Complete the Social Media Disorder scale. How did you score? What do you think about the items on the scale? Why do you think that different patterns are found across the world?

Scale taken from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216302059

Criterion	During the past year, have you …	Answer
Preoccupation	… regularly found that you can’t think of anything else but the moment that you will be able to use social media again?	No
Tolerance	… regularly felt dissatisfied because you wanted to spend more time on social media?	No
Withdrawal	… often felt bad when you could not use social media?	No
Persistence	… tried to spend less time on social media, but failed?	No
Displacement	… regularly neglected other activities (e.g. hobbies, sport) because you wanted to use social media?	No
Problem	… regularly had arguments with others because of your social media use?	No
Deception	… regularly lied to your parents or friends about the amount of time you spend on social media?	No
Escape	… often used social media to escape from negative feelings?	Yes
Conflict	… had serious conflict with your parents, brother(s) or sister(s) because of your social media use?	No

I think I scored pretty well. I rarely use social media except for a hobby I do on the side, so I’m relatively unknown on most social media. When I do use social media to “escape negative feelings” it’s mostly to take a break from something I’m doing to answer messages, or look at notifications; sort of a mental reset for the moment.

I think that patterns tend to vary worldwide because cultures vary, and work ethics vary as well. In the US, we use social media constantly, and tend to have a less aggressive work ethic than some other countries. In Asian countries for example, a strong work ethic is part of the culture there, so social media use during work is generally frowned upon. This can cause it’s own share of issues from burn-out to higher rates of mental exhaustion, but this is hardly the fault of social media.