Social Media Addiction: Causes and Effects

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Table of Contents

The Causes of SM Addiction
The Effects of SM Addiction
Conclusion
References

Problematic or addictive social media (SM) use and its implications for health have become popular research topics in recent years. SM addiction refers to a type of behavioral addiction characterized by an individuals excessive concern with SM communication that results in an obsessive desire to check SM feedback in a frequent manner. Eventually, those developing this form of addiction start to devote too much time to SM-related matters. In some instances, this approach to priority-setting can impair a persons activity and success in other crucial areas of life, such as in-person communication, studying, and career progression. The causes and effects of excessive SM use require an in-depth investigation to achieve clarity in formulating a new public health concern and developing resources to address addictions. The issue stems from SM platforms technical characteristics and being a source of dopamine and a relief for socially unhappy individuals, and its effects include poorer mental health, physical health issues, and impaired productivity.

The Causes of SM Addiction

The chosen problem can be caused by various interacting factors, including SM sites addiction-inducing characteristics, the ability to trigger dopamine release, and offering spaces to compensate for previous relationship-building failures. The first cause refers to modern SM platforms addictive features, for example, the promotion of endless scrolling. SM applications news feed functions expose the user to an endless and unrestricted stream of information, resulting in immersion combined with distortions to chronoception (Friedman, 2021; Montag et al., 2019). Exposure to such streams of data can create the habit of mindless SM scrolling without realizing how much time has passed. This can give rise to addiction and the symptoms of distress in SM users (Montag et al., 2019; Zenone et al., 2022). The second cause is that rewarding SM experiences can elicit neurotransmitters activity, making SM platforms similar to certain drugs. For instance, SM websites are referred to as dopamine-inducing social environments as the stream of positive attention, including likes or personal messages, induces pleasure and affects reward pathways in the brain (Hilliard, 2022, para. 3). Getting positive reactions evokes temporary feelings of joy and satisfaction, and this effect is inextricably connected to dopamine release (Burhan & Moradzadeh, 2020). The user can feel the urge to receive even more attention to remain in this positive state. Finally, SM addictions can stem from the individuals desire to compensate for previous social failures, for instance, insecure attachment. It has been shown that the intensity of Facebook use is positively correlated with the degree of the users attachment anxiety (Burhan & Moradzadeh, 2020). The desire to alleviate negative feelings linked with in-person communication might encourage heavier and more addictive SM use (Burhan & Moradzadeh, 2020). Therefore, both neurological and psychological reasons can be involved in the issue.

The Effects of SM Addiction

SM addiction can have various types of negative effects, including a greater likelihood of mental health issues, alterations to individual productivity, and deficiencies in a persons subjective physical well-being. First, psychological and mental issues become more likely as a result of overusing SM. Specifically, excessive and addictive long-term SM use has been positively associated with developing self-esteem issues, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and an increased sense of guilt (Rast et al., 2021). Increased SM use limits in-person interaction and physical activity levels while also promoting the fear of being judged during face-to-face communication, thus contributing to the aforementioned conditions (Rast et al., 2021). Second, both academic and workplace performance can decrease due to SM addictions. Specifically, unhealthy SM use has been linked with sleep issues and some reductions in cognitive capacity, as well as extra distractions and time wastage (Priyadarshini et al., 2020; Rast et al., 2021). In combination, these effects can promote barriers to users academic and workplace achievements by causing disengagement and information overload (Priyadarshini et al., 2020; Rast et al., 2021). Third, negative physical health outcomes can stem from SM overuse and, more specifically, its effects on the amount of health-promoting physical activity and sleep. For instance, aside from higher C-reactive protein levels, the degree of SM use has a positive relationship with backaches, eye strain, chest pain, and headaches (Lee et al., 2022; Priyadarshini et al., 2020). These consequences are likely to be related to the unhealthy screen staring practices, adopting more sedentary lifestyles, and sleep issues that are the components of SM addictions (Priyadarshini et al., 2020). Thus, the adverse effects of excessive SM use on a persons life are all-encompassing.

Conclusion

Finally, SM addiction is a complex health issue that can result from the causes of different nature, including the peculiarities of human psychology and neurological functioning, and influence both health and individual productivity. Based on the discussion of hypothetical causes, it is likely that the most popular social networking sites are built in a way to capture and redirect users attention. They also offer some illusionary remedies for users psychological issues and unmet attachment-related needs. The phenomenons outcomes also signify that SM addiction can be more dangerous than it is currently portrayed. These points give support to an opinion that the global healthcare community and researchers should explore the behavioral issue more intensively to develop safe SM use guidelines and effective practices to address the addiction. Additionally, researching how addictive information presentation technologies are used for profit-making might be essential to get at the problems root cause.

References

Burhan, R., & Moradzadeh, J. (2020). Neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) and its role in the development of social media addiction. Journal of Neurology & Neurophysiology, 11(7), 1-2. Web.

Friedman, E. (2021). Internet addiction: A critical psychology of users. Routledge.

Hilliard, J. (2022). Social media addiction. Addiction Center.

Lee, D. S., Jiang, T., Crocker, J., & Way, B. M. (2022). Social media use and its link to physical health indicators. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 25(2), 87-93.

Montag, C., Lachmann, B., Herrlich, M., & Zweig, K. (2019). Addictive features of social media/messenger platforms and freemium games against the background of psychological and economic theories. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14), 1-16.

Priyadarshini, C., Dubey, R. K., Kumar, Y. L. N., & Jha, R. R. (2020). Impact of a social media addiction on employees wellbeing and work productivity. The Qualitative Report, 25(1), 181-196.

Rast, R., Coleman, J. T., & Simmers, C. S. (2021). The dark side of the like: The effects of social media addiction on digital and in-person communication. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 10(2), 175-201.

Zenone, M., Kenworthy, N., & Maani, N. (2022). The social media industry as a commercial determinant of health. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 1-4.

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Social Media Addiction: Causes and Effects

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