Social Media Addiction
Introduction: Viewing and browsing social media has become an increasingly popular activity over the past decade. While social media use is not a problem for most people, there is a small percentage of users who become addicted to social networking sites and engage in excessive or compulsive consumption. Social media addiction is a behavioral addiction characterized by over-preoccupation with social media, driven by an uncontrollable urge to connect to or use social media, and to devote so much time and effort to social media that they harm other important areas of life. Addictive social media use is similar to any other substance use disorder and may involve mood swings (For example, social media engagement leads to favorable changes in emotional states), tolerance (i.e., increase in social media use over time), withdrawal symptoms (i.e., uncomfortable physical and emotional symptoms when social media use is reduced or stopped), conflict (i.e., uncomfortable physical and emotional sym...