The Social Media Disorder scale is a rubric that can be utilized for self-reflection in the context of your personal social media use. The following are my results…
In the past year have you…
- “Regularly found that you could not think of anything else but the moment that you would be able to use social media again?”
-No, however, when I was younger, I felt this way at times, but now that I am older and my use and interactions with social media are dramatically less, I do not feel this way anymore.
- “Regularly felt dissatisfied because you wanted to spend more time on social media?”
-No, my experiences with social media have often felt like a waste of time as I have found myself often endlessly scrolling. When I do go on, I set time limits to avoid that trap!
- “Often felt bad when you could not use social media?”
-No.
- “Tried to spend less time on social media, but failed?”
-Yes, I still struggle to do this today. For a while, I deleted all apps to limit my use entirely, and that worked -however, social media is a great way to stay in touch when living far from family -so I caved and downloaded some apps back. Now, to help with my usage, I set personal time limits and establish rules when I use social media (for example, I do not check social media first thing in the morning).
- “Regularly neglected other activities (e.g. hobbies, sports) because you wanted to use social media?”
-I have in the past. That is why I must set limits for myself.
- “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?”
-To be completely transparent, yes. When I first started to cut back on my usage, I would lie to friends and family about not going on in hopes to hide my failure of giving in and checking the socials.
- “Often used social media to escape from negative feelings?”
-Yes, I have used social media as a distraction to avoid heavy feelings.
- “Had serious conflict with your parents, brother(s), or sister(s) because of your social media use?”
-No.
Overall, the items on the scale can help an individual to self-reflect and hopefully become more self-aware of their social media usage. This can show an individual that their social media usage might be affecting their lives negatively. Self-awareness is the first step in making a personal change.
Patterns of social media usage differ across the world for multiple reasons. When considering that many societies have their own set of customs and beliefs that influences how individuals interact with one another, this ultimately becomes a set of endless variables to consider. Nonetheless with the multitude of variabilities, the study of how societies interact off and online is an essential component to explore when attempting to understand how social media can affect a population.