Social Media is Addicting?

I truly think Twitter can be addicting but others may see Facebook as addicting. I mean I can get on both social media sites from my home PC, my laptop, and my Blackberry Curve. All three products allow me to stay connected to the social media world virtually anywhere I go. I could be in the grocery store shopping with my children and tweeting on Twitter from my smartphone!

When is enough enough? Don’t get me wrong, I totally dig social media and all it has done to open the doors to my blog and my business as well as my work at home income, but overall social media can be a disease that takes over a person, allowing them to further ignore their family and in turn creating a monster!

Think about it, if a person gets addicted to pills or alcohol or illegal drugs we step in and say something. Do you step in and say something to a friend or family member you feel is addicted to social media? Would you tell them that they need to seek help from their physician or counselor?

I honestly love my smartphone, I think it’s a useful business tool, but that is exactly what my Blackberry Curve is … a business tool. This is not a toy, this is not something that has to be in front of my eyes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Gosh I swear the work at home person tends to put in more overtime than that work-acholic parent who works outside of the home in a job! It is time we sit back and truly think about the endless hours we spend on social media and ask yourself if that time could be better spent with your family?

I know when I am in the grocery store shopping with my three kids there is no way I could have my smartphone in my face typing away on Twitter or FB while actually still keeping an eye on my children. Could you imagine how bad a parent would feel if their head was so far into their smartphone & social media tweets or status updates that they lost a child? I know I would be devastated and I would never want to touch a smartphone again.

I think we are all diving into social media because it connects us not only on a business level but on a personal,  community type level with our peers, but remember who your real life friends are, remember who your family is and remember if you know someone who is addicted to social media to speak up and let them hear your side about the subject, sometimes all an addict needs to hear is that there is a concern and they will be able to work on changing their habit in a way that is more healthy for themselves & their loved ones!

What do you think; do you think Social Media is addicting? Do you feel too many of us are on it for more hours than we should be? Would you tell a friend if you thought they were addicted to Twitter or Facebook?