Citation

Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017; 14(3): e14030311.

Affiliation

Psychology Department, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, 50 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK. mark.griffiths@ntu.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph14030311

PMID

28304359

PMCID

PMC5369147

Abstract

Online social networking sites (SNSs) have gained increasing popularity in the last decade, with individuals engaging in SNSs to connect with others who share similar interests. The perceived need to be online may result in compulsive use of SNSs, which in extreme cases may result in symptoms and consequences traditionally associated with substance-related addictions. In order to present new insights into online social networking and addiction, in this paper, 10 lessons learned concerning online social networking sites and addiction based on the insights derived from recent empirical research will be presented. These are: (i) social networking and social media use are not the same; (ii) social networking is eclectic; (iii) social networking is a way of being; (iv) individuals can become addicted to using social networking sites; (v) Facebook addiction is only one example of SNS addiction; (vi) fear of missing out (FOMO) may be part of SNS addiction; (vii) smartphone addiction may be part of SNS addiction; (viii) nomophobia may be part of SNS addiction; (ix) there are sociodemographic differences in SNS addiction; and (x) there are methodological problems with research to date. These are discussed in turn. Recommendations for research and clinical applications are provided.

Language: en

Keywords

FOMO; addiction; dating; gaming; microblogging; nomophobia; recommendations; smartphone addiction; social media; social networking sites