Frequent social media use does not appear to be a sign of addiction.
Researchers explored whether social media use might be associated with an attentional bias, one of the signs of addictive behaviour. Participants (n=99) were shown mock iPhone displays and asked to detect a target app (Siri or camera) as quickly and accurately as they could while trying to ignore the other apps in the display. In some experimental trials the ‘distractor apps’ were not social media apps, in others it was the social media app icon of one of the main platforms and in others the social media app icons had a red notification symbol on them. However, there was no evidence of an attentional bias to social media among those with higher levels of social media use. For example, those people who checked and posted on Facebook 10 times a day were not any more likely to have their attention captured by the Facebook distractor app (with or without notifications) than someone who only posted and checked their Facebook account once a week.
https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00011
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