Social media and cybersecurityLinks to an external site.
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Social Media Disorder scaleLinks to an external site.. 

After answering the Social Media Disorder (SMD) scale, I realized how extensively social media can impact life daily. Scoring above the threshold for a “disordered social media user” made me think about how often I use social media and how that influences my emotions. I also thought about how that could negatively influence other aspects of my life. The items in the scale recognized behaviors that most people may not even categorize as problematic. For example, using social media to escape negative feelings or putting off other activities to have more time to scroll. I believe different patterns of social media use are found across the world because of differences in society, culture, and technology. In some areas, social media is mainly used for entertainment while in others it’s used as a primary communication tool. Government restrictions, collective norms, and internet access influence how people interact with social media platforms. Some cultures may favor face to face interactions more, leading to lower social media usage, while others may use it in replacement of face to face interactions which increases the likelihood of excessive usage.