Social Media Disorder Scale
During the past year, have you …
• regularly found that you can’t think of anything else but the moment that you will be able to use
social media again? No I rarely use social media as it is there’s not enough time in the day to get hooked on it.
• regularly felt dissatisfied because you wanted to spend more time on social media? No
• often felt bad when you could not use social media? No
• tried to spend less time on social media, but failed? I’ve actually tried to spend more at the request of friends but failed.
• regularly neglected other activities (e.g. hobbies, sport) because you wanted to use social media? No
• regularly had arguments with others because of your social media use? No
• regularly lied to your parents or friends about the amount of time you spend on social media? No
• often used social media to escape from negative feelings? No
• had serious conflict with your parents, brother(s) or sister(s) because of your social media use? No
I scored pretty healthily with a 0/9 But I think I am an unusual case. I think the items in the scale are asking if you have an addiction to technology. I feel reluctant to label it a disorder. People get addicted to anything though. People are addicted to sports, food, sugar, coffee, smoking, and yes, technology and social media. I think different patterns are found across the world because there are different social pressures and people are raised with different values in different cultures. Also if you are raised in an area with a lot to do and warm temperatures you are less likely to get hooked to technology, so geography will change your likelihood of a heigh score.