Influencing factors of social media addiction: a systematic review
| Date | 05 September 2023 |
| Pages | 1088-1114 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-10-2022-0476 |
| Published date | 05 September 2023 |
| Author | Mengli Liang,Qingyu Duan,Jiazhen Liu,Xiaoguang Wang,Han Zheng |
Influencing factors of social media
addiction: a systematic review
Mengli Liang, Qingyu Duan and Jiazhen Liu
School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Xiaoguang Wang
School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China and
The Big Data Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, and
Han Zheng
School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Abstract
Purpose –As an unhealthy dependence on social media platforms, social media addiction (SMA) has become
increasingly commonplace inthe digital era. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general overview of SMA
research and develop a theoretical model that explains how different types of factors contribute to SMA.
Design/methodology/approach –Considering the nascent nature of this research area, this study
conducted a systematic review to synthesize the burgeoning literature examining influencing factors of SMA.
Based on a comprehensive literature search and screening process, 84 articles were included in the final sample.
Findings –Analyses showed that antecedents of SMA can be classified into three conceptual levels:
individual, environmental and platform. The authors further proposed a theoretical framework to explain the
underlying mechanisms behind the relationships amongst different types of variables.
Originality/value –The contributions of this review are two-fold. First, it used a systematic and rigorous
approach to summarize the empirical landscape of SMA research, providing theoretical insights and future
research directions in this area. Second, the findings could help social media service providers and health
professionals propose relevant intervention strategies to mitigate SMA.
Keywords Social media addiction, Influencing factors, Literature review, Theoretical framework,
Addiction mechanism, Stimulus-organism-response framework
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Since social media platforms were first developed, they have become increasingly popular in
many countries worldwide (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011). Most Americans say they like
YouTube and Facebook, while Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are particularly popular
amongst adults aged under 30 years, according to a Pew Research Center survey (Auxier and
Anderson, 2021). Social media changes the way people conduct interpersonal communication,
and brings many conveniences to people’s lives. Various entertainment activities and social
interactions, such as playing games, obtaining information and making new friends, are
performed through social networks (Allen et al., 2014;Ryan et al., 2014). During the recent
COVID-19 outbreak, people increasingly relied on social networks in their daily lives to
connect with others and obtain information about the virus (Anderson and Vogels, 2020).
However, excessive use of social media may be unhealthy (Kuss, 2017). The term social
media addiction (SMA) describes individuals’heavy dependence on various social media
platforms in their daily lives (Van den Eijnden et al., 2016). With the prevalence of mobile
AJIM
76,6
1088
The authors are grateful to the editor and reviewers whose constructive comments have improved the
quality of this manuscript considerably. This research was supported and funded by the following
grants: National Social Science Foundation of China (21&ZD334) and the Science Fund for Creative
Research Groups of NSFC (71921002).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2050-3806.htm
Received 28 October 2022
Revised 9 February 2023
Accepted 15 May 2023
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 76 No. 6, 2024
pp. 1088-1114
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-10-2022-0476
devices and wide access to the Internet, an increasing number of users tend to become
addicted to social media. Empirical evidence suggests that SMA may lead to some negative
outcomes, such as poor job performance (Kuss et al., 2014;Xanidis and Brignell, 2016), low
quality social relationships (Fox and Moreland, 2015;M€
uller et al., 2016) and deteriorated
emotional and cognitive states (e.g. jealousy, anxiety, distraction and depression) (Hong et al.,
2014;Pantic, 2014). Therefore, it is crucial for scholars and practitioners to understand this
new type of addictive behavior associated with digital technologies.
1.1 Conceptualization of social media addiction
Traditionally, the term “addiction”has referred to a user’s dependence on a substance (e.g.
alcohol, nicotine, or illegal drugs; Goodman, 1990;Rachlin, 1990). Drug addiction, for example,
involves physical dependence on a substance; lack of substance intake can lead to unpleasant
feelings and physical dysfunction (Baler and Volkow, 2006). Theoretical developments have
extended the definition of addiction to broader contexts incorporating various behaviors,
such as compulsive gambling, video game playing and Internet use (Yu and Oh, 2018).
Recently, researchers have begun to focus on another type of addictive behavior: SMA (Kuss
and Griffiths, 2011). Andreassen and Pallesen (2014) stated that SMA is characterized by
excessive attention to social networking sites and is driven by a strong urge to access or use
social networks. SMA meets established criteria for defining addiction, namely, salience,
tolerance, mood modifications, withdrawal, relapse and conflict (Griffiths, 2005).
The outcomes of SMA are negative for both individual users and society. People addicted
to social media spend most of their time and energy on social networking sites, adversely
affecting their studies, work, interpersonal relationships, offline social activities and mental
health and well-being. These negative outcomes may induce undesirable behaviors. For
example, SMA leading to digital health problems may increase social security risks.
Additionally, with an increasing number of people indulging in social media, the
unemployment rate and student dropouts may increase. In summary, SMA is an
increasingly serious problem, especially amongst young people; research suggests that
adolescents are more at risk of developing addiction symptoms as a consequence of their
social media use (Kuss, 2017). National reports have highlighted the need for more
government funding research and the need for shared responsibility amongst parents,
educators, researchers, practitioners and social media companies to safeguard users
(Griffiths et al., 2018). Clearly, collaborative work is required to make social media a safe space
to be enjoyed by all users. Accordingly, the factors that contribute to SMA have received
scholarly attention in recent years.
1.2 Objectives of the study
Although there has been a great deal of research on SMA, the existing literature still has two
shortcomings. First, previous studies have conducted in-depth research on SMA using a
variety of methods and focusing on different social media platforms. For example, both
qualitative and quantitative methods have been employed to examine users’addictive
behaviors on different social media sites, such as Facebook (Franchina et al., 2018;Marengo
et al., 2020), TikTok (Zhang et al., 2019), YouTube (Balakrishnan and Griffiths, 2017;Jaradat
and Atyeh, 2017) and Instagram (Kircaburun et al., 2020;Kırcaburun and Griffiths, 2019).
Furthermore, researchers have examined SMA in different countries or regions as well as
amongst different demographic samples. For instance, studies have tested the factors
causing SMA amongst different age groups, including adults (S€
ural et al., 2019), college
students (Hawi and Samaha, 2019) and teenagers (Hawk et al., 2019;Kircaburun et al., 2019;
Savci and Aysan, 2019). Second, although many studies have investigated the influencing
factors of SMA and researchers have also developed various theoretical models to study the
Influencing
factors of
social media
addiction
1089
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