To live consciously is to live in a deliberate and intentional way. 

The overuse of social media is so normalized that it’s difficult to identify when it becomes a barrier to living a conscious life.

There are signs you can identify when it is becoming a problem. Generally, when it negatively impacts your life, job, or relationships. 

Now you may think that our intake of social media is the least of our worries. However, research has found that the more we use Facebook, the worse we feel. Facebook ruins relationships. Facebook makes us feel bad about ourselves. Facebook contributes to eating disorders. Positive emotions spread faster through social networks than negative emotions. Facebook use correlates with “life satisfaction, social trust, civic engagement, and political participation.” Being active on Facebook can make us feel less lonely.

And using social media can lead to the release of pleasure chemicals, such as dopamine and oxytocin which are both present in cigarettes and alcohol. Meaning when we get hooked on a social platform we also get hooked to these negatives.

To break free from this cycle we must become more mindful about our relationship to technology.