These days it’s much more rare to meet a person who doesn’t have a presence on social media than it is for you to encounter someone that spends hours every day obsessing over it. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media just as much as the next millennial, but I definitely know where to draw the line. Posting interesting articles on Facebook, sharing updates from your awesome vacation on Instagram or tweeting a funny GIF on Twitter are all pretty harmless, but how do you know when your love for social media is starting to become an obsession? Below are three signs that you might be legit #obsessed:

Likes and comments mean EVERYTHING to you
Validation about how beautiful you look or how awesome you or your accomplishments are should never come in the form of hearts, likes or emojis. If you’ve ever uploaded a selfie on Instagram or shared a life event on Facebook and deleted it afterwards only because it didn’t get as many likes/comments as you’d hoped for, you definitely have to check your priorities.

You plan your posts meticulously
If you don’t post it on social media then it didn’t really happen, right? If you just answered yes to that question then you most likely pre-plan your posts every time you intend to do something cool. You know that you’ve gotta capture that perfect photo with your friends and you already know where you’ll stand to take advantage of the most flattering lighting, which hashtags you’ll use in your caption and which people you’ll tag. If you’re spending more time obsessing over what to post than obsessing over the cool experience you’re actually having in real life, you need to hit the breaks. Do your best to live in the moment and worry about what you’ll share when you’re ready to actually post something online.

You only go places and do things so you can post about it
The cliche saying “stop to smell the roses” rings especially true in this case. If you’re making social plans just so you can share them with the world online, you’ve gotta check yourself. Order the food you actually want to eat instead of worrying about what dish will look best in your photo. Support your favourite businesses (regardless of how cool they look) instead of going out of your way to find trendy spots for the sake of a photo.

 

Chances are you’re guilty of at least one of the above offences, even if it isn’t all the time. The fact is that social media has become a major part of our lives and whether we like it or not, it’s changed the way we communicate. It’s ok to be excited about what you’re experiencing and to want to share that excitement with the world, but don’t ever let your quest for popularity online overtake your quest to live life to the fullest…..beyond the screen.