Social media addicts mourn lost time

In 2000, people were bombarded with news and research about internet addiction. Some reports even described the internet as "electronic heroin". Now, it has long become part of everyday life.

"Technology always evolves faster than humans, and we are not mature enough to handle it properly. It takes time," He said.

"But as Chairman Mao Zedong put it, strategically we should despise all our enemies, but tactically we should take them all seriously. People need to be serious on social media and use it positively."

Ni, the postgraduate student in Hangzhou, decided to stop receiving social media notifications on her phone after handing in her academic assignment paper in October. She now feels under less pressure to check such platforms.

She also found that deciding on the exact amount of time to spend on using platforms really helps.

Chen, the Beijing office worker, who now spends half the working week operating from home, has gained more control of his life, at least during weekends.

Six months ago, he began to limit his use of social media, starting with the amount of time spent onscreen after work.

"It was hard initially. I even failed for the first two weekends. Then, I tried to find other things to do. For example, I set myself the goal of finishing reading a book every two weeks. I also do jigsaw puzzles－my favorite activity when I was a child," Chen said.

"The most important thing is to find out why you want to quit social media. It made me anxious and I was not happy with it, as it occupied so much of my time, so I decided to change things during weekends," he said.

Bono, from Washington University, suggested some ways to avoid excessive use of social media.

"Put your phone out of reach. Download apps that monitor or limit how much time you spend on particular sites. Keep your social media apps buried in folders on the last page of your phone, or avoid using the apps and make yourself log onto a web browser each time," he said.