In 1927 Philo Farnsworth demonstrated the first working version of the television. This device would revolutionize information in ways few could imagine. Media was no longer simply a newspaper, radio, or photograph. It was a talking box that magically combined all three domains into a visual and auditory experience. Certainly, television was transformative, and it would reign supreme for nearly 80 years until the advent of Facebook and social networking. Indeed, the rise of social media has dominated the information landscape in ways that dwarf the impact of television. The ubiquity of the internet and its constant presence in our lives represents something fundamentally different from all previous forms of media. It travels with us in ways that television and radio can’t approach. Its utility is embedded into everything from healthcare to navigation. Yet growing concerns exist about the consequences of social media, its role in our lives, and the potential for physical and psychological harm. This essay explores the case for social media addiction and whether today’s media represent not just the next evolution of communication, but a public health and safety concern.
The idea of media addiction is nothing new. In fact, scientists have been studying the effects of television on behavior since 1964 (Kubey & Csikszentmihalyi, 2004). And much like the conclusions of researchers studying TV, there is general agreement that social media addiction exists, but its definition, prevalence, and even its relationship to our behavior is less clear. For example, researchers at the University of Bergen note that the recency of social media and the lack of uniform data, make determining pervasiveness difficult if not impossible (Andreassen, 2015, pp. 175-176). Similar conclusions were drawn by Kuss & Griffiths (2017) and Reed & Reay (2015). In fact, in the literature reviewed here, there was broad agreement for both the presence of addiction and the need for further study. Concerns over data quality, self-selection, and biasing were also raised by Reed & Reay (2015), Lee (2015), and Tang et al (2017). The data aren’t wholly bad, however. Andreassen (2015) notes that while statistical support for pervasiveness is hard to come by, data suggesting that certain people are predisposed to social networking (social media) addiction do exist. Furthermore, data showing parallels between social media and chemical addiction were cited by Andreassen (p. 176) and Kuss & Griffiths (2017). The latter notes the growing body of evidence that social networking addiction causes symptoms typically associated with substance abuse, such as, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, relapse, and conflict (pp. 2, 6). Scientific American draws similar parallels between social media addiction and compulsive gambling, noting that both groups try and fail to stop, and become defensive about the behavior when questioned or prohibited from engaging in the activity (Kardaras, 2016, p. 67). Addiction, therefore, is broadly understood as prioritizing social networking to the detriment of other social activities, relationships, and one’s psychological health and well-being (Andreassen, 2015, p. 175). In other words, addicts display a continued preference for social media, even if such preferences are detrimental.
Nonetheless, defining specific boundaries remains difficult. How much social media does one need to consume before they’re considered an addict. Many social media users engage in normal overuse while maintaining healthy relationships in the real world (Andreassen, 2015, p. 176). Researchers Kuss & Griffiths (2017) generalize this observation more broadly, suggesting that heavy social network engagement might constitute a new normal (p. 5), and may not be problematic. One might imagine a similar observation being made of America’s crowded taverns during the industrial revolution. Were the bars and speakeasies of the 1920s and 30s breeding grounds for alcoholics or a new normal in industrialized America. Such anecdotal observations suggest that addiction, in general, may be difficult to pin down. Researchers may agree that problem behavior exists, but specifically when behavior becomes a problem is less clear.
The previous section has demonstrated that social media addiction has captured researcher’s attention. At the least there seems to be a broad suspicion that social media addiction is real, even if its cause and extent are not understood. In this it is important that the issue be taken seriously as addiction represents a conversion from the digital into the literal. The virtual in the physical. Though it may be unclear when normal use becomes an addiction, research indicates a strong connection between depression, anxiety, guilt, and other psychological issues with social media overuse. For example, Andreassen (2015) writes, social networking sites are used to replace feelings of guilt, anxiety, restlessness, helplessness, and to forget about personal problems (p. 176). Such coping behaviors can affect behavior in the real world. For example, neuroticism, defined as a tendency to experience anxiety, fear, and depression was positively related to private social networking use during working hours (p. 178). Furthermore, social network addicts were unable to separate from social media despite realizing its negative effects. The usage resulted in social withdrawal, insomnia, and other health problems (pp. 178-179). Marshall University researcher Keith Beard (2011) notes the common causes of internet addiction as depression, anxiety, social awkwardness, and a means of escape from domestic issues (p. 103). In fact, studies suggest that the relationship between our psychological state of mind and social media is bidirectional. That is, it can create and worsen pre-existing conditions (p. 102). The negative looping of social media is known to researchers as the Facebook effect. The more friends a person has on the platform, the higher the likelihood they’ll be depressed, and the more time a person spends on social networking, the more likely they are to become addicted (Kardaras, 2016, p. 69). These findings illustrate the complex relationship between social networking and mental health. A relationship exists but in which direction and to what degree remains unclear.
The consequences of social media addiction can manifest in other ways as well. For example, Scientific American cited research showing a link between compulsive texting and poor performance in school (Kardaras, 2016, pp. 67-68). Research conducted by Reed & Reay (2015), suggested that higher levels of internet use were negatively related to self-motivation, study habits, goal orientation, and control over learning. The authors are quick to note that their findings extend the conclusions of prior research, suggesting that excessive internet and social media use negatively impacts grades (pp. 719-720). A separate, non-representative study of African American students found the opposite, however. While 57% strongly agreed that social media and texting were a distraction during lecture, their GPA was not affected (Lee, 2015, pp. 54-55). Amongst the literature reviewed here, however, the aforementioned research was an outlier.
Beyond school, addiction to social networking impacts work and career. Several studies cited by Andreassen (2015) corroborated these findings, concluding that the use of social networks during working hours negatively impacted performance, and in some cases, resulted in termination (p. 180). More generally, researchers find that multitasking is strongly correlated with excessive smartphone and Facebook use (Lee, 2015, p. 54), suggesting that the urge to engage online regularly diverts attention away from the real world. Nonetheless, while addiction to social media can result in negative outcomes, the long-term consequences may take years to play out. Poor academic performance, for example, might lead to declining job or graduate school opportunities. Poor performance at work, particularly if it leads to termination, can result in increased stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as stunted professional growth. Therefore, it’s important to understand the contributing factors of addiction, who’s at risk, and what, if any trends can be determined.
While the limitations of existing research have been noted, many academics recognize the importance of standardizing scales, definitions, and conducting cross-cultural studies. One such study was conducted by Tang et al (2017) which looked at social media addiction amongst young adults in China, Singapore, and the United States. The numbers were eye-catching. For example, 43% of students reported at least one internet-related addiction. Females were significantly more likely to cite social networking addiction and males more likely to cite gaming addiction as problems (p. 676). It’s worth noting however, that gender biases were far less conclusive in other, U.S. based studies. Tang et al add that cultural factors are a significant contributor to addiction. For example, U.S. rates of self-identified social networking addiction amongst males and females were identical, 26.2%. And online gaming addiction was almost wholly an American phenomenon (pp. 676-677). The increased likelihood of female addiction to social media is likely skewed by Chinese data, where, researchers theorize, China’s one child policy and academic pressure lead Chinese children to seek connections through social media that are unavailable at home (pp. 679-680). Like other studies, Tang et al found that depressive symptoms are a leading indicator of addiction; however, they add that being an only child increases the risk of being depressed. It is not surprising, therefore, that Chinese students spent roughly 10 hours per week on social networking compared to about 6.5 for Americans (pp. 678-679). These data further suggest a connection between anxiety, depression, and addiction but point to cultural factors as a potential driver of behavior.
Further studies suggest similar trends amongst adolescents and college-aged adults. For example, Reed & Reay (2015) found that problematic internet usage was much higher in college students than in the general population (p. 720). Nonetheless, these data were acknowledged as exploratory by researchers. Equally in question are the causes of addiction. As discussed, psychological factors such as anxiety and depression may lead to and result from addiction. However, whether addictive tendencies are the product of our environment or biology is contested. Dingel et al (2015) researched the coverage of addiction in academic literature. While the study found consistent interest in environmental factors (such as cultural norms, parenting, and domestic violence), biological drivers dominated the conversation (p. 475). They note that the notion of an addiction gene crowded out alternative theories and treatments (p. 476). Still, researchers including Dingel et al, recognize that environmental and biological factors are not mutually exclusive, and may in fact be complementary (p. 475). Therefore, based on the literature reviewed here, it is likely that some combination of environmental, pre-existing, and biological factors is at play. For example, researchers acknowledge that social media addicts may have other addictions (Andreassen, 2015, p. 178). Scientific American cited studies indicating that 20% of teens, who were engaged in hyper-texting, were twice as likely to have tried alcohol and 41% more likely to have tried illegal drugs. While not synonymous with addiction, researchers note that such tendencies could indicate compulsive behavior (Kardaras, 2016, p. 68).
Finally, the role of technology and the object of addiction are equally contested. For example, is a social media addict addicted to their phone, the applications, or the psychological reward of social approval. In a 1994 Playboy interview, Marshall McLuhan (1994) argued that the delivery method mattered more than the content of the message, commenting that “most people…are blissfully ignorant of what the media do to them; unaware that because of their pervasive effects on man, it is the medium itself that is the message, not the content” (para. 10). McLuhan’s comments strike a different tone when we consider that 90% of Americans have a smartphone (Bortin, 2023), and over 3 billion people worldwide have a Facebook account (Dixon, 2024). In fact, so attached are we to our mobile phones that researchers developed the term nomophobia to describe the fear of being without one’s device (Kuss & Griffiths, 2017, pp. 8-9). The notion of smartphone addiction, nonetheless, remains contested. For example, Kuss & Griffiths argue that the object of addiction isn’t the technology but other people’s confirmation (pp. 6-9). In this way, social media hijacks our need for novelty, or neophilia, while producing interactions that are less satisfying than real world encounters (Kardaras, 2016, pp. 67-68). In reality, our relationship with social media is not exclusively defined by the device or how we use it. Instead, it is both the omnipresence of our mobile phones and the continuous access to social media that differentiates the internet age from all others.
As demonstrated, the idea that social media addiction exists is broadly suspected, however, much remains undefined. For example, anxiety and depression are surely connected, but to what degree and in which direction is under discussion. Furthermore, are we sure that what we’re observing is addictive behavior and not a new social norm. The research shows, after all, that hyper use is predominant among today’s college-aged students, not their parents’ generation. Yet, at the same time, research also suggests that social media invokes biological desires for human connection and confirmation, even if failing to deliver those basic needs. Furthermore, the near ubiquitous presence of mobile phones coupled with the expanding footprint of social networks like Facebook and increasingly, TikTok, make social media available in ways early television producers could never imagine. Indeed, the era of being able to leave the news at home has long since passed. In this regard, social media, mobile phones, social networks, and the internet are fundamentally different than all previous forms of media. In an essay for Harvard International Journal, Neil Postman (2004) wrote that in solving the problem of information scarcity, we’ve created a new problem of information saturation (p. 4). In fact, we may have created a public health crisis. According to the World Health Organization, more people are reporting mental health issues today than in the 1980s and depression is now the leading global cause of disability (Kardaras, 2016, p. 66). The Chinese have recently declared social media addiction a public health risk (Tang et al., 2017, p. 678) while similar concerns are an active point of research at the National Institute of Health. Such actions lend support to the notion that social media are not simply the next evolution of media. They are fundamentally different, having fused biological and psychological factors with unprecedented accessibility to create a new form of media. Yet the lack of empirical data, uniform scales of measure, and most importantly, pervasiveness, fall short of the requirements to support a public health crisis. Therefore, while it is true that social media are fundamentally different from all prior forms of media, declaring their overuse a public health issue is not supported by the research. Better data are required.
In summary, there is general consensus that social media addiction exists, but its pervasiveness and drivers are not fully understood. However, the ongoing evolution of addiction research should not dissuade policymakers from recognizing the risks of social media overuse, and it does not change the assessment that today’s media represents something distinctly different from all prior media. Nonetheless, until better data are made available, it is too early to declare social media addiction a public health concern.
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