It starts with an idea. Inspiration hits you like a lightning bolt.

You spend at least ten minutes crafting your perfectly judged witticism into a Facebook post or tweet which will blow people away. All of your worldly wisdom and wry take on society is distilled into 140 characters of gold.

After this process of finessing is complete, you send your message out into the online world.

Then you get three likes. We've all been there, feeling the slow sense of disappointment and horror that all your observational might has been ignored by an uncaring social media-verse.

You are not alone. A new survey suggests that Scots care very deeply about how their social media contribution is received.

Psychologist Becky Spelman said: "Likes or shares on a post seem to provide us with the instant gratification that we crave and it's interesting to see people collecting online 'friends' without stopping to think how many are actually friends.

"It's not surprising to see men having more issues with social media dependence than women, as they often have less well-developed social networks and fewer emotional ties in the real world.

"Superficial interactions such as liking someone's post are harmless in themselves, but people need to be careful that when they interact with social media they don't forget real life relationships with friends and family members.

"I would recommend limiting friends on social media to people you actually communicate with and know in a meaningful way, rather than just anyone who has ever sent a friend request.

"Social media channels work for us when we use them as a tool to communicate, not a way to judge our self-worth."