Abstract
<p style="text-align:justify">The aim of this study was to determine the causes of social media addiction of individuals, who define themselves as social media addicts, in a clearer and more concrete way. In order to achieve this aim, participants have been tested with an addiction test, and 25 university students who perceive themselves as social media addicts were selected for the study. The findings of the research showed that participants' reasons for using social media were lack of friends, social necessity of social media, feeling of fulfillment, fear of missing out, intertwining of social media and daily life. The study also pointed out that social media addiction has a beginning and a continuity phase. It has been shown that the individuals who were in the beginning phase tended to start using social media for reasons such as not being able to find friends, lack of socialization, and monotony of life. In the continuity stage of individual addiction, they stated that they use social media for reasons such as, fulfilling a duty, and protecting social relations that they had. One of the reasons for addiction was the need to socialize, while male participants were more interested in acquiring new friends, female participants were more interested in communicating with their real life friends.</p>
Highlights
The increased use rate of technological devices resulted in behavioral addiction and strengthened technology dependency (Arpaci, Yardimci Cetin, & Turetken, 2015; Arpaci, 2013; Arpacı, 2011)
The aim of this study was to determine the causes of social media addiction of individuals, who define themselves as social media addicts, in a clearer and more concrete way
In order to achieve this aim, participants have been tested with an addiction test, and 25 university students who perceive themselves as social media addicts were selected for the study
Summary
The increased use rate of technological devices resulted in behavioral addiction and strengthened technology dependency (Arpaci, Yardimci Cetin, & Turetken, 2015; Arpaci, 2013; Arpacı, 2011). A recent study suggested that locus of control and self-expressive and utilitarian benefits were antecedents of the smartphone addiction (Lee, Chang, Lin, & Cheng, 2017). Chen, Zhang, Gong, Zhao, Lee, and Liang (2017) found that perceived enjoyment, mood regulation, pastime, and conformity were antecedents of the smartphone addiction. In another study, Kim and Kang (2016) reported that self-esteem and self-control were antecedents of the MMS addiction. Ng, Tan (2016) found that loneliness, achievement, and excitement were antecedents of the online game addiction. Jeong, Kim, and Lee (2017) reported that loneliness, depression, and aggression were antecedents of the digital game addiction. The previous studies suggested that there were various consequences and antecedents of the behavioral addiction
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