Dealing with Facebook Addiction
Social networking websites have been all the craze in the past decade or so. These websites give users a chance to connect with their friends, relatives, loved ones, or practically any other social networking website user over the Internet. Perhaps one of the biggest and most popular social networking site is Facebook, which has millions of users interconnected by giving “people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” as stated in the mission statement of the company. Facebook has become such a huge hit that some people are actually suffering from what has been dubbed FAD, or Facebook Addiction Disorder. If you feel like you or someone you know is suffering from Facebook addiction, then read on for some helpful tips on how to kick this social networking addiction.
Signs you’re addicted to Facebook
There are tons of things you can do on Facebook, from viewing friend’s profiles and pictures to watching videos or just randomly browsing through the loads of content on the social network. For this reason, it is easy to get sucked in and spend hours at a time on the site. Still, it’s important to avoid getting addicted. Here are some tell-tale signs of Facebook addiction:
- when you spend more than an hour a day on Facebook
- when you lose sleep, neglect work, or neglect real-life responsibilities over Facebook
- when you cannot see yourself detaching from Facebook by leaving the site and erasing your account
- when you become obsessed with old loves or people who you do not know in real life
How to combat Facebook addiction
The first step to combating Facebook addiction is recognizing and admitting that you have an addiction to this social networking site. Second, take some time to think of and list down other things that you can do with your time aside from browsing on Facebook. Third, make a schedule for yourself, allotting maybe 20 or 30 minutes a day for Facebook and using your other time for some of the activities that you jotted down in the previous step. Stick to your schedule. The most important thing, however, is to have a substitute activity for the time that you are cutting off from your Facebook use. If worse comes to worst, the best thing you can do to kick your addiction is to delete your Facebook account. Deleting your account will help you to realize just how much time you spend on Facebook and just how many other things you can do when you aren’t on the social networking site.
Related questions:
1. Is Facebook addiction a reality?
2. How can I tell if I am addicted to Facebook?
3. How can I get rid of my Facebook addiction?
Indeed, there is such thing as FACEBOOK ADDICTION.I’ve been a facebook member for almost 3 years now. From what I’ve observed, most people nowadays open their browsers with facebook as their home page (Yes its facebook, not yahoo nor google). YOu can say that you are facebook addcit if theres a time where you found yourself waiting for a single notification in your page. I’ve observed this thing from one of my cousins. I found her eyes sticked on their computer monitor waiting for a notification. One of the few things that makes facebook addicting is the never ending status updates where you can find yourself waiting for “likes” and simple “comments” so somewhow you’ll get satisfied on how people think about you. Being addicted to facebook is nothing different from being addicted to simple talk shows or tv dramas… you can stop it if you’ll get yourself busy on something else. It’s nothing different with getting yourself not updated or late with the episodes and getting yourself pissed-off because it’s not that interesting anymore.
I used to be one of these facebook addicts. I have been a member for one and a half years now and I can say that the first year was the part where facebook practically took over my life. It is true that there are tons of applications and they were put there for a reason, to attract people and to get them to spend more time on the site. And it works, facebook appeals to every kind of genre. They even send endless notifications and emails just to remind you that someone has poked you or commented on a picture you were tagged in. People are unconsciously taught to care and spend time on things that they don’t usually bother with. Some people say they can quit anytime they want, by deleting their account, but facebook is always a step ahead of us. It allows us to “deactivate” instead of deleting an account. And what’s activated can always be activated, so if you don’t have the will to really quit, there’s no use. The key to controlling one’s addiction is moderation. Facebook isn’t such a bad thing; it can be useful in keeping us updated with news and connecting us with loved ones from afar, which is its main purpose anyway. We just have to control the amount of time we spend in it, and do it gradually, there’s no need to rush. One must reintroduce himself/herself to life outside the internet.
Well I guess facebook addiction is real. I myself noticed that am beginning to be addicted with this networking website. At first I created facebook account to be connected with my friends and relatives. Keeping them updated with my life and so I would be updated about how their life goes too. Anyway our communication is not the reason of the addiction. Yes we could kill an hour or so but it rarely happens. But when I started playing games it made me want to log on to facebook all the time. I don’t want to miss a thing with the games am into. There are lots of interesting games on facebook. There are those where you can make reality your dreams; you can be a mayor; you can have a big farm; you can even have your own restaurant, or a cafe. Such a dream come true in just a game. But then I realize that I’ve wasted so much of my time facing the computer almost the whole day. So I decided to stop playing the games. But I can’t stop it all at once because some part of me wants to play. What I did is stop to play it one by one until I can manage myself not to play anymore. And while on the front of the screen am also browsing to different websites. It helps me avoid playing.
For the last two years, I’ve been lacking for a good night sleep. The culprit? My facebook addiction. I started to like facebook when my boyfriend and I broke up. Secretly i was viewing his account from time to time and spying on new things happening to him, checking his whereabouts, new photos, new comments and anything about him and his family. Until my number of friends list grew. Little by little I started to forget everything about my boyfriend and i enjoyed viewing other friend’s account. Old classmates, neighbors, friends from elementary,High school and also college started to pop in my requests box. And I started to receive messages and wall posts from old crushes, relatives and friends of friends made me enjoy more.That started my FB gaganess. At first I was just checking at home after work. And it came to a point that I cannot even control my self in the office. And there started that I even connected fb thru my phone.And my addiction grew more during the birth of fb games.There were times that I don’t go out anymore during weekdays coz I’m scared my crops will wither when I failed to harvest it. Terrible! And I noticed that every product nowadays have their FB account and fb contests became a sensation, like airlines giving contestants travel packages for prizes etc. You see? it’s hard to stop when all you’ll be needing and wanting is in FB.
Over the past year I’ve always been one of those people who is always up-to-date when it comes to my Facebook account. There was once when I post new status almost every three hours, post new pictures everyday, past links of favorite musics, I was one of those Facebook addicts. But then eventually I only got interested in knowing how people think of my new updates such us uploaded photos, change of status from single to “in-a-relationship” and surprisingly most of my friends responds to this like it’s the new big thing in town. I post what’s on my mind no matter how funny they might sound and people reacts to them makes me feel like I am being heard. It’s not really of a big deal if you’re an addict to this sort but as long as you maintain the unity you have with those so-called friends online to the time when you guys are together face-to-face, what matters really is friends should be friends whether they are online or personal.
I had to admit that the first time I used it, I can’t seem to get my eyes off Facebook. It was always open even if I am doing other things like checking my email, doing my job or before and after i sleep. That was how addicted I am with Facebook. However, when I noticed that i spent more hours in front of my computer just waiting for a reply on my post or any new post from my friends, I started to be alarmed. Because I have been neglecting other things that I usually do which I really enjoy like reading the books I just bought recently, watching my favorite shows and writing new posts for my blog site. Since that realization, I only allot an hour on Facebook and when I am logged in, I am now on offline mode. Chatting keeps my staying longer on Facebook so now I only reply to those posts I like. This way, I control the use of it and it’s not the other way around for me.
Just like the other, I myself had a taste of Facebook Addiction. And just like in any addiction you’ll never know you’re into it. But then again, it’s not like substance or drug addiction that is very hard to combat. I myself be blown with the fad. I log daily. I post status. I make new friends. I reunite with old friend. But after sometime, the climax died down. The daily became weekly, the statuses updates became once a day, and so on. It will die down naturally.
But, if you’re one of the many who really can’t get out of the pit, do not fret. You can turn your facebook addiction into something valuable. Like posting inspirational messages or linking your status into self help blogs. Instead of playing around facebook, inspire other people. Through that, you can make something out of that addiction and let the guilt free you.
The most important thing is to be responsible in whatever you do. Ensure that what you share online will result into something worthwhile.
Nowadays, Facebook is the leading networking homepage. Almost 3 million active members are online every minutes. I am a student pharmacist. I thought that only drugs can make people addicted especially those teenagers. It is recommended not stay in a long hours with your PC. It is not good for your eyes! Even though Facebook is very helpful in different ways, like communication, giving more information, sharing pictures and videos, can help for educational purposes like researches projects and many more! But if you overdose(overused)the time with Facebook, it will gather your attention and will distract you. I am one of those Facebook addicts, we don’t have internet in our house. So everyday i went to Internet cafe and I pay 20 pesos(0.50 USD) per hour just to open my Facebook.
Being a Facebook addict can lost your allowances, gather your attention, distract your education, and of course, it will steal your HEART.
Remember, everything in the world are temporary and don’t put your trust in it. The in the Lord with all your Heart for his love endures forever!
For every whole workweek, I am based many mountains away from home, and homesickness usually comes into the picture always as a bad acquaintance. Its only with my laptop, electric source and an internet connection that I get into the cyberwire and connect to my family’s distant world. Talk about Facebook, it has has ushered me to the convenience of bonding by heart, with emotions taking over inspite physical absence. With it, I get to greet and discuss anything with family and friends anytime in realtime, and share smiles, laughter, tears and emotions too! This is such a great relief for me – to stay connected and be updated on things that concern me, my family, my friends, my loved ones, anything about everything! The time I spent in the cyber facebook is never wasted and will never be regretted, coz I make sure my dear relationships are cherished in every login. I login to Facebook usually at night, when I know everyone in my family is home, and that anyone’s worktime is never hampered. In my case, I guess there’s no need for me to break-free from this so-called addiction. Sort of like saying Facebook’s red status reminders (those little red callouts that usually mean new messages, comments, updates drawn by my facebook friends to my profile) and the chat list of online friends are some kind of little joys that I look forward to in every login. It’s a thing called belongingness, of being there by heart, not really being apart. For those who regard Facebook as a mere time-eater, I really isn’t. It is only a matter of self- and time-management. More than all, Facebook is a productivity tool anybody can use to bringing loved ones closer…inspite many mountains and seas in between, inspite distance. Family. Friends. Facebook. All close and closer.