Social media can be addicting. But just how much? This is what I wondered after I read about the studies that show that a brain of Facebook addict works exactly like that of a drug addict. Just like drug addicts, the social media junkies too seemingly have less on how they use Facebook or WhatsApp, and they too have this continuous urge to check their social feeds. I read a lot on how Facebook and other social media have made us prisoners of a new kind of world, the virtual world, where each like is a booster shot and every comment soothes the junkies.
After reading all that is wrong with the social media addiction and thinking a lot about the consequences, I decided to cut Facebook and WhatsApp from my life for one day. I stay away from home, so this was a particularly tough decision. Facebook and WhatsApp are my lifelines that make me feel connected to my family. But the results weren't pretty. I would be lying if I don't say that I felt miserable without Facebook and WhatsApp. Here is what happened.
1. Fear: A fear of missing out, or as they say FOMO. While for the first few hours I was happy that my phone no more buzzed with continuous incoming WhatsApp messages, I slowly started panicking that I may be missing out lot of things and not everything can be said on phone calls.
2. Loneliness: As the day passed by, a feeling of being unloved and unrequited started enveloping me. I felt as if nobody was there for me and it got worse by the evening.
3. Irritation: I started getting irritated on small little things. I even lost my temper few a times. I felt that I was no longer in command of things, that I didn't know what was going around me. That made me cranky.
4. Loss of appetite: Even this happened. My concentration was locked in what was happening on Facebook behind my back. I even skipped my lunch and surprisingly did not even feel the need to have my dinner.
5. Phone calls didn't help: Shocking but true. I had a few phone calls but they didn't help. It was as if the phone call was just not enough, as if the entire world was changing up there on Facebook and WhatsApp without me.
This was a completely personal experiment. It is true that many people will cope with absence of Facebook and Twitter in a better way. May be I am just a bit too addicted to the social media apps. May be the problem is me.
But I also know that I am not alone in feeling this way whenever I get away from Facebook and WhatsApp. Not all, but there are many people who feel the same way. Once the Facebook and WhatsApp were mere tools of communication. Now they are a habit, and the one that is hard to give up. The craze to feel connected is so very similar to the desire get take snort some cocaine. No, not all social media users feel the same way. But millions do. And that is just crazy.
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