My name is Diana. I'm a journalist, author, and TV presenter.
Like the rest of us, I'm part of the online generation
and I've seen a massive change in my lifetime.
One moment, social media wasn't even a thing.
And then all of a sudden, it's become everything.
We live in an age where tech companies employ psychologists
to make these apps even more addictive.
Rebecca Meechan knows a lot about this.
Her job is running the social media channels
for Glasgow Caledonian University
How do you use social media for your personal use?
I mostly use it for just posting photos,
update my friends and family on what I'm doing.
Say you do post a selfie of yourself or doesn't even have to be a selfie,
or a photo that someone else took.
Yeah. And you don't get a lot of interaction, likes or comments.
Does that bug you?
Like, honestly... Honestly... ..cos I think it bugs
all of us deep down. Yeah, I think deep down everyone...
if they don't get a lot of likes on your photo, you'll think, "Why?"
If someone's put a photo on, one of my best friends,
and they've asked me, "Why have you not liked my photo?" I'll say,
"Well, why do you need me to?" Like, "I'm your friend,
"I'm telling you right now you look good. That's a nice photo, but I...
"I just... I did not feel the urge to double-tap.
"Like, is that a problem?"
Now just like the rest of us, I have to admit I do get a certain kick
when I post something on social media
and it gets a "good" number of likes.
However, to be quite honest, I'm not so sure how healthy it is
to be transfixed by these numbers.
Kumba Dauda runs two very successful online businesses.
But she's got strict rules in place to make sure her online world
doesn't take over her real-life world.
Social media is like a double-edged sword.
You can really...
It can take over your life if you let it.
It's easy to be addicted to likes.
I see so many people that are, like, they'll post on Instagram
then they'll be checking, checking, checking...
But I try to avoid doing that at all costs.
The tip for kind of...
if you do feel like you're constantly checking your phone
after you post, is to really just put your phone away
and focus on another task.
From now on I'll be much more aware
of the time I spend checking out my social media sites.
Although, to be honest, some habits are hard to break.
I'm going to share my research with Rebecca and Rosalind.
But I'm going to put it out there and say that we're all a little bit
addicted to our social media... Yeah...
..whether it's for work purposes or for our own personal pleasure.
Like, you run three Instagram accounts. Yeah.
That's a lot of interacting with your social media.
It definitely has opened my eyes to how often I can check my phone
and how much I am on social media.
I think I can honestly say I'm probably more addicted
than I thought I was, just considering the amount of times
I pick up my phone for no reason.
When you think of addiction, you don't necessarily think addiction
to social media is so much of a dangerous thing like addiction
to alcohol or drugs - you don't think of it as the same thing.
Yeah, but unless you have someone
who's really young who has low self-esteem, or is going through,
maybe a really difficult time with their mental health,
I think that's when likes really come into the equation.
Then they matter a lot. Yeah.
Let's face it - likes and notifications are here for good.
It's controlling our dependence on them
that's the next big challenge.
Social media apps are cleverly designed
to draw us in and get us hooked, and we need to be aware of that.
We need to take control of technology
before it takes control of us.