Adicción a las redes sociales virtuales

Abstract

The problematic use of (or addiction to) Internet, and especially of virtual social networks (VSN), has given rise to the behavior’s study such as “cyberloafing” (the loss of work’s time due to using Internet features such as VSN), and of emotions such as FoMO (Fear of Missing Out), which could be understood as indicators of a technological addiction. In a research on technological addictions, the objective was to analyze the relationship of problematic use of VSN with FoMO and cyberloafing, in users of information and communication technologies (ICT), of both sexes, from 25 to 65 years old, in Cordoba-Argentina. Data was collected with different local instruments, including 468 participants, with an average age of 42.18, (s.d. = 16.35) and users of at least one VSN. The range of use is 1 to 6 VSN (M = 3.10, D.E. = 2.09), with Whatsapp being the most used network (98.4%). 67.0% use their mobile phone to have permanent access to VSN. The average daily hours of use, self-reported, is 6.9 hours (D.E. = 6.93). 13.6% of the sample studied presented a pathological level of VSN use (dependence), and 27.1% made occasional use; 28.9% make abusive and / or pathological uses of ICT in general, and 8.9% depend on technology. Respect to FoMO, 27.5% have a moderate level and 17.6% have a severe level. 100% have some degree of cyberloafing, being moderate in 47.5% of cases and severe in 17.8%. The correlations between VSN addiction and the FoMO and cyberloafing variables are statistically significant, moderate and direct, although the indexes are modified when a specific VSN is analyzed, with Facebook being the one that produces the highest correlation for FoMO, and Twitter for the behavior of cyberloafing. This could be associated with the age range studied. The results allow us to affirm that the assumption of similarity in the addictive potential of all VSNs is incorrect, so it is important to study addiction that combines personal traits with network characteristics, and perform multivariate analyzes of FoMO and cyberloafing with 162 variables as satisfaction with life and work, school or work performance, need for physical contact, social connectivity and subjective well-being, among others. It is concluded that technological addictions can also occur in adults of different ages, with the negative consequences that it entails.