The Social Network

In today's world, everyone is on social media. If I talk about myself, there was a time when I was a social media addict. I couldn't live without using Instagram and Facebook. Every fifteen minutes, I used to check notifications. Hardly went a day I didn't put a story on Instagram. I wasted so many precious hours scrolling endlessly which was good for nothing. 

It all began like this, I was in 7th standard and at that time most of my classmates were using Facebook. They used to encourage me to join it but I thought it would not be any good to join. Also because at that time Facebook's age limit was 18. All my friends created their accounts by entering the fake age of birth. You too would've done it, no big deal. But, to me, it felt fake. I did not want to enjoy something which was not for my age group. So, I just ignored my friends and classmates. But the game turned when Facebook updated the age limit to 13 years. That event gave a freedom that now I can enjoy the thing which is allowed for my age group. And I joined Facebook. In the beginning, it was not as excited as I expected. But as soon as my friend's list grew it became more and more exciting. I was making more and more friends and trying to get in touch with the lost friends. With more friends, there was more chatting and more time spending on the social network. 

Well, social media gives us a dopamine boost and that is why we are addicted to it. I classify the extent of dopamine-related to social networks into three categories: mild, moderate, and high. Talking about the first one, mild dopamine does not excite much but is fine. And that comes when we see a notification after logging into our account. Also, its intensity increases with the increasing number of notifications you've pending. Now comes the mild dopamine which hits when you've some unread messages. And we all know how true it is. We get excited when we see someone has texted us. Its intensity too increases with the number of texts you've received. And lastly,  the high dopamine which bursts when you've got a friend request. It makes us super excited. And the intensity variation for this is also the same as the previous two. 

Now continuing my story, some years later Instagram came into the limelight. At that time it didn't have many features. One could only post pictures, and like and comment on other's pictures. There was no messaging feature nor any story feature. So, I made an account on it and started posting pictures. Still, it was any exciting so I was still addicted to Facebook. But because not many people were using Instagram so it made me feel unique or you can say apart from the crowd. But with time, Instagram was acquired by Facebook and they used the marketing tactics to bring people to Instagram. So, many of my friends joined Instagram. Also, they kept on adding new attractive features because of which I didn't even realize how I turned into an Instagram addict from a Facebook addict. I stopped using Facebook, though my account was still there. But I was using Instagram more than how much I used to use Facebook. And now I was wasting too much time on it. From being a creative person to a phone addict, social networks destroyed me silently.

As we all know, better late than never. There came a time I realized that how badly has social media impacted my life. I felt that the time has come and I don't want to be a part of this sweet trap anymore which kills you silently.

I quit the social network. I deactivated all my social media accounts. In the beginning, it was difficult but with time it turned easy. It had been two years since I had quit it and now I never feel like using it anymore. Maybe there will come a time when I will start using it again but for now, I don't think I should use it.

Have a great day!

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