Social Networking Addiction: Emerging Themes and Issues

Abstract

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are virtual communities where users can create individual public profiles, interact with real-life friends, and meet other people based on shared interests [1]. SNS usage patterns from both consumer research and empirical research indicate that overall, regular SNS use has increased substantially over the last few years [1]. SNSs are predominantly used for social purposes, mostly related to the maintenance of established offline networks, relative to individual ones [1]. However, recent evidence suggests that individuals may feel compelled to maintain their online social networks in a way that may, in some circumstances, lead to using SNSs excessively. In many areas of behavioral addiction, there has been debate about whether some excessive behaviors should even be considered as genuine addictions (e.g., video game playing, internet use, sex, exercise, etc.) and the same debate holds for addiction to social networking. Griffiths [2] has operationally defined addictive behavior as any behavior that features what he believes are the six core components of addiction (i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, and relapse). He also argues that any behavior (e.g., social networking) that fulfils these six criteria can be operationally defined as an addiction. Researchers have suggested that the excessive use of new technologies (and especially online social networking) may be particularly problematic to young people [3]. In accordance with the biopsychosocial framework for the etiology of addictions [2], and the syndrome model of addiction [4], it is claimed that those people addicted to using SNSs experience symptoms similar to those experienced by individuals who suffer from addictions to substances or other behaviors [3]. This has significant implications for clinical practice because unlike other addictions, the goal of SNS addiction treatment cannot be total abstinence from using the internet per se it is an integral element of today's professional and leisure culture [1]. Instead, the ultimate therapy aim is controlled use of the internet and its respective functions, particularly social networking applications, and relapse prevention using strategies developed within cognitive-behavioral therapies [3].

Full text

Volume 4 • Issue 5 • 1000e118
J Addict Res Ther
ISSN:2155-6105 JART an open access journal
Editorial Open Access
Addiction
Research & Therapy
Griffiths, J Addict Res Ther 2013, 4:5
http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-6105.1000e118
Social Networking Addiction: Emerging Themes and Issues
Mark D Grifths*
International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are virtual communities where
users can create individual public proles, interact with real-life
friends, and meet other people based on shared interests [1]. SNS usage
patterns from both consumer research and empirical research indicate
that overall, regular SNS use has increased substantially over the last
few years [1]. SNSs are predominantly used for social purposes, mostly
related to the maintenance of established oine networks, relative to
individual ones [1]. However, recent evidence suggests that individuals
may feel compelled to maintain their online social networks in a way
that may, in some circumstances, lead to using SNSs excessively.
In many areas of behavioral addiction, there has been debate about
whether some excessive behaviors should even be considered as genuine
addictions (e.g., video game playing, internet use, sex, exercise, etc.)
and the same debate holds for addiction to social networking. Griths
[2] has operationally dened addictive behavior as any behavior that
features what he believes are the six core components of addiction (i.e.,
salience, mood modication, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conict,
and relapse). He also argues that any behavior (e.g., social networking)
that fulls these six criteria can be operationally dened as an addiction.
Researchers have suggested that the excessive use of new
technologies (and especially online social networking) may be
particularly problematic to young people [3]. In accordance with
the biopsychosocial framework for the etiology of addictions [2],
and the syndrome model of addiction [4], it is claimed that those
people addicted to using SNSs experience symptoms similar to those
experienced by individuals who suer from addictions to substances
or other behaviors [3]. is has signicant implications for clinical
practice because unlike other addictions, the goal of SNS addiction
treatment cannot be total abstinence from using the internet per se it
is an integral element of today’s professional and leisure culture [1].
Instead, the ultimate therapy aim is controlled use of the internet and
its respective functions, particularly social networking applications,
and relapse prevention using strategies developed within cognitive-
behavioral therapies [3].
To explain the formation of SNS addiction, Turel and Serenko [5]
recently summarized three overarching theoretical perspectives that
may not be mutually exclusive:
· Cognitive-behavioral model: is model emphasizes
that ‘abnormal’ social networking arises from maladaptive
cognitions and is amplied by various environmental factors,
and eventually leads to compulsive and/or addictive social
networking.
· Social skill model: is model emphasizes that ‘abnormal’
social networking arises because people lack self-presentational
skills and prefer virtual communication to face-to-face
interactions, and it eventually leads to compulsive and/or
addictive use of social networking.
· Socio-cognitive model: is model emphasises that ‘abnormal’
social networking arises due to the expectation of positive
outcomes, combined with internet self-ecacy and decient
internet self-regulation eventually leads to compulsive and/or
addictive social networking behavior.
Based on these three models, Xu and Tan [6] suggest that the
transition from normal to problematic social networking use occurs
when social networking is viewed by the individual as an important (or
even exclusive) mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness, or depression.
ey contend that those who frequently engage in social networking
are poor at socializing in real life. For these people, social media use
provides such people continuous rewards (e.g. self-ecacy, satisfaction)
and they end up engaging in the activity more and more, eventually
leading to many problems (e.g., ignoring real life relationships, work/
educational conicts, etc.). e resulting problems may then exacerbate
individuals’ undesirable moods. is then leads such individuals
to engage in the social networking behavior even more as a way of
relieving dysphoric mood states. Consequently, when social network
users repeat this cyclical pattern of relieving undesirable moods with
social media use, the level of psychological dependency on social
networking increases.
A behavioral addiction such as SNS addiction may thus be seen
from a biopsychosocial perspective [2]. Just like substance-related
addictions, it would appear that in some individuals, SNS addiction
incorporates the experience of the ‘classic’ addiction symptoms, namely
mood modication (i.e., engagement in SNSs leads to a favorable change
in emotional states), salience (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, and emotional
preoccupation with the SNS usage), tolerance (i.e., ever increasing use
of SNSs over time), withdrawal symptoms (i.e., experiencing unpleasant
physical and emotional symptoms when SNS use is restricted or
stopped), conict (i.e., interpersonal and intrapsychic problems ensue
because of SNS usage), and relapse (i.e., addicts quickly revert back to
their excessive SNS usage aer an abstinence period).
It is generally accepted that a combination of biological,
psychological and social factors contributes to the etiology of addictions
[2,4] that may also hold true for SNS addiction. From this it follows that
SNS addiction shares a common underlying etiological framework with
other substance-related and behavioral addictions. However, due to
the fact that the engagement in SNSs is dierent in terms of the actual
expression of (internet) addiction (i.e., pathological use of SNSs rather
than other internet applications), the phenomenon may be worthy of
individual consideration, particularly when considering the potentially
detrimental eects of both substance-related and behavioral addictions
on individuals who experience a variety of negative consequences
because of their addiction.
Research into social networking addiction has been relatively
*Corresponding author: Mark D Grifths, International Gaming Research Unit,
Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University, UK, Burton Street, Nottingham,
NG1 4BU, United Kingdom, Tel: 0115-8482401; E-mail: mark.grifths@ntu.ac.uk
Received December 13, 2013; Accepted December 18, 2013; Published
December 28, 2013
Citation: Grifths MD (2013) Social Networking Addiction: Emerging Themes and
Issues. J Addict Res Ther 4: e118. doi: 10.4172/2155-6105.1000
e118
Copyright: © 2013 Grifths MD. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited.

Citation: Grifths MD (2013) Social Networking Addiction: Emerging Themes and Issues. J Addict Res Ther 4: e118. doi: 10.4172/2155-6105.1000
e118
Page 2 of 2
Volume 4 • Issue 5 • 1000e118
J Addict Res Ther
ISSN:2155-6105 JART an open access journal
sparse. According to a recent review [7], the twenty or so empirical
studies examining SNS addiction fall into one of four types: (i) self-
perception studies of social networking addiction, (ii) studies of social
networking addiction utilizing a social networking addiction scale,
(iii) studies examining the relationship between social networking and
other online addictions, and (iv) studies examining social networking
addiction and interpersonal relationships. e review noted that all the
studies suered from a variety of methodological limitations. Many
of the studies attempted to assess SNS addiction, but mere assessment
of addiction tendencies does not suce to demarcate real pathology.
Most of the study samples were generally small, specic, self-selected,
convenient, and skewed with regards to young adults and female
gender. is may have led to the very high addiction prevalence rates
(up to 34%) reported in some studies as individuals from these socio-
demographic groups are likely to be more heavy social networking
users. Consequently, empirical studies need to ensure that they are
assessing addiction rather than excessive use and/or preoccupation.
Griths [8] recently noted that for many researchers, Facebook
addiction has become almost synonymous with social networking
addiction. However, Facebook is just one of many websites where social
networking can take place. Most of the scales that have been developed
have specically examined excessive Facebook use such as the Bergen
Facebook Addiction Scale [9], the Facebook Addiction Scale [10],
and the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire [11], i.e., addiction to
one particular commercial company’s service (i.e., Facebook) rather
than the whole activity itself (i.e., social networking). e real issue
here concerns what people are actually addicted to and what the new
Facebook addiction tools are measuring.
For instance, Facebook users can play games like Farmville [12],
can gamble on games like poker [13], can watch videos and lms, and
can engage in activities such as swapping photos or constantly updating
their prole and/or messaging friends on the minutiae of their life
[1,8]. erefore, ‘Facebook addiction’ is not synonymous with ‘social
networking addiction’ – they are two fundamentally dierent things as
Facebook has become a specic website where many dierent online
activities can take place – and may serve dierent purposes to various
users. What this suggests is that the eld needs a psychometrically
validated scale that specically assesses ‘social networking addiction’
rather than Facebook use. In the aforementioned scales, social
networking as an activity is not mentioned, therefore the scale does
not dierentiate between someone potentially addicted to Farmville
or someone potentially addicted to constantly messaging Facebook
friends.
Whether social networking addiction exists is debatable depending
upon the denition of addiction used, but there is clearly emerging
evidence that a minority of social network users experience addiction-
like symptoms as a consequence of their excessive use [7]. Studies
endorsing only a few potential addiction criteria are not sucient for
establishing clinically signicant addiction status. Similarly, signicant
impairment and negative consequences that discriminate addiction
from mere abuse have (to date) generally not been assessed in published
studies. us, future studies have great potential in addressing the
emergent phenomenon of SNS addiction by means of applying better
methodological designs, including more representative samples, and
using more reliable and valid addiction scales so that current gaps in
empirical knowledge can be lled.
References
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Citation: Grifths MD (2013) Social Networking Addiction: Emerging Themes
and Issues. J Addict Res Ther 4: e118. doi: 10.4172/2155-6105.1000
e118
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