I knew something was wrong when I would post online, waiting for anyone to respond.
It becomes this obsession, small bits of human contact, mediated by the computer.
"This person likes what you wrote", digital pats on they back, they become addictive.
I am five days clean from reddit.com. I've used drugs, no drug I've tried is as addictive as social media. The first day my entire body hurt. I just wanted to check my posts, refresh the front page. I knew it would be hard, I didn't know it would make me suicidal.
I kept having these thoughts about missing out. How would I know the absolute latest information about the Las Vegas shooter? Even with a NYTimes subscription I felt left out.
The endless conversations, arguments, quips. It feels like a huge extended family.
I get why. It amplifies our conversations to make them seem outsized, but no one is really reading. It's non-stop entertainment. My views were never seriously challenged. Any belief, no matter how strange, a group is waiting to accept you.
I want more real life friends and I can tell a reliance on the Internet has stunted my ability to relate to people in the real world.
I'm getting over an addiction, now the work of living begins.
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account