According to the nonprofit, Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), 20% of people today struggle to go longer than three hours without checking their social media accounts. This leads to social media anxiety and negatively affects overall productivity. Is social media anxiety affecting your workforce?

Signs of anxiety include: 

• spending long hours every day on social media 
• interrupting conversations to check on social media mentions or notifications 
• acting overly attached to technology, so checking on social media networks is always available 
• constantly concerned about the number of followers, mistagged photos, or comments 

Today, a professional consensus is that those spending up to or over six hours per day on social media platforms is an indicator that someone is experiencing this form of anxiety. 

Is Social Media Anxiety Affecting Your Workforce? 

Social media anxiety may be affecting your workforce if your employees do any of the following: 

• display nervousness when unable to check social media accounts or notifications during a meeting or work conversation 
• step away or interrupt conversations when receiving social notifications on their phones 
• often appear distracted and constantly glance at the screen 
• wander off by themselves instead of joining in on lunch get-togethers or other work-related events 
• neglect their work, or show a drastic decline in productivity

To help reduce this anxiety, communicate the following to your employees. 

1. Limit the time spent on social media platforms 

Establish a social media policy and include expectations for social media usage. Avoid disallowing it altogether, but acknowledge that employees can log on during breaks and lunchtime. While this will often be hard to monitor, it can alert employees that they have a problem. 

2. Turn off social notifications during business hours 

Discuss with employees how constant push notifications from social media accounts are disruptive during conversations and work where the focus is needed. 

3. Offer mandatory mental health awareness workshops 

Workshops can engage employees, discuss ways to manage or overcome social media anxiety and find better work habits to implement.