Do You Experience Social Media Anxiety?

We live in an age of pure technology. Everything we do involves a gadget; we can't function on a daily basis, we can't do simple tasks without touching a laptop, iPhone or iPad. We are the generation of technology and cell phones and computers and the internet. 

I'd be lying if I said I couldn't make a move without my iPhone. If I move from my bed to my desk, I take it with me. If I walk into my kitchen, my phone is in my hand. It's always been like that and it's a true problem.

With all the technology we have, social media comes directly into play. We're addicted, we are a generation of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all their other friends. Social media is the new way to  communicate, the new way to be constantly in touch with our friends and other people we don't know. When you're constantly checking Twitter or looking at people's pictures on Instagram, it can cause a sense of anxiety that you're missing out on something.

I wrote an article in my school newspaper this year about FOMO and social media that you can read here but I realized that FOMO is not the only thing that should be a concern to our generation.

I've come to see that a lot of people have social media anxiety. There are so many variations of social media anxiety, which according to some articles on The Huffington Post is on it's way to be diagnosed as an actual disorder. 

Whether you get stressed out seeing the boy you like tweet at someone, are jealous of all the fabulous bloggers you follow, or are disappointed that your Instagram picture didn't get 30 likes. There are so many different ways to be stressed out about social media and I don't think I realized how bad the problem is until I started to experience some of the symptoms myself.

Being home over this break is taking it's toll on me. I've been obsessing over social media and even though sometimes it makes me feel better, I've seen that it does stress me out. 

I think the best thing to do is remember that social media is a depiction of how people want you to believe their life is. No one is perfect and just because their Instagram photos are flawless doesn't mean life behind closed doors is. Just because the boy you like follows some girl on Twitter doesn't mean they're going to get married. Social media is all clouds and mirrors and it's something that our generation needs to get a grip on, including myself.

Social Media Anxiety is something that is truly interesting and it shows us how truly life changing technology has been.

Do you experience Social Media Anxiety? Tell me in the comments!