Critical Review: Social Networking Addiction

Social networking sites have gained use in the last two decades. People are busy on SNS to connect with others who share the same interests. The need to be continuously online then results in compulsive use of SNS. The extreme cases may result in symptoms and consequences traditionally associated with substance-related addictions. The present new insights are subject to social networking and addiction. In this paper, five research papers studied concern social networking sites and addiction based on the insights derived from the latest empirical research presented. These are: (i) the social networking site is eclectic; (ii) social networking is one way; (iii) Continuous use of social networking sites can lead to addiction. (iv) Facebook and Instagram addiction is just an example of SNS addiction; (v) fear of missing out may be part of SNS addiction; (vi) Smartphone addiction can be part of SNS addiction. Methodological issues have been raised in the research studied. These are discussed in this paper.