 Technology has become predominant over everyone's lives in the past 20 years. People now have smartphones and smart TVs. Everything is smart. With people having a cell phone on them 24-7, it's impossible to not check your social media sites and see what your friends, classmates, or family are up to. And we love it. Staying in touch is so much easier now. And with just a click of a button, we can see cute animal pictures, recipe videos, and every photo our best friends have ever posted. But with that great power comes great responsibility, and sometimes it can even cause anxiety. Let's be clear. It's not the actual sites that can cause that anxious feeling, it's the addiction to checking the site. I mean, I can put my phone down whenever, right? But wait, I just want to see who that new girl Erin is dating now and look at that yummy recipe video and oh my goodness, another cute dog. It's hard not to get sucked into the social media sinkhole. It's so easy to say to ourselves, one more scroll, while putting off responsibilities like homework, walking your not Instagram famous dog, and doing the dishes. Unfortunately, the more you let yourself scroll, the harder it is to get back out. When you're finally in a situation where you can't check or update social media, like when you forget your phone or you're in an important lesson, you feel anxious. You keep thinking about checking what everyone's up to and you can't stop reaching for your smart device that may or may not even be there. That's what we mean by social media anxiety. It's almost like an addiction. Compulsively checking for updates can cause unnecessary anxiety in your life, which takes away all the fun of social media. If you aren't sure whether you've experienced social media anxiety or not, here are some ways to know. Do you compulsively check social media every few minutes? Do you feel anxious or nervous if you aren't able to check it? When having a real life conversation with someone, are you scrolling through social media? If you said yes to any of those, you might be experiencing more anxiety than you need to be. Luckily, there are some ways to get rid of it. Instead of compulsively or habitually reaching for your phone, make it a conscious choice. By saying to yourself, I am going to check my social media, then you are staying in control of the scroll. Keep your phone in your pocket if you are having a face to face conversation with someone, unless you are showing each other cool vacation photos. This is another way to exert control on your social media scrolling by not splitting your attention as you do it. Remind yourself that there will just be more to look through if you don't have access to your social media for a while. This turns any anxiety you might feel into excitement and will let you get back to focusing on the task at hand. Social media is a great resource to use to communicate with friends and family. It's always nice to see pictures from someone's trip, and I'm positive everyone would like to see a picture of your adorable pet. I love social media, but I don't like the anxiety that can come with it. We hope that by integrating these tips, your social media experience stays fun forever. We can't wait to see more cute pictures of your pet. Don't forget to comment and subscribe below so you can stay up to date when you do jump on social media.