Social networking websites have been all the craze in the past decade or so. These websites give users a chance to connect with their friends, relatives, loved ones, or practically any other social networking website user over the Internet. Perhaps one of the biggest and most popular social networking site is Facebook, which has millions of users interconnected by giving “people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” as stated in the mission statement of the company. Facebook has become such a huge hit that some people are actually suffering from what has been dubbed FAD, or Facebook Addiction Disorder. If you feel like you or someone you know is suffering from Facebook addiction, then read on for some helpful tips on how to kick this social networking addiction.

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Signs you’re addicted to Facebook

There are tons of things you can do on Facebook, from viewing friend’s profiles and pictures to watching videos or just randomly browsing through the loads of content on the social network. For this reason, it is easy to get sucked in and spend hours at a time on the site. Still, it’s important to avoid getting addicted. Here are some tell-tale signs of Facebook addiction:

- when you spend more than an hour a day on Facebook
- when you lose sleep, neglect work, or neglect real-life responsibilities over Facebook
- when you cannot see yourself detaching from Facebook by leaving the site and erasing your account
- when you become obsessed with old loves or people who you do not know in real life

How to combat Facebook addiction

The first step to combating Facebook addiction is recognizing and admitting that you have an addiction to this social networking site. Second, take some time to think of and list down other things that you can do with your time aside from browsing on Facebook. Third, make a schedule for yourself, allotting maybe 20 or 30 minutes a day for Facebook and using your other time for some of the activities that you jotted down in the previous step. Stick to your schedule. The most important thing, however, is to have a substitute activity for the time that you are cutting off from your Facebook use. If worse comes to worst, the best thing you can do to kick your addiction is to delete your Facebook account. Deleting your account will help you to realize just how much time you spend on Facebook and just how many other things you can do when you aren’t on the social networking site.

Related questions:

1. Is Facebook addiction a reality?
2. How can I tell if I am addicted to Facebook?
3. How can I get rid of my Facebook addiction?