Social Media Addiction: Fact or Fiction?
By Amy @BubbleJobs
Just like everyone else, here at Bubble we’re a big fan of social media. From spamming each others’ business Pinterest boards (believe me, I am NOT a fan of Robbie Williams or the new Rod Stewart autobiography!) to tweeting about some crazy pictures that managed to bring a cheeky little smile to our faces this morning (and believe me, that’s hard to do with us lot on a Monday morning!) we’re always using some social network to do one thing or another… but we’re not addicted… oh no, definitely not!
Erm.. actually we have a sneaky feeling we might be (especially Anna, we can’t get her off Twitter! 
). And it seems we’re not alone! Believe it or not, social media is actually more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol (and no we’re not making this up for the purposes of this blog!).
Chicago University’s Booth Business School ran an experiment to test the willpower of 205 people between the ages of 18 and 85 in Germany. Volunteers were asked seven times a day over the course of week to list their desires and while leisure and sleep topped the list (really, who couldn’t do with a nap right about now?!), social media came next, beating both cigarettes and alcohol.
OK, so social media is actually pretty addictive but you know you’re not hooked right?! I mean, all you do is check your Facebook profile 10 times a day, tweet every now and again and only use your Pinterest board to plan your Saturday night outfit – that’s normal… or is it?
Well luckily for you, researchers in Norway have identified six signs that you’re addicted to social media and they’ve created a handy little test (aka the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale) so you can secretly find out if you’re a little too hooked on your favourite social network.
Intrigued? The test is actually pretty easy. Just read the following statements and answer using the following scale 1 (very rarely), 2 (rarely), 3 (sometimes), 4 (often), 5 (very often).
- You spend a lot of time thinking about Facebook or plan use of Facebook.
- You feel an urge to use Facebook more and more.
- You use Facebook to forget about personal problems.
- You have tried to cut down on the use of Facebook without success.
- You become restless or troubled if you are prohibited from using Facebook.
- You use Facebook so much that it has had a negative impact on your job/studies.
If you answer three or above for the majority of the statements, you may want to try and curb your social media addiction – but come on, that won’t be so hard if you’re not addicted, right?! 
About the Author
Amy Edwards Amy Edwards is the SEO Manager for Bubble Jobs. With a strong background in online content and copywriting, Amy is responsible all the on-site and off-site SEO of Bubble Jobs and the Bubble Jobs blog. You can follow her on Twitter here or add her to your circles on Google+ here.
