social media behaviors may be annoying rather than dangerous, they are indicative of a societal problem. Action should be taken now, while the number of social media addicts is still small. We should not wait to see if it becomes an epidemic”.