Labiba, a 15-year-old girl, is a student of 9th standard but she also has a facebook account. There is nothing wrong about having an account on a social networking site but it should not affect you negatively.
Labiba often fights with her mother regarding the use of facebook as she always remains glued to the screen. As an aftermath she is lacking some essential social skills. Whenever she goes outside her place, she keeps checking her facebook comments and photos instead of having conversation with people around her. In short she cannot think anything without facebook as it has become an addiction for her!
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism - C.G Jung, founder of analytical psychology, very sagaciously points out that any kind of addiction is detrimental. People are addicted to many things; some are addicted to music while some are seriously addicted to social networking sites. Such addiction brings not only disastrous physical changes but also huge devastating psychological variations in the addicts. If you’ve found that connecting, sharing, posting and learning via Facebook has taken over all avenues of communicating and learning in your life, it’s possible that you’re suffering from Facebook addiction.
Well, I’m not against facebook. You can easily get connected with people you haven’t seen in years, share your worldly views, and effortlessly keep track of your friends’ activities and birthdays. Where else can you get that opportunity? But using Facebook without boundaries can also become unhealthy and damaging. It kills not only time and attention, but also detracts from genuine human and social interaction. If you think your facebook addiction might be causing problems in your life, or you just want to cut back a bit so that you can focus your attention and energy on more important things, here’s how you can start to take control:
Recognize your problem
The first step is the realization of the fact that you are indeed addicted to facebook. Sometimes people find it hard to recognize the idea that they are squandering a lot of time on facebook doing nothing at all. So, you will have to understand whether you are doing that or actually you are doing something significant on the social networking site.
Spend less time in scrolling the newsfeed
Facebook newsfeed is one of the main attractions for the users to keep them logged in facebook. It gives and serves you the most interesting contents and shares things that viewers and users would like. And therefore, you should stop scrolling and avoid the contents that will amuse you in any ways. By scrolling the newsfeed and checking them you kill quite extra time and energy that you can give to your family or friends in real.
Avoid commenting on people’s post
If you comment on people’s post or photos, it will give you a chance to have loads of notifications and an urge to reply those comments. So it’s better not to keep in contact with the comment sections of people’s posts or photos. If you find yourself spending too much time online, then you need to stop doing it.
Having a plan to do other things
If you find yourself thinking of facebook too often, then you should find something else to occupy your thoughts. Find other enjoyable things to do. Make extra time for family and friends and try to avoid all sorts of phone or electronic device usage while being with them. Pick any hobby or leisure time work that you can do in your free time, for instance, playing indoor, outdoor or online games, listening music, reading books, walking or visiting places. Through these other activities your mind can diverse into other activities and so you can get rid of the addiction of facebook.
Allocating fixed amount of time for facebooking
It will not be easy to overcome the addiction of facebook but you need to be determined on your thoughts and decisions. And to do so, whenever you are to log on to Facebook, make sure you know what you are going to do online and how much time you will be spending online. Limit your time and log on to facebook during certain set times only.
Turn off all app notifications
Notifications about your facebook account may lure you to log on to facebook. So, it’s best when you intentionally decide to check facebook, without hearing an alert that triggers your attention. Reduce distractions and the urge to check and scroll by turning off all notifications in the app.
Deactivate facebook account
Deactivate your account and nobody will be notified, and no one will be able to see your info anymore, even though it may take facebook up to 90 days to completely delete all your information. This is one of the ways that can help you to overcome the addiction. You can deactivate facebook, even only for a while to let your mind settle for some time, no more notifications will bother you and you won’t have to deal with an urge to login anymore. Before doing that you can save and collect your friends’ contact information.
Finally it can be said that facebook is a tool that just like any other should benefit us when we use it. If you feel like it’s controlling your life a little more than it should, take steps to get it back to sanity. When used wisely, it’s a valuable resource that allows you to connect in so many meaningful ways.