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You probably cringed at the sight of the headline, sign one – you’re guilty as charged, but then again, isn’t just about everybody a social media addict? So how about rephrasing the question; how much of an addict are you? An average user or past a point to make you really consider SMAA (Social Media Addicts Association – yes it exists I kid you not!)

The Nielson company recently issued a survey ranking UK 6th in the Reach and Usage of social media networks by Country with a 72% reach of active users and 5:52:38 (hh:mm:ss) average usage per person. Boasting over 24m Facebook account holders and 3.7m Twitter users, UK comes second in the world ranking, just behind the US.
So fine, you’re not the only one – phew! But, has your addiction surpassed the norm? Do you display the symptoms of Twitter Addiction Disorder (TAD) or Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD)? Or can you deem yourself safe?

1. You are a member of more than one social network site.
2. You have chosen spending time on a social site over an activity with your family or friends.
3. You tend to ignore responsibilities like homework or chores because of social networking sites.
4. You’ve had one too many late nights as a result of ‘facebooking’
5. Your idea of killing time is going through all the albums your friends have put up.
6. You check your social networking site even before you have brushed your teeth in the morning.
7. You would much rather interact with people on social networking sites rather than face to face.
8. Regularly checking friends’ myspace and/or facebook pages passes as keeping in touch.
9. You update your facebook status at least once a day.
10. People tend to comment on the amount of time you spend on social network sites.
11. You have more friends on social networking sites than you have in real life.
12. On your birthday you get more wall posts on facebook than phone calls or texts.
13. You spend more time conversing with your online friends than you do with your own family.
14. The pictures you take are not for “memories” but rather updating your social networking profiles.
15. You get annoyed when someone doesn't upload and tag photos to facebook after a social outing?
16. When you hear a joke in person, you say “lol” instead of actually laughing out loud.
17. Your social media friend accounts significantly out number your real life friends.
18. You can type faster than you can talk.
19. Social networks are your main point of contact with your friends.
20. You hear direct message “pings” in your head when you are away from the computer.
21. You bought a new cell phone specifically to be more efficient in operating your daily social networking activities when away from your computer.
22. You have FINALLY logged off facebook on your computer to have dinner, only to log in from your phone micro-seconds later.
23. You go through withdrawals when you can’t access your favourite social media site as a result of a server down, or no wi-fi connection available.
24. When you meet someone new, you give them a link to your twitter account or facebook account instead of your phone number.
25. When asked how much time you spend on social media sites each day, you take the actual time spent and divide it by 3, so if you spend 6 hours on it, you tell others it was only 2.
26. You skip a meal in order to spend more uninterrupted time on your favourite social network.
27. It feels good to be part of something “viral” and to help spread it.
28. You have attended a “tweetup”.
29. While attending the above mentioned “tweetup” you “tweeted” the event to others.
30. You go away for a weekend without your laptop and you suffer severe heart palpitations.
31. If you meet someone in person, you commonly refer to them by their online handle instead of their real name.
32. Fail Whale? You frantically hit refresh 189 times before it reloads successfully. Phew!
33. You still get the “fail whale” after refreshing the page a million or so times, so you jump over to another social media site for the time being.
34. At least once you have lied that you have something “really important” to do just to harvest your crops on Farmville.
35. You’re starting to have more pictures of your Farmville farm than of your loved one.
36. Blimey! You forgot you had a loved one!
37. A friend asks: "How was your weekend?" Your first thought: "Gosh, I don't update Facebook for nothing!"
38. Ding! You receive a text message. Is it from a friend? Yes, well kind of; it’s a facebook notification - a friend has commented on your status.
39. You are reading this and nodding your head in agreement.
40. After nodding your head, you decide you are indeed addicted to social media and tweet that you’re an addict!

So the math is pretty straightforward;

• If you have answered ‘yes’ for less than 15 questions – you’re no addict, far from it actually. Feel free to pat yourself on the back!
• If you have answered ‘yes’ for more than 15 but less than 30 – you’re a tad bit of a heavy user, addict would be an overstatement, you’re still in the safe. Good on you!
• Alright, you’ve said ‘yes’ for more than 30 questions. Shame on you! You’re an official social network addict, a part of a growing issue that could lead to a psycho-physiological disorder involving tolerance; withdrawal symptoms; affective disturbances; and interruption of social relationships. About time you joined Social Media Addicts Association?

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