More and more people are using social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter. Many of these people are hooked on these services, but sometimes the simple hobby is easy to become a real addiction.
Norwegian researchers have developed a new tool to measure addiction to Facebook. This is the Bergen Facebook addiction scale (Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale).
The results, published in the journal Psychological Reports, show that people who are anxious and insecure socially use Facebook more often, because they need to be able to communicate more easily through social media than face to face.
This dependence occurs more frequently among younger users, and more among women than among men, probably due to the social nature of Facebook.
In contrast, organized and more ambitious people tend to be less exposed to the risk of Facebook addiction. They often use social media as an integral part of their work.
The use of Facebook is as common as that of television in our daily lives, and it is increasingly difficult for many people to know if they are addicted to these means of social communication.
The symptoms of Facebook addiction resemble those of drug addiction, alcohol and certain chemical substances.
Criteria for measuring addiction to Facebook
The Bergen scale, used to study addiction to Facebook, is based on six basic criteria that must be scored as: very rarely, rarely, sometimes, often or very often.
The criteria are:
- Do you spend a lot of time thinking about Facebook?
- Do you feel the urge to use Facebook?
- Do you use Facebook in order to forget your personal problems?
- Have you tried to reduce the use of Facebook without success?
- Are you impatient, or is it a problem, if you cannot use Facebook?
- Using Facebook a lot has caused a negative impact on your work / studies?
According to the authors, a rating of “often” or “very often” in at least four of the six criteria suggests an addiction to this social network.
