Facebook is considered to be a great innovation in the world of Information Communication Technology. While it is really good, too much of goodness can be bad. Spending too much time on it cannot be healthy.
Here are nine signs that indicate you might be spending way too much time on Facebook:
Even when you have the slightest chance, Facebook is your go-to point
Say you are in a social event and when other people are having conversations that leave you alone for a moment, and you open your iPhone and start scrolling through your Facebook feed. Then, my friend, you are using it to look less awkward.
Karen Sobel Lojeski, Ph.D., assistant Stony Brook University, says that “It’s not easy to become socially comfortable. But when we avoid it all the time because of the habits we’ve developed around machines, we can’t feel secure as a human being.”
It’s time you started using Facebook in a social situation just that you could feel less awkward.
You start thinking, “But their lives are better than mine”
You start comparing your life with someone else’s because you start to see that everyone else is traveling to places you wanted to go or eating the food that you wanted to eat or partying while you have to be on your nine-to-five job. Tim Bono, PhD, assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and lecturer in psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, states that, “Social media, especially Facebook, is exposing us to information that is ultimately exaggerating how much better off others are in comparison to our own lives because we are gaining access only to a narrow segment of other people’s lives.” According to him, people on Facebook normally talk about their good moments and try to keep their insecurities and bad moments to themselves.
You develop the habit of being annoyed when you meet people in real life
What you see on Facebook is the only highlight of the reel, not the real life. When you keep seeing such things, you develop envy and jealousy against those people. This might even lead to negative exposure to your real-life relationships. “They carry that angst, anger, frustration, and envy with them into an actual conversation,” says Dr. Sobel Lojeski. You start resenting that person for living a better life than yours, and it could create toxic relationships.
You start setting things for later
Ever felt guilty when your boss caught you using Facebook in your workplace? It’s okay, says studies. It’s okay to take short breaks during work hours because it can help boost productivity and creativity. But the problem with it is that a quick ten minutes can turn into hours, according to Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D., director of the Media Psychology Research Center. Then you start keeping things for the future. She adds, “We tend to sort of misjudge how much time we’re spending on things. It’s super easy to fall off the grid because there’s so much stuff there.”
You start getting pissed off with your friend’s posts
There might be instances when you don’t agree with what your friends have to say about certain issues. Or it could be that their posts can make your angry or jealous too. “The biological tendency of a person is going to be to look for the negative because we are hardwired to make sure we’re safe,” says Dr. Rutledge, “The way to increase our level of safety is to understand the uncertainty in the environment around us and create certainty.”
You keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling…..
The goal of the website is to get you hooked to it, and that can leave you scrolling on and on over your feed. “The design itself is addictive,” says Dr. Bono. Most of the times, it’s the boring stuff that goes through your feed, until you find one interesting one. He says, “It’s like a slot machine. You know that that there is a small chance of big payoff. But yet, if you see something cool, the chemicals inside your brain explode and encourages you to keep going. Since the posts are only interesting a few times, there is the desire to keep going until you find something appealing. And that makes it even more appealing than it really is.
Your source of news is Facebook
You happen to know about current things because of Facebook. The problem with that is a lot of fake news go viral across the platform, and it might not be true. “Use Facebook for what it’s intended, which is the social connection,” says Dr. Rutledge, “Use news sources for what they’re intended, which is reporting the news.”
Also, the algorithms on Facebook show things based on things that you like. It means that you are only seeing things that you agree with. To gain a balanced perspective, you need to use news sources.
You aren’t the “friend in need”
We are programmed to think that other people can think like us. But when we start having conversations face-to-face, we realize that it’s all wrong. On screen, you won’t be able to empathize with your friend. If your friend says to you in person that he is having a bad day, then you would do at least something about it, even if it means a slight hug. But when you see the same thing on Facebook, chances are high that you are going to ignore it. “When we’re not living the experience of understanding that people think differently that we do, then empathy erodes,” says Dr. Sobel Lojeski, “We just don’t help other people as much.”
You start getting distracted because of your kids
You know that your kids use Facebook. A lot! And you know that you also use Facebook. A LOT! But you don’t want them to be spending too much there. That can only happen if you start setting that rule for yourself and become a better role model for them. Dr. Rutledge mentions, “If you don’t want your kids on Facebook when you’re talking to them, don’t be on Facebook when they’re trying to talk to you. Recognize when it’s important to be present.”