There is growing evidence from scientific studies that individuals can become addicted to using social networking sites, such as Facebook. They may experience symptoms that are traditionally seen in people who become addicted to substances, such as alcohol and nicotine. They experience a preoccupation with their social media use, using social media changes how they feel, they may need to spend increasing amounts of time using social media and feel irritable and anxious when they stop using social media. Crucially, they lose control over their behaviours and may sacrifice other pastime activities and even relationships for the sake of using social media.

Facebook addiction is only one example of an addiction to using social media. There are other social networking sites that can become problematic for a small number of excessive users. For example, our research (Donnelly & Kuss, 2016) showed that the photo sharing site Instagram use was more likely connected to depressive feelings and addictive symptoms than using Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. Instagram allows users to follow celebrities and public figures who lead more privileged lives. In comparison, ordinary Instagram users’ lives may pale in comparison. This can lead to upward social comparisons, and lead to lower self-esteem, dissatisfaction, and feelings of depression, which people may try to cope with by continued and addictive use of this site, exacerbating the problems.

Read the full article about social media addiction by Daria Kuss at The Naked Scientists.