Are you endlessly scrolling through Instagram out of genuine addiction or simply deeply ingrained habit? Groundbreaking research suggests it's likely the latter for most users, challenging widespread assumptions about our relationship with social media platforms.
The Science Behind Social Media Use
A comprehensive study conducted by researchers from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California examined 380 American Instagram users to determine whether their usage patterns constituted genuine addiction. The participants, with an average age of 44 and equally split between genders, described how addicted they felt to the platform while researchers assessed them for clinical symptoms of addictive behaviour.
The findings, published in Scientific Reports journal, revealed a significant disconnect between perception and reality. While 18 per cent of participants at least somewhat agreed they were addicted to Instagram, with 5 per cent substantially agreeing, only 2 per cent actually displayed symptoms indicating true addiction.
Researchers emphasized that for behaviour to be classified as addiction, it must significantly impair day-to-day functionality, according to chartered psychologist Dr Audrey Tang. "However, if we have normalised behaviours like checking our phone, responding immediately to notifications, or having notifications on at all, we are less likely to see these behaviours as an impairment," she told The Independent.
Media Influence and Personal Responsibility
The research team extended their investigation by analysing American news and media coverage between November 2021 and November 2024. They discovered 4,383 articles mentioning "social media addiction" compared to just 50 discussing "social media habit", suggesting media framing significantly influences how users perceive their own social media use.
In a second phase involving 824 US adult Instagram users, researchers found that when participants were encouraged to frame their social media use as an addiction, they associated it with lower feelings of control and assigned higher levels of blame to both themselves and the platform for excessive use. Study authors consequently recommend using the term "addiction" more selectively when discussing social media.
The British Context and Expert Perspectives
Despite these findings, recent data indicates concerning trends among younger users. Almost half (48 per cent) of British teenagers report feeling addicted to social media, while the World Health Organisation identified a "sharp rise" in problematic social media use among 280,000 young people across Canada, central Asia and Europe.
Dr Tang reflected on cases where children wake up overnight to use social media, suggesting such patterns should be considered addiction because "it isn't a healthy behaviour." Meanwhile, Dr David Harley, chartered member of the British Psychological Society, argued that even habits can be detrimental, particularly "unconscious habits" conditioned by technology designed to capture attention.
"These habits are honed by the technologies, so they're not just habits that are occurring naturally, they're conditioned habits," Dr Harley explained, noting that labelling excessive use as addiction places disproportionate blame on individuals when social media companies intentionally design apps to "make money out of your attention."
The research highlights the complex relationship between user behaviour, platform design, and mental health outcomes, suggesting that while true addiction is rare, habitual use still correlates with negative consequences including poor body image, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
