A research published in Scientific Reports pointed out what behaviors an Instagram user must have to be considered “addicted” to this social network.
MADRID, Nov 28. (EUROPA PRESS).- The addiction to a substance or action is usually characterized by a set of symptoms that include difficulties controlling use, experiencing cravings, experiencing symptoms of abstinence when not in use and continue to use despite negative consequences or risk of harm.
The users of Instagram could overestimate their degree of addiction to the platform, according to research carried out by the University of Southern California (United States) with 1,204 American adults and published in Scientific Reports. The results suggest that, for the majority of social media users, excessive use is due to habit rather than an genuine addiction.
How the label of addiction affects self-esteem
Ian Anderson and Wendy Wood surveyed a roughly representative sample of 380 American Instagram users, 50 percent of whom were women and had an average age of 44. Participants described their level of addiction to Instagram and were assessed for symptoms of addictive use.
The authors found that while 18 percent of participants at least partially agreed that they were addicted to Instagram (and 5 percent strongly agreed), only 2 percent presented symptoms that indicated risk for possible addiction.
The authors explored a possible cause of this discrepancy by evaluating descriptions of social media use in news articles published in American media between November 2021 and November 2024. They identified 4,383 articles that mentioned the phrase ‘social media addiction’ and 50 that mentioned the phrase ‘social media habit’.
This suggests that frequent social media use tends to be described as an addiction in American news articles. The authors suggest that this could influence the perception that users have about their use of social networks.
Using a second sample of 824 American adult Instagram users, the authors investigated the potential negative effects of labeling frequent Instagram use as an addiction. They found that prompting participants to view their social media use as an addiction was associated with a lower sense of control over their Instagram use and greater blame, both toward themselves and the platform, for their excessive use.
Taken together, the findings suggest that labeling frequent social media use as an addiction by the media and other institutions could contribute to Instagram users overestimating their degree of addiction to the platform and also negatively affect their perception of social media use. More selective use of the term ‘addiction’ by policy makers and the media in relation to social media use could reduce this effect, according to the authors.
If your behavior on Instagram doesn’t include the following then, according to the study, you probably wouldn’t be in that 2 percent.
- Loss of real control.
- Anxiety or discomfort when you can’t use it.
- Use it despite serious consequences.
- Repeated inability to reduce use.