# Are you addicted to Social Media? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054 "2020-01-07T02:37:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/41 "2020-01-08T22:30:53Z")
The only social media I use the the SDMB. And this past week+ I’ve “missed” a few days here and there. I’ve gone several weeks at times in recent years without a visit. But generally I visit once a day, sometimes twice. So a regular but not an addict. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/42 "2020-01-08T22:45:39Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Wouldn’t this be like arguing “Horseless carriages” are not cars? Maybe. But it could also be like arguing that the horse-pulled variety of carriages are not cars. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/43 "2020-01-08T23:22:08Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Maybe. But it could also be like arguing that the horse-pulled variety of carriages are not cars. I don’t think anyone is arguing that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/44 "2020-01-09T21:48:34Z")
I posted yes. I mostly read what others post on Reddit, The SDMB, Facebook, and Twitter. For one week, about 90% of my social media posts are on Reddit; 5% on The SDMB; and 5% on Facebook. I rarely post on Twitter. As far Reddit and The SDMB are concerned, I mostly comment on other people’s questions and threads; I rarely post my own threads. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/45 "2020-01-10T00:47:42Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I posted yes. I mostly read what others post on Reddit, The SDMB, Facebook, and Twitter. For one week, about 90% of my social media posts are on Reddit; 5% on The SDMB; and 5% on Facebook. I rarely post on Twitter. > > As far Reddit and The SDMB are concerned, I mostly comment on other people’s questions and threads; I rarely post my own threads. Thank you. Me 70% on Twitter. Almost always reading. Addiction is addiction. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/46 "2020-01-10T00:49:26Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I can definitely see your point, but the _phrase_ social media wasn’t in common parlance until the rise to hegemony of Facebook and the arrival of Twitter. And when people ask if I’ll give my social media handles and I tell them my username on SDMB, they’ll reply “no that doesn’t count”. I guess forums were a precursor to Social Media. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/47 "2020-01-10T00:50:38Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > What can I say? Addiction is Addiction. How do _you_ define addiction? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/48 "2020-01-10T00:59:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > One big difference to me between this board and most social media is that most people use their real names on Facebook and the like. The use of pseudonyms on this board allows for a certain level of anonymity. Ha! No. Most or at least many, many people do _not_ use their real name on Facebook. Ha! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/49 "2020-01-10T01:18:02Z")
Addiction is a strong word. I would not use it to describe my use of social media. But all of my internet has had social interactivity elements, since I first logged on 25 years ago, so it’s an important part of my life now. I am not on Facebook or Instagram. Only on Twitter, and will leave comments on things like YouTube. I don’t have the internet on my phone so can have many hours of my day absent from social media without any qualms. If I was to lose my internet entirely I think I’d get a bit antsy at first. I’ve been on holidays where I have been unable to connect and it does contribute to a bit of anxiety, but I’d soon get over it I think. I think the so-called evils of social media, as they are often described, are minimal, often exaggerated, and for most of us nothing to worry about. A few specific people and incidents are anomalous rather than the norm we should be concerned about. Though don’t take your eye off the ball, it could go south more dramatically at any moment. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/50 "2020-01-10T01:22:17Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I guess forums were a precursor to Social Media. It was often said the turn of the last decade (2010 … how time flies!) was going to see the death of forums as social media really took off. For a while it did seem that way but actually I believe forums are better than ever. I certainly spend more time on forums than twitter or facebook. Because forums allow for long form discussion and to have an actual discussion you need to develop your points. Forums allow that but they allow it with anonymity and without having to follow or be followed. You can simply share your opinion and maybe no one will respond, maybe everyone will. There’s no popularity contest on forums as you see on social media. Moreover forums are specific. I post on here because it is a pretty educational / thought-provoking site, but I also post on places where the main thing that unites everyone is a sports team. That doesn’t mean on that forum we don’t have sub-sections for politics or general discussion but the reason everyone signed up is they support the same team and they all love the same sport so that’s the nucleus of discussion. Then there are boards that are music-centric or art-centric or specific academic focused (historum or physicsforum for example). You can have an account on five different forums whereby the bulk of your posting is on five different subjects, but on social media you have one account for everything. I think having a large online footprint is unappealing because your musings get lost in the clutter, if they ever get seen at all. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/51 "2020-01-10T01:30:33Z")
Lol, I’ve been addicted to social media since I had 6 months with a friends USENET account back in 1980-something, then with a Prodigy account in 1989… then AOL message boards (JThorn1934), SDMB, other internet vbulletin forums, then Twitter, all leading to my last shit-post in 2042 when my brain sends its final message to my cortical shunt, routing it to all 926 social accounts saying “you all fuckin’ suck for still being alive. Basta…” Hopefully personality uploads, ala the Heechee series, will be viable by then so I can continue my proud tradition of typing walls of barely-read text. Social media has been awesome and troublesome and, in my life, it’s been a fantastic way to communicate with people on the topics I want to talk about in a manner and detail which would be tedious\* and irksome\*\* in real life. \*Shut up \*\*SHUT UP! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/52 "2020-01-10T01:32:51Z")
Keep in mind “addiction” means the continuation of a behavior despite the negative impacts it causes on one or more major areas of your life; personal relationships, health, finance, job/career status and more. For those saying they are addicted to social media, can you identify what negative impact its had on a major aspect of your life that you’ve continued use of social media despite of? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/53 "2020-01-10T01:35:23Z")
And, yes, I consider all of that… even USENET and email distro lists… to be SM as it has the same 1-to-many aspect that FB, Twitter, etc have, just nowhere as scaled. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/54 "2020-01-10T01:41:55Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > One big difference to me between this board and most social media is that most people use their real names on Facebook and the like. The use of pseudonyms on this board allows for a certain level of anonymity. > > Ha! No. Most or at least many, many people do _not_ use their real name on Facebook. Ha! I did not know that, as I don’t use Facebook. I thought the company insisted that people use real names. Also, even if I use a pseudonym, I’ll bet I could be identified by noting whose pages I follow or are friends with. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/55 "2020-01-10T01:57:34Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > What can I say? Addiction is Addiction. If social media includes anonymous forums, then quite possibly. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054/56 "2020-01-10T03:56:10Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I used to use facebook to get laid but since I met my wife I maybe get on 4 times a year. I parsed that one wrong. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-addicted-to-social-media/846054.md?page=2)