3 How social media steals time and focus
Researchers are increasingly coming to understand the importance of self-regulation in social media use. Improving your awareness of the relationship you have with social media is an important foundation of learning how to use it in your educational journey. This section begins with a question.
Activity 3 Stolen time
How often do you think most adults check their phones every day?
Perhaps you have noticed how sometimes you sit down to do something and find that time you had dedicated to that task has disappeared because you picked up your phone to check your social media and suddenly half an hour has gone past. Or that sometimes it is hard to leave your phone down. But have you ever considered that you have a problem with it; that you are addicted to your phone?
Social media addiction is a term that is much banded about in the media. There is even a great deal of current debate about whether it might be possible to diagnose social media addiction as a psychiatric condition. But defining what this addiction means can be tricky – answer the following question to get a sense of what you and your peers think is ‘excessive use’ of social media.
Activity 4 How much is too much?
How much time do you think is too much time to spend on social media per day?
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As the results of this poll show, it can be tricky to pin down what counts as excessive use, as this will vary from person to person. To set the poll results in context it may also surprise you to know that the majority of people spend at least two hours social networking every day.