Complete the Social Media Disorder scaleLinks to an external site.. How did you score? What do you think about the items in the scale? Why do you think that different patterns are found across the world?
On the Social Media Disorder scale, I answered yes to four out of the nine questions. I have never really thought too much of social media usage being an issue. I personally only use social media to text or to watch something funny. I think it is easy to use social media as an escape from processing negative emotions. I have also said yes to having difficulty stopping when I needed to as many platforms today use algorithms to keep users engaged on the site.
Patterns around the world may be different because of their culture’s values towards finding importance in the real world as opposed to finding instant gratification for oneself. A few years ago I read that some countries have enacted curfews on internet usage to target gaming addictions.