Dependant on Social Media?

I’ll be the first to admit it.  I’m addicted to social media.  Seriously addicted.  Why is that?  Why do I feel the need to check my email, twitter, stumbleupon and facebook constantly?  Well, it’s because I’m a social media junkie.

Those of you who use social media outlets (and who doesn’t these days?) know exactly what I’m talking about.  We need and crave that personal, yet not too personal interaction with our online friends. We depend on social media to be there as an outlet and connection to our online world.  It’s when social media gets taken away that we really realize how much we depend on it to stay connected.  Social media is our IV that keeps our heart beating; it adds fuel to the fire for our desire to explore the great beyond… the world wide web.

Twitter was acting up today and I found myself lost… in cyberspace.  I didn’t know what to do and couldn’t think clearly.  Yes, like I said before… seriously addicted.

What did we do without social media? What was the world like before Facebook, MySpace, MSN Instant Messenger, Twitter?  Truthfully, I don’t even remember.  Social media is so much ingrained into who I am as an individual that I can’t even imagine life without it.  In fact, thinking about the possibility of not having social media gives me a bit of a panic attack.

Am I addicted?  Is this a normal feeling? I think that I need to ration my portions of social media in order to control it from taking over my whole self.  But it’s so hard… and it’s so easy to rationalize why a little more time spent on the social media networks would be okay.  Just a little more time, after I refresh my Twitter, and then after I respond to this friend; before I know it, I’ve wasted another hour.  I think that I need to quit social media.  (or at least set a timer for myself.)

Are you dependant on social media?  How do you rationalize the time you spend on it? Please tell me it’s not just me who has a social media addiction…